Old House: Replacing Wood Doors
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Anonymous
| I'm considering replacing all the interior wood doors in my 1930s house. The old doors are solid wood and original, which I like. But they are in bad shape and need to be sanded and refinished. They are painted white with terrible drips and chips. And underneath are layers of lead paint so I'm uncomfortable scraping or sanding them myself. Is it worth saving them? If I replace them do I need to do this professionally due to the lead or simply remove them? If I replace them is it worth getting solid wood doors if I'm painting them white anyway? Or should I go with composite solid core? I want them to look authentic. |
Anonymous
|
What do you mean by "they are in bad shape"? Is it just the drips and chips or is it something more fundamental? |
Anonymous
| Just buy new wood doors. |
Anonymous
There are some deep gouges and uneven surfaces where key holes were filled and settled. The only way to make them look good is to scrape, sand, fill and paint. Not sure it's worth the effort or lead exposure. But I love good old doors so I'm torn. |
Anonymous
| There is a place near DC where you can get them stripped for maybe $130/door. I will try to find the name. (It's not Stripping Workshop, it closed a few years ago.) |
Anonymous
| New wood doors are very expensive and usually not as good quality as original. It is probably worth having them repaired. |
Anonymous
^plus all the hardware. |
Anonymous
This. |
Anonymous
| We had our doors dipped by a stripping company for around $100/door back in 2011. We then sanded, stained, and varnished and it turned out nicely. You can see the results at our old listing: http://www.zillow.com/homes/1214-Colonial-Ave-Northeast-Alexandria-VA-22314_rb/ |
Anonymous
You might try Community Forklift off Route 1 in NE Maryland. They have recycled old doors: if yours are typical 30"x80" you may have luck on finding a replacement that is without deep defects. I've been meaning to go out there as I have old solid doors too. It's a hike for me, maybe you are closer. |
Anonymous
| We stripped 6 doors a few years back. The others we replaced with solid core but not full wood. For 20 doors it was close to $12,000... Not an inexpensive proposition. Ours also had lead paint but it came off just fine. |
Anonymous
| Strip em! |
Anonymous
| We got $100 new doors and they are far better for blocking the sound. |
Anonymous
|
I was you many years ago. I love old doors, so I had all my interior doors stripped. I got them in bare wood. Since I like wood finishing, I refinished them myself, but you could have them refinish if you want. They are beautiful and, imo, much better than any new door I could have bought. The fact that they are not standard size had a key role in my decision, too.
If you are not into keeping old architectural materials, or if your doors are architecturally uninteresting, then it's another matter |
Anonymous
| ^^ Btw, stripping w a about $100 per door. |