Antique Door Furniture Blog

Period House Restoration - Using the Correct Fittings

We've all seen it,a superb restoration marred by using inferior reproduction fittings.

17th & 18th century cottages fitted with the most awful thick black ironmongery in cast iron that bears no resemblance to the genuine article.
Where on earth do they get their designs from,certainly not from original thumb latches & hinges once proudly made by the local blacksmith.
Presumably the terrible mottled or hammered finish is supposed to represent age pitting of the metal but never have I seen anything like it,even on stuff two or three hundred years old.

Door locks are being produced,some of which are pretty good copies,but again embellishments are added which never would have been seen.

Door knobs,particulary made of brass used to be a good rich colour due to a higher proportion of copper in their manufacture,are now mostly that awful light yellow brass colour and of course there is no subsitute for the patina that only comes with age and use.

There is now an endless supply of this stuff being used to point where the next generation or two will have no idea of how good the real thing should be!

Of course there is a need for reproductions but if considering them think about the suitability of them.Your property and the craftsmen that built it deserve better!

Fortunately for the purist a good selection of correct,original fittings and advice are available at antique door fittings

Dave Thompson
The Victorian Ironmonger

17th century doors in their simplest form were usually made up of vertical planks on horizontal battens or ledges (never ledged & braced in a Z pattern as later 20th century doors) nailed together with the nail ends cleated over.
Many counties having their own distinct style.The boards or planks may be simply butt jointed,rebated or have loose tongues.Often the board edges being beaded to flaunt the joint.
Generally the wider the plank the earlier the door,usually three or four on a normal width door (typically 32-33" x 68-72").
Material by this time would be pine,with a very low percentage being oak,certainly in the more basic house.Oak would have been used in preference though for the front door, and often of double thickness with horizontal boarding on the inside to prevent draughts as well as giving extra strength.
Panelled doors were to be found only in grander properties,often being false panels applied to the boards.
Original doors of this period are,for obvious reasons hard to find, particulary made of oak.