Restoration

Restore or Replace?

The doors and moldings in our 1850s townhouse were painted very drab “historical” colors by the prior owners. We cant figure out what type of professional would be able to help us decide if they are actually so historical that they are worth the expense of stripping and staining or if we should just replace…

by jack123
02/17/2009

The doors and moldings in our 1850s townhouse were painted very drab “historical” colors by the prior owners. We cant figure out what type of professional would be able to help us decide if they are actually so historical that they are worth the expense of stripping and staining or if we should just replace them. Is this a job for an architect? Interior designer? Specialty GC? Any help and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Restoration

Comments

  3. btw.. i have numerous doors in my house which match the description that you posted, some with mortised locks, some with surface mounted locks… stripping these doors is a job for someone other than a homeowner..the paint is old oil based lead loaded stuff and will make you brain damaged if you do it yourself..that is also the drawback about the moldings in your house.. one of my neighbors had everything stripped on the cheap, and when the wife got pregnant, had the house tested for lead..guess what ..it tested off the richter scale …you have to decide what your options and aims are before you do anything..i would be glad to take a look for free, though as i said, this is not my field..errol832000@yahoo.com

  4. mopar says: Replacing your moldings will be much more expensive than paying someone to strip them.

    OP says: since it would cost over 5 times the cost of replacing them to restore them,..

    Which is it?

    further: It’s just such a sin that anyone would paint wood to begin with.

    Nah. I say paint them a nice bright color, there’s nothing drabber than dark original moldings. You need all the light you can get in a brownstone.

  5. the reference is a canadian outfit i use for reference only..im in brooklyn, carroll gardens to be exact…i’ll try to dig out some contacts for this kind of thing, since, though i am a contractor, this is not my field..

  6. eman1234 – Thanks so much, and the door in that picture is almost exactly like those in the house. Looking around your website I see you have it dated to the mid 18th century, but you also note that four panels doors are so ubiquitous that they are often hard to date. How were you able to pin down the date on that one? The color on that one is also really close to ours – is that how you found it? Do you know what kind of paint it is? Did you try to strip it? Many thanks for your help. (P.S. I see you are in Canada – do you have a NY presence?)

  8. mopar – i’m not sure why you are assuming they are original – I’m looking for someone to help me decide exactly that. Are you looking in my windows!? 😉

    As to expense, stripping and refinishing the doors will be at least double the price of even solid mahogany new doors. I have had several quotes to strip and refinish the moldings at about five times the cost of removing and replacing them. I would love a referral if you have seen different.

    I don’t think there’s any real argument that restoring is more expensive than replacing. My question is if it is worth it in this case – are these historical items worth the cost to preserve. I think everyone can agree it wouldn’t be worth restoring a cheap 1950s reno. Any leads on someone who could help me figure that out would be appreciated.

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