I'm looking for a reclaimed 1930's panelled front door (three tall below,
glazed above), and the one we've chosen is unfortunately cut for hinges and
locks on the wrong sides.

It has a mortis lock (with both ordinary bolt and deadbolt, so quite a chunk
removed from the door), and a Yale-style rim lock. The mortis is mounted at
the same level as the cross beam below the glass.

How compromised would the strength of such a door be if I were to slot a
piece of wood into where the mortis lock was (screwed in place maybe?), fill
the old rim lock hole and hinge slots, and hang on the side where the old
locks were? I was planning on having just a good rim lock on the new side
(e.g. Yale XBS2).

Or should I keep looking until I find a door hung the right way (which never
seems to be the case with doors which will fit our frame!).

Thanks,

Ben

Ben Micklem wrote:
I'm looking for a reclaimed 1930's panelled front door (three tall below,
glazed above), and the one we've chosen is unfortunately cut for hinges and
locks on the wrong sides.

Is an old door much cheaper than a new one? There are lots of
designs for new doors, including traditional ones.


It has a mortis lock (with both ordinary bolt and deadbolt,

Ah. A dead bold. That explains the "mortis".

so quite a chunk
removed from the door), and a Yale-style rim lock. The mortis is mounted at
the same level as the cross beam below the glass.

How compromised would the strength of such a door be if I were to slot a
piece of wood into where the mortis lock was (screwed in place maybe?), fill
the old rim lock hole and hinge slots, and hang on the side where the old
locks were? I was planning on having just a good rim lock on the new side
(e.g. Yale XBS2).

Locks shouldn't really be put there. You could dowel the rail,
and use polyester filler to glue the lot together, I suppose,
but you're always going to see a trace of where you've filled,
whatever you use. It'd be OK, I'm sure - you should use a pair
and a half of hinges, you could use two pairs...

Or should I keep looking until I find a door hung the right way (which never
seems to be the case with doors which will fit our frame!).

Depends on what *you* want!

in article , Chris Bacon at
wrote on 24/2/06 11:11:

Ben Micklem wrote:
I'm looking for a reclaimed 1930's panelled front door (three tall below,
glazed above), and the one we've chosen is unfortunately cut for hinges and
locks on the wrong sides.

Is an old door much cheaper than a new one? There are lots of
designs for new doors, including traditional ones.

Thanks for your post. Unfortunately, new ones don't quite fit the style I'm
after (1930's doors look a bit down-market compared to Victorian ones, in
most peoples' eyes). The only new door I could find with the panel
arrangement that would suit was priced over £400, unglazed. A 1930's one
with nice original leaded panel can be had for £250, and fits style of house
better- and is less likely to warp. But its probably weaker, if I have to
bodge one that has been hung the other way...

Ben Micklem wrote:
I'm looking for a reclaimed 1930's panelled front door (three tall below,
glazed above), and the one we've chosen is unfortunately cut for hinges and
locks on the wrong sides.

What proportion split between glass and panel is it. If about
60(panel):40(glass) and the glass is divided into 6 panes then that's
exactly what was fitted as original on the 1930's houses in our road.
We found a new door that matched this made from hemlock which is a hard
wood apparently - can't say I'd ever heard of it before buying the
door. We got ours from Howarth Timber in York (they have branches all
over the place), but as you don't say where you are that may not be
very useful. Probably worth noting it was made by another company and
sold on by Howarths so other suppliers may also sell them. Cost about
£90 delivered - unglazed, unpainted. The glass was about... err I
can't remember actually but it was laminated and not much at all. It
needed painting in our opinion (varnish would have been doable but not
ideal).

How compromised would the strength of such a door be if I were to slot a
piece of wood into where the mortis lock was (screwed in place maybe?),

To be honest I'm not sure how strong most doors are anyway. One heft
of the old battering ram by the police sees most frames split even if
the door stays intact. So the question is what level of attack do you
want to protect against? I think the simple answer is that yes -
removing part of the body of the door will compromise the strength but
whether that actually matters is another question?

--
Steve F

Ben Micklem wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote on 24/2/06 11:11:
Ben Micklem wrote:
I'm looking for a reclaimed 1930's panelled front door (three tall below,
glazed above), and the one we've chosen is unfortunately cut for hinges and
locks on the wrong sides.

Is an old door much cheaper than a new one? There are lots of
designs for new doors, including traditional ones.

Thanks for your post. Unfortunately, new ones don't quite fit the style I'm
after (1930's doors look a bit down-market compared to Victorian ones, in
most peoples' eyes). The only new door I could find with the panel
arrangement that would suit was priced over £400, unglazed. A 1930's one
with nice original leaded panel can be had for £250, and fits style of house
better- and is less likely to warp. But its probably weaker, if I have to
bodge one that has been hung the other way...

It probably won't be a problem, especially if you hang it
using two pairs of hinges for extra strength, if you're
worried, that's what I'd do...

In article
Ben Micklem wrote:
I'm looking for a reclaimed 1930's panelled front door (three tall below,
glazed above), and the one we've chosen is unfortunately cut for hinges and
locks on the wrong sides.

It has a mortis lock (with both ordinary bolt and deadbolt, so quite a chunk
removed from the door), and a Yale-style rim lock. The mortis is mounted at
the same level as the cross beam below the glass.

How compromised would the strength of such a door be if I were to slot a
piece of wood into where the mortis lock was (screwed in place maybe?), fill
the old rim lock hole and hinge slots, and hang on the side where the old
locks were? I was planning on having just a good rim lock on the new side
(e.g. Yale XBS2).

My front door is a similar construction and the cross-piece has a double
tenon - if yours is the same then the lock mortice probably won't have
removed much of the joint and simply gluing in a snug-fitting piece of
wood will restore most of the structure.
Similarly fill the hinge rebates by gluing in bits of wood after
cleaning up the surfaces with a chisel.

"Ben Micklem" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a reclaimed 1930's panelled front door (three tall below,
glazed above), and the one we've chosen is unfortunately cut for hinges
and
locks on the wrong sides.

It has a mortis lock (with both ordinary bolt and deadbolt, so quite a
chunk
removed from the door), and a Yale-style rim lock. The mortis is mounted
at
the same level as the cross beam below the glass.

How compromised would the strength of such a door be if I were to slot a
piece of wood into where the mortis lock was (screwed in place maybe?),
fill
the old rim lock hole and hinge slots, and hang on the side where the old
locks were? I was planning on having just a good rim lock on the new side
(e.g. Yale XBS2).

Or should I keep looking until I find a door hung the right way (which
never
seems to be the case with doors which will fit our frame!).

We changed several of the doors (just like yours) in our house to hang from
the other side. We simply turned them the other way round, since they were
the same 'back' and 'front', the strength wasn't compromised at all.

Holes were made good and painted, new mortices made..

Sorted!

Mary

Thanks,

Ben

Ben Micklem wrote:

Thanks for your post. Unfortunately, new ones don't quite fit the style I'm
after (1930's doors look a bit down-market compared to Victorian ones, in
most peoples' eyes). The only new door I could find with the panel
arrangement that would suit was priced over £400, unglazed. A 1930's one
with nice original leaded panel can be had for £250, and fits style of house
better- and is less likely to warp. But its probably weaker, if I have to
bodge one that has been hung the other way...


This should sort you out:
http://art-nouveau.kubos.org/en/portes.htm


NT