Sunday, June 29, 2008

This Olde House - New Interior Doors

This is a post long in the coming. I worked on this project on May 31st. Actually, I ordered the doors in March. They arrived in April. And after several more weeks, I finally synced up with my father-in-law to get them installed. Not sure why it took me a month to post, but better late than never.

The first picture shows one of the original doors. In this case, From inside Liam's room. Notice the super-high-gloss black paint on the casing. As well as the equally shiny coat on the chair rails! (Seriously, what kid's room has chair rails? Let alone black ones?) Though it can't be seen, trust me when I say the door is extremely cheap and flimsy (ie: hollow.) It offers absolutely no acoustic benefits. The catch on the doorknob barely catches. And there is almost a two inch gap at the bottom.

The second photo was taken after I had removed the door and the casing. The unpainted hall is visible in the background. As well as the stick on floor tiles which will eventually be removed to reveal the hardwoods underneath. Anyway, I made short work of the old doors: Popped the pins. Took the door outside. Pried off the old casings with my FatMax Fubar. Cut the frame with my reciprocating saw. And took out all the scraps

At last, a picture of the new door in place. My father-in-law and I put it in place, leveled it out, snapped the casings in place, and I tapped in a bunch of 2" finishing nails with my cordless Dewalt nailgun. Believe it or not, but we didn't have any problems. Even taking a lot of time and checking the level dozens of times, it only took about an hour per door.

Oh! I bought them all from Lowe's. They are officially called Palazzo Bellagio Smooth 2 Panel Doors. They came pre-hung, pre-primed, pre-holed, and included the oil-rubbed bronze hinges.

The new doors are "foam core' but they feel like solid wood, weigh ninety pounds each, and have a very noticeable impact on sound. In the end, Cindy and I are MUCH happier. It is a huge improvement, even though they are not spackled or painted. That comes next.

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