100 year old screen door restoration

Hi, I have this beautiful old screen door that needs some TLC. I considered taking it back to bare timber and oiling it, but I think by the time I fill the rotted areas I'll have to paint it.

Just wondering if anyone has any tips or product recommendations for treating the wood -
ie should I use wood hardener on the rotted areas?
- glue or don't glue (just nail) where the spoke details have come loose?
- putty/ wood filler or an epoxy product to fill the broken/ damaged/ missing bits

Given that this is the first project like this I've attempted and I don't want to ruin it, I'll need the non- disaster prone options! So far all I've done is remove the screen and applied paint stripper

firstly get some photos up.
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I have all my photos stored with 1200-1400 pixels maximum

I would also think if you have stripped it bare, after all this time with paint on it might be wise to protect it from weather elements... but I admit I know very little in this field

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Sorry - I meant to add photos but couldn't work out how to on my phone.

The first two photos are of it part stripped. The third photo shows the paint condition before I started - at the bottom of the door there is rot, damaged wood and a large crack because the paint was long gone. Final photo is of door in its original location - I'll have to repair and repaint the door frame as well
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This is a photo of about where its up to now.

That is, indeed, a gorgeous old door!

How are the the quadrants (the curved braces in the corners) attached? It looks like they're simply butt-joined and screwed/nailed? Or are they mortise and tenoned?

Do you have the missing pieces? If you do, I'd glue 'em back with a good water-resistant PVA such as Titebond III or Aquadhere External.

My preference would be to reattach the loose parts in the same way as they were originally attached. Glue will be involved, but screws or nails also if they're in t'others.

FWIW, I wouldn't bother with wood hardener at all... that's a patch, not a fix. You really want to remove any rot back to good wood.

If the damage/rot is pretty much surface only I'd consider either carefully chiselling out and gluing in replacement sections or going the bog & paint route.

Should the damage/rot be deep enough, particularly around the joints, I'd consider disassembling the door completely and use the existing damaged parts as templates to make new ones. This approach takes a bit more skill and familiarity with joinery, but if I really wanted an oil finish it's probably the way I'd go. (Or, of course, if I was being paid to fix it.)

What a nice entrance and door! . What Skew says is good advice. Right up his alley I think .

And how nice to be able to fix up something that is mostly all there and keep the original !

Like skew asked ,Inspect those joints to tell us how its been made please . Do tenons go through to the other side or are tenons or dowels visible in the slightly opened joins on the main three horizontals (Rail's) joined to the two long verticals (Style's) ? Here's a Pic nabbed off the internet to help descriptions .

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By the looks, the main frame would be assembled and those quads added in later , first the small quads , then the three turnings then the arch with the turnings poking through and the balls glued on . That's my guess . Never made one myself . I couldn't imagine trying to get all that together in one glue up so in stages looks right . The arches must be nailed or screwed or through dowled?

What I'm thinking is unless that wants to fall apart it looks like it would be a basket case to get apart .

Any way some things I do know is getting all those tacks out is best done with a chisel turned up so the bevel is down . A sharp cheap rubbish chisel . You tap the end just under the tack head with a mallet and push the tack sideways along the strongest wood grain direction so it doesn't break out sideways, and you twist the chisel at the same time . It loosens and lifts out . Its how tacks are removed from seat frames in antique chairs leaving the wood in its best possible condition . Trying to get side cutters or pincers on every tack head stuffs up a lot more wood .

The other trick I can offer is . You have a turning missing . If the arches and all the other glued in turnings are not coming out so you can get one new one in what do you do ? You make or have made a turning that is done in two parts . Its made (turned ) with a long splice join with paper in between the join so it snaps apart into two once made . Its two halves are poked into the cleaned out holes and with the paper and glue from before cleaned off the join they are re glued and clamped . A ball re installed on its new end . You sand the join a bit and have your friends guessing at how the heck you repaired that! Your going to either turn wood or have access to a turner ?
Another single ball is needed as well .
Edit . I think the turnings have the arch put on and they go partly in the though hole in the arch and the ball has its own turned dowel and that insets from the other side . Not a ball with a hole onto the turning that pokes through . The arch is wide enough to do it from both sides and its the easier method . My guess.

Another thing is your stripping the old paint . At some stage you may be sanding. Something that is recomended rather than sanding dry and getting dusty possibly deadly old paint particles floating around is try wetting and sanding with water brushed onto the door over a pile of saw dust or old sheets or blanket to filter the crap . Roll up and bag it later . The wet sanding keeps the paper from clogging and it does its job a lot better . Some papers last better than others or get the black wet and dry stuff . Air powered rotary sanders are very good at this . Id strip most and sand the rest that way once the tacks are out .

Rob

Thank you both for your very helpful replies. It is a pretty well made door, and really is in reasonable shape for its age. I'm determined to do it no harm.

The curved corner pieces are held in by nails. I tried to refix one last week with the finest nails I could find, but the wood split.

The door is assembled using dowels that go the whole width of the panels. It definitely isn't going to pull apart easily - I'd have to send it to a professional.

I bought some Selleys two part bog to fill the damaged parts, but I haven't used it yet. Still debating.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oldfarmhouse

The curved corner pieces are held in by nails. I tried to refix one last week with the finest nails I could find, but the wood split.

The door is assembled using dowels that go the whole width of the panels. It definitely isn't going to pull apart easily - I'd have to send it to a professional.

I bought some Selleys two part bog to fill the damaged parts, but I haven't used it yet. Still debating.

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You want to pre drill what ever you need to nail . A drill the same thickness as the nail or a tiny touch narrower is good . If you cant find one you use a nail with its head cut off fixed into the drill . I even sand them a touch thinner on the linisher and shape the tip like a sharp flat screw driver when its important. Its how a bradall is sharpened to sever the grain by hand for the same use . That way you can use the nail size you want and not split timber . A squeeze of glue down the hole can help to . You want to be doing timber patches if you can . Get some old Oregon if you can . It is an Oregon / Douglas fir door isn't it ? Looks to be . Save the bog for nail holes .

If the main part is tight then great . Taking apart dowled stuff can make it a long job . If the dowles are visible on the outside then it may have been made by clamping the butt joined frame up glued and drilling the dowles through from the outside . Any broken ones may be able to be repaired the same way ? Its a bit like giving the joint a big glue injection as well .

Thanks for the great tip. I think you are right about how they made the door putting the dowels from the outside. I agree, quite possibly Oregon. If not it may be Murray Pine from onsite.

The more I think about it, the more I don't want to do any damage/ ruin the history. Hence my hesitation to do a patch job with bog.

Perhaps I have two options - sand/ strip a little more then oil and leave untouched? Or buy a temporary door to hang (I can't bear the ideas of summer without the screen and all the spiders, snakes and critters that will venture inside) and practice some skills on something that it doesn't matter if I ruin first!

Just thought I'd post an update - this is the initial finished version. Perhaps one day when the bigger structural issues are addressed I'll send it to a professional for a proper restoration. But it is up, functional and sealed.

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Nice. Thanks for sharing this