Old Doors

[steviedee30]

Hi

I have a tenement flat which is well over 100 years old. the doors are original, with original fittings which i kinda like however they have been badly painted white. I was thinking of stripping and then staining them, however, they have numerous cracks which i am told is due to central heating drying out the wood.

I have a few questions

Is it worth the hassle trying to salvage these doors?

Is there a way to repair the cracks?

At the moment with the white paint it seems to make the cracks look worse, would the cracks look okay as natural wood?

I know i could get cheaper doors but I just like trying to keep the originals.

Cheers

 

[masona]

At the moment with the white paint it seems to make the cracks look worse, would the cracks look okay as natural wood?
I know i could get cheaper doors but I just like trying to keep the originals.

I would get the door paint stripped then polish it up with wood wax to bring the beauty of the woodgrain. There many many brands of wood wax on the market.

 

[david and julie]

They could also have lead paint on them, Best to have them professionally stripped. It's not worth taking the chance.

 

[IanDB]

Get one stripped to see what it's like underneath. Although you always get beautiful results from finds on TV in many cases the wood used then was the cheapest available (similar to today really!). No disrespect, but the original driver behind tenements was to provide low cost housing. (I'll bet it's not anymore.)

You may be lucky and be pleased with the result - or you can always re-paint it.