How to restore timber door?

[ruredi13]

   

  

G’day guys and girls, 

A little break away from the Mancave project for a minute. Seeking some advice on the best way to go about restoring a solid timber entry door. 

I intend for this project to be a secret Xmas present for my wife. Sadly, she lost her mother a few years back. Her mother was an immigrant who fled the war in Vietnam and came to Australia with nothing. 

The sale of her humble home took a big toll on my wife whom she was very close with. Her mother’s grit and determination is something i know my wife was very proud of and has made her who she is today.

Before we sold the house, I removed the front door and replaced it and stashed it away. My plan is to restore the door and have it fixed to the front of our home. The door holds extreme sentimental value and so I must get it right!

I’ve ordered a custom script stencil to paint a small message on the back of the door when it’s done. 

In case it’s relevant, the house is came off was built in 1970. The door is proper heavy. 

I start annual leave after this weekend and will have about 7 days to get this project done hiding away in the shed. 

The door is a beautiful door with a lot of intricate detail. What is the best way to strip it back and what process is best to restore it. I’m planning on painting the front a light pink (my wife’s favourite colour) and the back white. I will need to fill in the old holes where the handle is as it doesn’t match our current door. I have no idea how to go about this. 

The dimensions of the door currently on our house - 820mm wide x 2,037mm high x 40mm deep. 

The door I’m hoping to replace it with - 860mm wide x 2,017mm high x 40mm deep. 

Once the old door knob hole is filled in, I will be able to change over the door hardware from our existing house no problem. It’s way lower and won’t be anywhere near the patch job. 

the top and bottom hinges are about 70mm different to our current door and will overlap by this much. I don’t imagine I could reinstall hinges where I’ve patched ? Would I be better off modifying the existing frame and how easy (or hard) would this be to do. 

Appreciate any help and advice as I don’t know where to start and time is of the essence. 

[ruredi13]

@JacobZ - Good to know. I'll check it out. I'll be honest, I'm nervous. But I'll give it a go. Might make a start this afternoon. About to knock off work and start 3 weeks leave. Dangerous afternoon to be a beer.

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @ruredi13 

You  can always lower the heuight of the  door frame by adding a  thicker  wider upper  door jamb to over lap the top of the door  so you smaller door wont be an issue.

As a  thought.

[ruredi13]

Thanks @Jewelleryrescue. I did consider that but then I would need to prep and paint the door jamb as well as the door. I’m already doing the work on the door so makes sense to modify that. 

The other major consideration is that this is a surprise gift for Xmas. I’ll need to fit it in a couple hours while the wife is out the house. So I’ll need to have the door all done and ready. If she sees bits missing or modifications to our existing door, she’ll get suss 

[ruredi13]

@JacobZ - just having a look at ther decorative mouldings on our existing doors. Was about to head down to Bunnings to try and match it. 

The mouldings on our existing doors are recessed in to the surface of the door. They aren’t additions. 

I’m not sure how this is done. I assume the width of the profile is carved into the door using a router or something? I’ve attached a pic. The centre flat section inside of the profile is level with the rest of the door. 

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @ruredi13 

I have the recessed  doors at  home but i have a solid flat secruity door  So I used a similar profile and made an outty instead.

People never  noticed or if  they did never commented at a  glance  they the same and unless the doors  side  by side but your the  boss.

[JacobZ]

Hi @ruredi13,

I'm fairly confident your internal door is one of these - OAK | Moulded Panel Woodgrain | Hume Doors.

The texture and detail in Hume's door are embossed MDF, where the surface material of the door is pressed against a mould under high pressure, transferring the design onto the door’s surface. The other potentiality is that the timbers were profiled before they were put together to create the door. 

Having the detailing recessed into the door makes it much harder to replicate than if it was attached to the face. It looks like there's a cove profile on the inside and a different one on the outside, possibly a cove with a bead or a cove with a fillet profile. If you were to route it out, it would have to be done in a minimum of two passes.

It's also not possible to rout perfectly square corners like this as a router bit, being round, will leave a radius cut in the corner. 

I've done a fair bit of work with a router, and I wouldn't be confident in my ability to rout perfect grooves in a door with such sentimental value. If you really wanted it done, I'd look at contacting a local joinery shop or cabinet maker who has a CNC router or bench router. They may be able to help you with the project.

Otherwise, as @Jewelleryrescue has mentioned, I'd be surprised if people really noticed one door having a detail inset whereas another door has it applied to the face.

Let me know what you think.

Jacob

[ruredi13]

@JacobZ - fair point. I think I’ll just make something up as best I can on the face! Thanks for your help. I’ll let you know how it goes.