Help needed with door repair!

[cumbrian]

I’m faced with repairing our old front door – probably late Victorian/early Edwardian, which turns out to be in worse condition than I originally thought (if I’d known I probably wouldn’t have started the job!). The door has four panels with the top two being stained glass and the bottom two being raised and fielded and edged round with a moulding. It’s the bottom panels which are the problem – they both have bad rot on their bottom edges, along with some rot on the corresponding edge of the bottom rail.
I’ve never tried dismantling a door, and with the stained glass panels in this one I don’t want to use it as a bad learning experience! So my question is, how best to repair? It looks like the panels are too far gone to repair with rot treatment, filler and similar stuff, as I can push right through them in places.
My current thinking is to remove the bottom rail by cutting through where it joins the stiles, hopefully enabling me to remove the old panels and then slide in replacements. Then make up a new rail grooved to fit over the panels, and fitting this by routing the existing mortices in the stiles through to the bottom so that the rail tenons can be slid in from the end. If that makes any sense!
As my experience is very limited, I’m hoping that someone can tell me if I’m completely off the mark, and whether there’s a better approach (please no double glazing salesmen!). I’ve also never tried my hand at a raised and fielded panel so any tips there would be helpful – I have access to a router and table.

 

[ike]

Hi Cumbrian,

I'm facing the exact same repair (Victorian front door circa 1860) for a family friend. Your suggested repair is exactly what I have in mind too. I shall strengthen the bottom rail joints (I suppose they become bridle joints really) by also cross-drilling and some brass woodscrews. The door is painted I assume.

cheers,

Ike

 

[Colin C]

Hi
As A Restorer, I would say that would be the most straight forward way to do it. Or you could just remove the bottom of the the mortise ( which you will have to do any way) and try to knock the rail out, so on need to make a new one, just repair it.

If you find it hard to remove the old panel, try to knock it up first to get it to move and it should come out after that
I hope this helps
Colin

 

[RogerS]

Could you not rout around the stiles and rail borders ...firstly to release the panel...and secondly forming a rebate into which you could fit a slightly larger panel?

That way the integrity of the bottom rail/stile joints are maintained.

If they are glued up then wouldn;t it be difficult to break them apart? My method obviates the need for this

 

[Colin C]

To add to the way roger has said you could cut the panels out first and then cut your rails to the rebate, this way you dont need bigger panels and the bottom rail is saved.

 

[cumbrian]

Gents

Many thanks for your help. I like the idea of cutting out the existing panels and routing a rebate - it gives me the opportunity to really see how bad the bottom rail is, and if I still need to replace it then I've lost nothing.
Any advice on sealing the new panels to prevent future water ingress? I assume I need to allow for some possible movement of the panels? And obviously getting some paint onto the panels before final fitting seems like a good idea!

 

[RogerS]

I'd probably lay a bead of clear silicone rubber sealant around the rebate and drop the panel on top....then clean around on both sides where visible before it dries.