Dining Room Door Replacement

Following on from replacing the living room door last month, we have now replaced the adjacent living room door with it's matching partner.

The old doors weren't in a particularly bad condition, we just wanted to change them to something that matched our planned décor.

The oak veneered doors which we bought needed to be reduced in width.  The previous door had to be reduced by approx. 3/4" and unfortunately this couldn't be done due to the thin edging strip on these doors, so I had to widen the door frame.  However, this door only had to be reduced by 1/2", so I decided to use my electric plane to take 1/4" off of each edge.

As you can see, there's not much of an edging left after taking 1/4" off.

I fitted the hinges in the workshop before taking the door into the house for hanging.  I'm using three 3" stainless steel ball-bearing hinges on each door because the doors are quite heavy and i'm spacing these to position two in the top half of the door and one in the bottom half (8" up from the bottom).  These should give a smooth action and minimise hinge wear and the finish will also match the handles. 

 

The latch and art deco handles were also fitted in the workshop prior to hanging.  This kept the majority of the mess in the workshop (which is easier to clean up)

and there we have it, the door hung and ready for its 1st coat of varnish.  As before, the door was brushed down to remove dust and then wiped down with a clean cloth soaked in white spirit.

The camera angle is a bit tight, but here are the two doors side by side. The right hand side door has been varnished, the left hand door is ready to be varnished.

First coat of varnish applied.  Before the 2nd coat is applied the door will be gently rubbed down with steel wool then wiped down with white spirit to give a nice smooth finish coat.