[T. T.]

Dear all:

Just a quick question wish you could help. We are living in a very old
house (1930's) which has a old wooden door that has a 5" x 8" (outside
rim: 7" x 12") viewing windows (or maybe I should say "door")... This
viewing "window" is quite old and is not sealed very well, so when we
turn on the heater, the warm air will escape from this viewing window -
not really energy-smart. As I just had a good luck ordering a
hard-to-find window part from a online store, I wonder if there is also
an online store that sell this kind of part, and if so, where could I
find it? And what is the official name of this type of part?? Many
thanks!

Here you could see some photos of this "door" that I'm talking about...

http://www.picturetrail.com/hgtv2006/
(click on What is THIS?)

Thanks!

[Reed]

T. T. wrote:
Dear all:

Just a quick question wish you could help. We are living in a very old
house (1930's) which has a old wooden door that has a 5" x 8" (outside
rim: 7" x 12") viewing windows (or maybe I should say "door")... This
viewing "window" is quite old and is not sealed very well, so when we
turn on the heater, the warm air will escape from this viewing window -
not really energy-smart. As I just had a good luck ordering a
hard-to-find window part from a online store, I wonder if there is also
an online store that sell this kind of part, and if so, where could I
find it? And what is the official name of this type of part?? Many
thanks!

Here you could see some photos of this "door" that I'm talking about...

http://www.picturetrail.com/hgtv2006/
(click on What is THIS?)

Thanks!


It appears you have never seen any late-night movies set in the
Prohibition era showing the entrance to a "speak-easy".

similar items at:

http://www.vandykes.com/product/02916435/
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/14289.shtml

[[email protected]]

Dear Reed, thank you so much for your reply. Yes few hours later after
I posted this question to this group, I found some items on eBay which
then realized they are called "
vintage peep hole viewer speakeasy"

By the way, another side question, is there any way to weather
stripping this kind of viewer?? Any suggestions? Thanks!


Reed wrote:
T. T. wrote:
Dear all:

Just a quick question wish you could help. We are living in a very old
house (1930's) which has a old wooden door that has a 5" x 8" (outside
rim: 7" x 12") viewing windows (or maybe I should say "door")... This
viewing "window" is quite old and is not sealed very well, so when we
turn on the heater, the warm air will escape from this viewing window -
not really energy-smart. As I just had a good luck ordering a
hard-to-find window part from a online store, I wonder if there is also
an online store that sell this kind of part, and if so, where could I
find it? And what is the official name of this type of part?? Many
thanks!

Here you could see some photos of this "door" that I'm talking about...

http://www.picturetrail.com/hgtv2006/
(click on What is THIS?)

Thanks!


It appears you have never seen any late-night movies set in the
Prohibition era showing the entrance to a "speak-easy".

similar items at:

http://www.vandykes.com/product/02916435/
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/14289.shtml

[T. T.]

Thank you so much for your reply, By the way, is there any way to
weather stripping this kind of viewer? Any suggestion? Thanks!

Reed wrote:
T. T. wrote:
Dear all:

Just a quick question wish you could help. We are living in a very old
house (1930's) which has a old wooden door that has a 5" x 8" (outside
rim: 7" x 12") viewing windows (or maybe I should say "door")... This
viewing "window" is quite old and is not sealed very well, so when we
turn on the heater, the warm air will escape from this viewing window -
not really energy-smart. As I just had a good luck ordering a
hard-to-find window part from a online store, I wonder if there is also
an online store that sell this kind of part, and if so, where could I
find it? And what is the official name of this type of part?? Many
thanks!

Here you could see some photos of this "door" that I'm talking about...

http://www.picturetrail.com/hgtv2006/
(click on What is THIS?)

Thanks!


It appears you have never seen any late-night movies set in the
Prohibition era showing the entrance to a "speak-easy".

similar items at:

http://www.vandykes.com/product/02916435/
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/14289.shtml

[David Martel]

TT,

It's not really clear what's leaking. You'll need to take this apart,
clean everything up, and repair the seals. I'm guessing you'll need some
paintable caulk and some glazing compound. The glazing compound will seal
the window glass to it's frame. The caulk is used to seal everything back to
the door.
Adding a storm door might be a better fix.

