Woodwork/Door Renovation
We have at a pre-war coop in Park Slope–one that has the traditional old-school pre-war accents–moldings, heavy doors, etc–but, in typical (sad) Brooklyn fashion, these accents have simply been painted over and over rather than properly stripped and repainted/finished. We’d like to start doing this–stripping doors and moldings and refinishing/painting…and we have at least three…
We have at a pre-war coop in Park Slope–one that has the traditional old-school pre-war accents–moldings, heavy doors, etc–but, in typical (sad) Brooklyn fashion, these accents have simply been painted over and over rather than properly stripped and repainted/finished.
We’d like to start doing this–stripping doors and moldings and refinishing/painting…and we have at least three old-fashioned doors that need replacement.
Which brings me to the question:
Is this something that we would need to hire a contractor to do? Or are there carpenters who specialize in this kind of work?
Or are we insane to think we can actually strip and get to something useful? Should we be thinking about full-on replacing moldings/etc?
And…anyone have a sense of how easy is it to match doors in a pre-war?
Thanks, in advance, for your help!
Perrone Construction did a wonderful job renovating my bathroom and refinishing our wood floors. I dealt directly with Don Perrone, the owner, who was more than accommodating to our needs. The entire job cost $12,500, which was exactly what Don quoted us. I highly recommend.
Great point about lead…yet another thing to think about!
Thanks to all for the fantastic thoughts and conversation. I’m so happy I thought to post here.
JimIllingworth@aol.com
Upstate NY, similar circumstance to monkey1’s situation, but he does great work and will drop off in NYC, a big plus.
Hello,
I had a Mennonite gentleman in PA build a set of double entry custom doors for me to match the original foyer doors I was restoring. The original entry had long ago been replaced by an awful off the shelf 1960’s entry door. I used to work in a cabinet shop. The restoration wasn’t insurmountable for me.
The door he built for me was a double entry, raised panel with a long single pane in each door. The doors were 94′ high and each is 25′ wide and with the transom, the entire assembly went to 115′ so it was no small door.
He did an amazing job and it was half the cost of any price I found in NYC… and I shopped hard. Besides all the quotes I got in NYC wanted to send the drawings to China and ship the doors back 3 months later. Marvin only took 1 month but I had to pick it up. It was about a 4 hour ride but worth it many times over. I sent him a copy of the drawing and a sample of the molding that I needed him to match and he matched it perfectly. He built the doors in Spanish Cedar so they’d weather better as an exterior door.
I can’t say enough good things about Marvin. Give him a ring: Marvin Martin, MZM Custom Doors in Newville PA.
Oh yeah, for your restoration… I had to go through 150 years of paint to strip the foyer doors so I could start restoring mine. There was literally 20 or 30 layers of paint on the foyer doors… I tried every stripper on the market… I also figured out why lead paint was so popular… it works really well… anyway… Try “Dad’s” it comes in a blue can w/ a spray bottle attached to it, it works the best on old lead paint…
Best of luck.
They will match perfectly? From where? Minard, I have used Dykes on several occasions. I have yet to find a perfect match.
For a local, neighborhood wood stripper, try Park Slope Paint Strippers on Union St.
http://www.WeStripWood.com
New casework, which is what moldings around doors and windows is called, can turn out very well.
I have to admit that I love the look of fresh, crisp casework. My recommendation is that unless you have very special moldings or doors, get new. They will match perfectly, look fabulous and you won’t have to deal with the lead hazard of stripping fifty layers of paint off stock moldings -not worth it unless it is something special.
DO NOT DIP WOODWORK. It disolves everthing including the glue. I have done this with shutters and had to rebiuld them as a result.
I have also stripped woodwork, but it is a slow and unpleasant process.
There are multiple strippers out there, I’ve used Woodzone who are good, professional and clean if required.
risingphoenix7 – before you do decide to remove the old paint (especially if removing in place) or even replace old moldings, consider that some of the layers of old paint almost certainly contain lead which if removed carelessly can pollute your home & hurt any children in the home. If you google “lead paint removal” you will find resources such as
http://www.nyhealth.gov/publications/2502/
Take care & good luck.
PS If you do go down the path of lead abatement, be very careful of who you get to do this – in my opinion the lead abatement industry if rife with crooks.