Restoring Door Jamb
Posted on | November 17, 2011 | 18 Comments
Snapshot of the den on November 17th, 2011. I still need to finish painting the walls, restore the firebox, line the chimney, strip the floors and add interior shutters.
We’ve never talked about how we restored the door jamb in the den, so here it goes. When we bought the house the original jamb had been cut out and removed on the right side. We assume this was done to fit furniture into the house—the doorways are only 26 inches wide.
We removed the frame and realized the wall was crumbling. Paneling was carefully removed and the wall was gutted to the corner beam. We went back and forth on whether to keep the doorway expanded because it was more convenient and it allowed more light into the space or not. Many of you shared your opinions on this post from January—the widen doorway was more favored.
We found three doors in the basement that were mates for the den. Greg decided he wanted to restore the door and use in the space. I like the idea and thought keeping the symmetry of the room was the right move. When the renovation is complete we’ll be able to close all three doors and light the fire on cold winter nights.
The molding profile that was removed was difficult to source because it didn’t match anything modern. We got a tip that Blue Anchor Woodworks carried many of the knives used to cut historic molding profiles found in Marblehead. We were able to match the molding with a knife in their inventory and bought 32 feet for $200. Having a custom knife made would of been a lot more expensive.
When we replaced the beams in preps for a new ceiling we also built out a new wall and installed the molding. Blueboard was hung in the wall cavity and then plastered over. The molding has been painted and you can hardly tell the difference between the old and new. Well, except that new molding doesn’t have nearly as many dings. I’ve taken care of that and made it more authentic by accidentally knocking it a few times with the vacuum cleaner.
We still need to fix the little gap between the top of the door and the molding. Can you even see that or does it just glare at me? I think the best tactic is to fill the gap with some wood and paint it green so it blends. Below photos of the project.
Den when we first bought the house.
Removing ceiling, stripping paint off molding and removing damaged door jamb.
Doorway expanded allowed more light in but I didn’t like that it threw off the symmetry of the room.
After we removed the ceiling and replaced with new beams we also put the door jamb back in. The paneling in the corner is original.
We had custom molding made for us at Blue Anchor in Marblehead to match.
Making sure the corners line up.
Carefully nailing the molding into place.
Adding molding to opposite side.
Blue board was installed and then plastered over when we did the ceilings.
View of the two doorways restored.
View from library looking into den with doorway restored.
A close-up of the corner after plastering.
Priming molding and painting the walls in the den.
Den this morning on Nov 17th, 2011. I still need to finish painting the walls, restore the firebox, strip the floors and add interior shutters.
Related Posts:
Expanding Doorframe in Den
Base Coat Plaster Ceiling
Narrow Doorway
Fixing Doorway & Ceiling Conversation
Finding Concealed Objects In Den
Posted on | November 1, 2011 | 26 Comments
I thought it was time to round up the objects we found in our den on the second floor. We found most of the objects when we removed the ceiling because of water damage. This past spring we replaced it, see here.
In the ceiling we found fabric, tools and shoes. While we were stripping the paint off the molding we discovered an old cigar and hair pins in the cavity between the old and new mantel piece. We believe the mantel was originally two fields and then a decorative mantel was later attached.
It’s really common to find objects like this in older homes in New England. An old folklore of hiding shoes in the walls was thought to ward off evil and bring good luck. “Concealment shoes” are so common that the The Northampton (UK) Museum maintains an international index.
About half the shoes registered in the concealment index are children’s shoes. Women’s shoes are more common than men’s. Shoes are almost invariably well worn, perhaps because the donor didn’t want to waste an expensive new shoe on the project, or perhaps because a well-worn shoe is more likely to retain the shape of the wearer’s foot and hence his spirit. Though shoes are the common denominator, more than two hundred different personal possessions–coins, spoons, pots, goblets, food, knives, toys, gloves, pipes, even chicken and cat bones–have been found hidden with them. (Wayland Historic Society)
Many preservationist suggest putting the shoes back after repairs are completed. I’m planning on creating shadow boxes of all the objects for each room in the house. This way the objects will stay with the house but we can also enjoy them.
In this room we also removed hundred layers of paint and wallpaper off the walls. We found two wallpapers—a floral and an older piece was a stripe. The wallpaper was scattered around the room and the largest area was near a window but was badly damaged (see below).
Above and below objects we found in the room with a photo of where we discovered each collection.
We found the leather, tools, fabric and a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes on the left side of the room near the chimney below the lathe.
A “concealed shoe” and fabric found together.
The shoe and fabric were found on the right side of the room closer to the front window.
Objects we found in the cavity between the new mantel and base.
The mantel in the den being stripped where we found the cigar and pins.
Top layer of wallpaper found near front window.
Two layers of wallpaper found between the window and center beam
A view of the wallpaper found.
Related Posts:
Newspaper Insulation in Back Extension
Stripping Wallpaper In Guest Room
Finding Old Wallpaper in Library
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A journal about new england life, decorating inspiration, and renovating a 262-year-old house in Marblehead, Massachusetts. read more...
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