Time for a new front door

[PaulJohnson]

On the to do list was a new barn door for the front of the house.
Our contractor finished up replacing the trim, so my wife and I set out o make a new door. Below is the before, during, and after. The door is made from cedar.

Next up a new hayloft door.

7B12690F-D653-47CC-A6B5-DF6509FDBEAC.jpeg (661.63 KiB) Viewed 767 times

07F85B5A-7CEE-4B3B-BD96-BA90F630E2B0.jpeg (778.78 KiB) Viewed 767 times

B5BA3E64-C9B1-4ADD-AF7F-8CCA5047FD15.jpeg (733.41 KiB) Viewed 767 times

DAF0F838-DEDD-4FD4-A7C5-5D809D37B0CD.jpeg (820.97 KiB) Viewed 767 times

BFD2AB6D-58F0-4B59-9589-09D9FAD47067.jpeg (847.64 KiB) Viewed 767 times

[Gothichome]

Well isn’t that a nifty way to hide an entrance door. Nice work and to my eye it fits nicely with the trim work. Are those hand forged strap hinges? If so did they come with the original door.

[PaulJohnson]

thank you
Unfortunately, they are hot hand forged - big box special. The old straps were ornamental. The previous owner used standard hinges and add the straps for.effect.

[KenN]

Nice work, I like the color.

For the diagonal pieces, the upper one is not actually adding any strength to stop the outer edge from sagging?

My understanding is both diagonals should be oriented like the bottom diagonal for the most support to stop sagging.

[PaulJohnson]

Ken you are correct.
That was a design flaw on my part. The prior door was set up the same way and I followed suit. Once it was assembled and screw holes filled I realized the error.

Given its minimal use and that each board is screwed to the horizontal and diagonal cross braces, I am hoping it wont be an issue.

To do it over again I would have done one long “Z”.

[GinaC]

That looks beautiful! And that's the same color I've chosen for my front door.

I'm debating putting on a new storm door or just restoring the original wood front door and leaving it to the elements. I have a western exposure up on a hill so it gets a huge amount of sun in the afternoons and evenings. Too bad your idea doesn't fit with the age or style of my house.

[Corsetière]

Interesting! Can you tell us more about your house? I have never seen this sort of door on a home before. Is it a regional tradition, or common to a time period?

[PaulJohnson]

Definitely a regional and time period thing.
I am about 35-40 miles south of Boston. The previous owners did research that aged the house at 1750. I want to do some research to confirm.

All in all - it is an antique cape that had additions added through the years. Most of the more recent changes are to period.

We are restoring the antique portion - keeping all of the horse hair plaster.
Below are pics of the exterior. We replaced the roof, cupola, and some of the shingles. I am replacing the clapboards this week.

6DE4F9E0-FD93-4B7D-8EF5-AE1E9CD98D58.jpeg (1.3 MiB) Viewed 695 times

B5F0050C-4E35-42D1-82A0-A76AE0F1A773.jpeg (1.58 MiB) Viewed 695 times

295E638D-301B-40E6-B57C-004BBF3A0A34.jpeg (1.29 MiB) Viewed 695 times

8B7F952B-C537-4A5C-A26C-CCA166D977B3.jpeg (1.3 MiB) Viewed 695 times

[Gothichome]

Paul, that addition to my eye looks like a fifties interpretation of a colonial. Interestingly they clapped rather than shingle side like the original. Or was the original home clapped and converted to shingle?

[PaulJohnson]

You have a great eye!
I am guessing that addition went on in the late 50’s/60’s. I have aged it based on the poured concrete foundation and graffiti on the stair stringers.

It is tough to tell if the house was clapped in the front. I replaced those, too. The siding did not have a lot of nail holes which leads me to believe it was not shingles originally.

CC623D3D-F886-4D6B-89B4-3CF99F3B6E91.jpeg (1.52 MiB) Viewed 657 times

0454721E-A249-458A-B45F-69272BD4562A.jpeg (1.54 MiB) Viewed 657 times