Fitting a reclaimed door

sareybox_2

Hi

I'm looking for a bit of advise please...

I bought a reclaimed pine front door from a pine salvage yard. It's a 1930s door that has been stripped and reglazed. When we bought it we asked if they sold frames too and the guy said to go and buy one from B&Q, very easy to fit, bob's your uncle etc.

We got it home and started looking at frame sizes and soon realised that it was't a standard size, but we could get a frame that is the right width but a couple of inches too tall.

My husband started looking for advise online and a forums etc and got a bit freaked out that he wouldn't be able to fit it with his basic carpentry experience (he's done a few internal doors but always new doors). We read some horror stories about them not sitting right and not being able to get them properly weather proof.

So, we decided to get a carpenter around to quote to do the job. We had a guy come round and he took one look at the door and said he couldn't do it because the door was too warped and he wouldn't be able to make it look any good or lock properly :eek:

So we contacted the company we bought it from who very promptly sent round their joiner who said that he didn't think it was badly out of shape for his age and he should be able to fit it without too much hassle. We asked how much he would do it for and he said £20 / hour but he couldn't say how long it would take as you never know what will happen when you get the old door off. Said it could be anywhere from an hour to all day.... I asked him if he thought it could possibly take more than a day and he didn't really give a definate answer.

So now we're in a bit of a quandry, do we get him to do it, does my husband try to do it or do we press them for a refund?

Help!

Sarey x

john_howard_fisher

i would go for:
- refund- they sold it and would have known its no good
- husband- take a chance if it goes OK you will be well impressed
- company joiner- just out to make money best is offer £50 flat fee- take it or leave it

ormus

modify the new frame to suit. pretty basic joinery if you ask me.
when buying say a used item like a door, you are going to have to accept that it aint going to be/fit 100% as good as new.
its called character.

oz0707

i would go for:
- refund- they sold it and would have known its no good

...are you having a laugh? A refund because a reclaimed door is twisted!? Just get a chippie in. Be a days work for anyone with anything about them.

leveller2911

Fitting reclaimed doors can be a nightmare.The pine ones are the worse as pine isn't very stable, if its moisture content is low because its been stored for some time it will swell up and vice versa if its moisture content is high it can dry out and shrink like mad.More often than not they are "in-wind" or twisted, can be full of nails which is a nightmare when routering the rebate ove the water bar or using an electric planer to shoot them in only to find it had previously been fitted with copper atomic strip draught excluder with nails hammered in every 1"........


Personally I won't ever fit a re-claimed external door again, think about it when it swells up ,falls apart,lets in water etc (which it will do) who is the 1st person you phone? the poor old chippy that hung it he will blame the door supplier who in turn will blame the chippy.......No, never again, won't do it, ever,ever,ever, hell will freeze over , more chance of taking a dump in the Queens handbag that getting me to hang a 2nd hand door again........... A door which lets in water,draughty and a hell of a job to open and shut may well have "Character" but character doesn't keep you warm and dry..


IMO reclaimation yards shouldn't be allowed to sell 2nd hand doors as the vast majority of them are not fit for purpose, you only have to look how they store them .You never see them stored flat as they should be always leaned up against each other worse thing they could do........


I feel so much better for getting that off me chest....... Oh and def a refund........

sareybox_2

thanks for all the info.... still seems to be no definitive answer though I guess!

I think it is "in-wind" or twisted, he used his spirt level to show us it was all straight but that wouldn't go from bottom left to top right iyswim. When it lays on the floor you can see it that it lifts up on the bottom left and top right, is this "in-wind"? How much of a twist is a problem? (it is only about 1cm). On the other hand we've had new doors before from home base that were bowed. hmm....