Dave M.

[Goedjn]

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:43:26 GMT, "David Martel"
wrote:

TT,

It's not really clear what's leaking. You'll need to take this apart,
clean everything up, and repair the seals. I'm guessing you'll need some
paintable caulk and some glazing compound. The glazing compound will seal
the window glass to it's frame. The caulk is used to seal everything back to
the door.
Adding a storm door might be a better fix.



Is there, in fact, any glass in it at all? It looks like
a metal grill and a metal shutter. If not,
there's certainly room between the outer grill and
the inner shutter to caulk a sheet of lucite in there.

[Norminn]

wrote:
Dear Reed, thank you so much for your reply. Yes few hours later after
I posted this question to this group, I found some items on eBay which
then realized they are called "
vintage peep hole viewer speakeasy"

By the way, another side question, is there any way to weather
stripping this kind of viewer?? Any suggestions? Thanks!


In the picture you posted, what is beyond the little opening? Looks
like metal grate. Pretty cute feature. I would be inclined to caulk it
shut for the winter and, when warm weather arrives, take the door down,
strip it, refinish, fit (two panes if possible) plexi inside the little
door.

You will probably chip the paint removing screws to get the metal door
out, so that is the reason I would want to wait for warm weather.
Stripping the metal and removing rust will help keep it nice for long
time, as it is a very unique feature. If you do refinish, be sure to
prime the metal with a good metal primer right away after removing the
paint or it will begin to rust. Looks like there is enough depth to the
door to fit in two panes of plexiglass with a narrow spacer between them
and drilled at the corners to fit the screws. Put fine line of silicone
caulk around inside pane and outside the outer pane.

[Bennett Price]

Consider something like this - cheap, easy- also available at ACE HW
stores. It will fill the gaps around the door.
http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/6540116#



T. T. wrote:
Dear all:

Just a quick question wish you could help. We are living in a very old
house (1930's) which has a old wooden door that has a 5" x 8" (outside
rim: 7" x 12") viewing windows (or maybe I should say "door")... This
viewing "window" is quite old and is not sealed very well, so when we
turn on the heater, the warm air will escape from this viewing window -
not really energy-smart. As I just had a good luck ordering a
hard-to-find window part from a online store, I wonder if there is also
an online store that sell this kind of part, and if so, where could I
find it? And what is the official name of this type of part?? Many
thanks!

Here you could see some photos of this "door" that I'm talking about...

http://www.picturetrail.com/hgtv2006/
(click on What is THIS?)

Thanks!

[Heathcliff]

T. T. wrote:
Dear all:

Just a quick question wish you could help. We are living in a very old
house (1930's) which has a old wooden door that has a 5" x 8" (outside
rim: 7" x 12") viewing windows (or maybe I should say "door")... This
viewing "window" is quite old and is not sealed very well, so when we
turn on the heater, the warm air will escape from this viewing window -
not really energy-smart. As I just had a good luck ordering a
hard-to-find window part from a online store, I wonder if there is also
an online store that sell this kind of part, and if so, where could I
find it? And what is the official name of this type of part?? Many
thanks!

Here you could see some photos of this "door" that I'm talking about...

http://www.picturetrail.com/hgtv2006/
(click on What is THIS?)

Thanks!

Does the little door latch firmly? If so you could try putting some
stick-on weatherstripping around the edge of the door, it looks like
there is maybe just barely enough overlap between the little door and
its frame so that would work. Alternatively, find a small decorative
pillow that will just fit in there and stuff it in for the winter.
(Today is my day for "stuff a pillow in it" answers.)

[T. T.]

Yes you are right, there is no glass.. that's why it need to be
weather-stripped...

Goedjn wrote:
On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:43:26 GMT, "David Martel"
wrote:

TT,

It's not really clear what's leaking. You'll need to take this apart,
clean everything up, and repair the seals. I'm guessing you'll need some
paintable caulk and some glazing compound. The glazing compound will seal
the window glass to it's frame. The caulk is used to seal everything back to
the door.
Adding a storm door might be a better fix.



Is there, in fact, any glass in it at all? It looks like
a metal grill and a metal shutter. If not,
there's certainly room between the outer grill and
the inner shutter to caulk a sheet of lucite in there.