Door Frames in Federation houses - located in Melbourne

Hi everyone.
I've just moved into a family house from the country, and while studying music at Monash University, I really want to restore the style of my house, back to its former 1917 glory. There are the obvious things I can't/ will not change, ie electricity, but my main focus is on the aesthetics of the residence - colour schemes, furnishings etc. From my recent readings, I have a pretty good idea of the Federation era/style in general, but its just the fine details I'm still learning about.
This being my first thread, I am sure there will be plenty more :). Just a very quick question about the door/window frames. As I can probably guess, alot of these buildings built in the early 20th Century, would have undergone substantial changes through time, especially in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Many of the door frames in my house have previously been roughly sanded back and lightly varnished, but there are some, (upstairs especially), which have about 3 coats of paint on them. Which form of finish was mostly used in this period?

Cheers

C.D

There would be a number of "possibles".

Faux finishes were quite common, even over figured woods! I've seen fake oak grain on top of lovely bits of redwood and cedar.

More functional buildings or areas (kitchens and laundries) tended to get painted, often in colours we'd find a bit ho-hum; institutional greens, creams and brown/beige. Haven't worked in any really posh houses, but a good few comfy ones from that era and there wan't a lot of flash colour schemes; it was all (generally speaking) pretty subdued.

With careful use of a heat gun and small scraper, you should be able to pick on a few areas that most refurbishment activities have overlooked. Forensics, if you like.

Be aware that fidelity in restoration may yield a high-maintenance, low-durability finish compared to what we commonly get now. That can disappoint some people.

Regards, Adam.

Hi C.D.
I agree with everything your previous replyer has passed on to you. I live in Melb and over the last 30 years have restored well over 50 thousand period doors and their surrounds of cedar, redpine, scotchpine, baltic pine, maple, oregon, mountain ash, blackwood, and plypanel which would cover most timbers used during the decade you speak of in Melbourne usage. This is not how I earn my living since howards GST and most Friday nights (only) I am in east coburg for a meeting. If you would like to get in touch I am happy to drop in for a few minutes and have a look at your building and give you a few verbal clues (free) from what I've seen and rapidly disappear to my normal Friday evening, Doug.

Hi and welcome to the forum to what looks like TWO new members! You'll find a huge amount of information here and hopefully much of it will assist you in tackling just about any project. I too am from East Coburg, though left in 2001 to live in Kilmore - I owned a 1920 home there for 20 years and have worked on numerous period rebuilds and renovations. Anyway, I would also be pleased to have a chat about precisely what it is you are working to achieve with your project. if you're interested please send me a private message with contact details - I lived in Moore Street by the way (down the very end near the park) ... it's the one with the Mosque on the corner of Nicholson St.

have fun and keep posting!