Finsbury Park Door Restoration – Restoring a 150-Year-Old Door
Original features are at the very heart of a heritage property. Unfortunately, many property owners rush to replace period features when age starts to take its toll. At Fortis & Hooke, we think there is a better way.
Restoration allows you to improve your door’s appearance and function without compromising on its original character. It’s the ideal solution for almost any original wooden door, even those which have been in place for several decades.
A perfect example was a property we worked on around Finsbury Park, where the door itself was over 150 years old. Wow! That was no problem for our team, who were delighted to complete a full restoration on the antique door using our Longaevitas system.
ABOUT THE PROPERTY
The area around Finsbury Park has a number of highly sought-after period properties. For owners of these properties, maintaining the original fixtures is a big concern. They want to preserve the original features and keep their home looking its best. However, that can become increasingly complex as the years roll by.
Our North London customer is a case in point. Their front door had clearly been in place for several decades, with noticeable aging on a number of areas. Paint had begun flaking away on the door’s panelling and was almost non-existent around the edge of the door.
As well as impairing the appearance of the property, this had led to significant moisture ingress, causing the door to swell. When this happens, the door inevitably becomes less effective at keeping cold air out, as gaps emerge between the door and the frame. It was only a matter of time until things got worse and the wood started to decay.
A CHALLENGING JOB
Like many period fixtures, our customer’s door was also larger than normal, which could have been an issue for other companies. However, at Fortis & Hooke, we provide a completely bespoke restoration service. No matter how old, how worn or how large the door is, our Longaevitas system is prepared to deal with it.
To start with, we remove fixtures from the property and replace them with a made-to-measure wooden replica for the time-being. This allows us to work with any size of door from any type of property, eliminates environmental factors and minimises disruption for our valued customers.
IMMACULATE RESULTS
Rather than patching things up, we completely stripped the existing paint from the door before repairing and repainting the original timber. This is the only way to provide complete protection for the original wood. Our customer chose white gloss for the door’s interior and Oxford Blue on the outside with an egg shell finish, which pairs perfectly with the door’s classic appearance.
On inspection, we also noticed a large gap at the top of the door. If left, this would have caused continued draughts after the restoration was complete. We installed a firring piece at the top of the door to rectify the issue and eliminate any potential problems.