Oak Entry Door

[summilux]

My home was built in the 1950s and got renovated by the previous owner in 1986. During that renovation they put a crappy contractor grade steel door on the front. This year we had a a local craftsman (Lothlorien Woodworking in Oompah, Ontario) build us an oak entry one. Full custom. We specified rift-sawn oak because my wife and I like straight grained oak but neither of us like the flecks and rays in quarter sawn oak. We gave the builder, John Inglis, a picture of a door we liked and he provided us with stain samples. I was particular about construction: full mortise and tenon build. No biscuits, no floating tenon, no dowels. Overall it was a great experience, not unlike buying a handmade bike: the salesman, builder and delivery man are the same guy. Locally sourced lumber too. It turned out that dealing with Lothlorien was cheaper than buying from door people who get their stuff made in a factory. Kinda like Crumpton being cheaper than Pinarello.

The installer (Mike) is a woodworker/guitar builder who does residential carpentry as a second business. I helped in the installation and find out that Mike is a draft dodger who came to Ottawa from Kansas City in 1968. He told me that if an American wanted to immigrate to Canada in 1968 all he/she had to do was to show up at a Canadian border crossing with $200 and apply in person. Mike said he waited about an hour at the Detroit/Windsor crossing and then was accepted into Canada. How times have changed! He told me that he doesn't mind an Ottawa winter but really misses the Kansas City summer. It never gets hot enough for him here. I just finished watching the PBS Vietnam War series (worthwhile IMO) and it was pretty cool to chat with someone from this time.

I love this door. And I got a good story out of it too.

Edit: Ooooh, I just noticed that this is post 888 for me. Very auspicious number for those of Chinese ancestry.

[Ras72]

Huge improvement. Very well done!

[thollandpe]

Jonathan, that is a beautiful piece of work! Did they build just the slab and your carpenter built the frame, or did it come as a pre-hung unit?

My 1978 house has that same steel door, but in red, and my plans are for a similar unit. Right down to that style and light configuration.

[summilux]

Thanks Todd, it has made an amazing difference to the way the house lloks from the street. The door was built as a prehung unit with the lock installed and then shimmed into place. The casing, sill and outside moulding are made from the same oak so it matches. I think it would be really difficult to install as a slab door since it is very HEAVY. Even prehung it took 5 hours to remove the old casing and hang the door. It was surprisingly finicky work for a prehung door. I think the weight of the door makes it difficult because I've watched guys install Home Depot type exterior doors in under half an hour.

The door shames the rest of our exterior fittings. This weekend I'm on the hook for replacing the mail box and entry lights.

[Peter Polack]

What-is there no love for your doorbell with your new door?!

[thollandpe]

This weekend I'm on the hook for replacing the mail box and entry lights.

Be careful of going down the light fixture rabbit hole. Do not look at catalogs!

[summilux]

What-is there no love for your doorbell with your new door?!

Yours for postage

[j44ke]

Changes the whole character of the front entry, doesn't it?

Maybe a porch lamp something like this, since you have an arts & crafts door motif. This is an old Green and Green design.



And maybe something like this as the doorbell plate, though you'd have to move it to the wall, not drill into that lovely door frame.



We had doorbell similar to this one in our 1930's bungalow in Phoenix. I don't think it was period correct, but it was fun. But again, I wouldn't be able to drill through that door in order to install one. Too nice.



Some nice house numbers.



Mailbox.

[summilux]

We're Greene & Greene/Morris people. I did up our dining room a few years ago and I slipped some Greene & Greene details into the woodwork. Panelling is quarter sawn cherry with walnut details. Fabric is Morris. The door has depleted our reno budget for this year so we're holding off the Restoration Hardware catalogue for now.

[Diablo de Acero]

Very Nice! It definitely dresses things up, but looks very personal at the same time.