Historic Doors | Fine Craftsmanship in Woodworking

Our customers bring vision and commitment to their pursuit of quality. In return, we provide the best design and an exacting product, delivered with the highest level of service.

Our wood shop is well into its fourth decade of building custom architectural wood doors and joinery. Over that time, we have continuously refined the engineering we build into our products.

Wood is a favorite building material for traditional doors and entryways. In addition to its intrinsic beauty, wood is a renewable resource and a natural insulator. The structural and cellular properties of wood make it a resilient material for door building.

Highlights of our construction methods:

Mortise and Tenon Joinery

  • Locks vertical and horizontal members of the door together for a tight, durable fit
  • Superior to dowel construction in keeping the door square

Stave Core Construction

  • Takes advantage of the strength and structure of wood
  • Allows for expansion and contraction through thickness instead of width
  • Allows for book matching of solid wood stiles and rails
  • Minimizes warping and twisting

Engineered Panels

  • Minimizes expansion and contraction
  • Prevents splitting and checking common to solid wood panels
  • Allows for book matching of wood grain

Flashing of panels over horizontal rails

  • Prevents rain and moisture from infiltrating the panel grooves

Wooden boat building materials and technology

  • Boat building epoxy as adhesive
  • Epoxy coating over top and bottom of door
  • Epoxy coating over bottom of threshold
  • Bent laminations for curved woodwork

Wood Species

  • Exterior: Spanish Cedar, Mahogany, White Oak, Teak, Walnut or other good weathering wood
  • Interior: includes Red Oak, Cherry, Birch, Maple, Fir and Pine
  • FSC lumber available as required

Door Thickness

  • Door thickness dictated by door design
  • Majority of exterior doors are 2 ¼″ thick
  • Interior doors range from 1″
  • Other thicknesses available

Profiles

  • Panel mold profiles play with light and shadow
  • Bring character and style to a door design
  • Many period style doors identified by molding profiles
  • Many standard profile moldings in stock
  • Custom profiles available for any project

Curved Woodwork

  • We are known for curved woodwork
  • Fanlight transoms, radius paneling and moldings built using traditional boat building technology
  • Gothic tracery a specialty

Glass

  • Can source any type of glass: leaded, restoration, beveled, seeded, tempered, laminated, and insulated
  • True divided light preferred to simulated glass divisions
  • Glass set in wood stops using 50 year silicone

Mortising for Hardware

  • Mortising for our customer’s hinges is standard
  • Can machine for operating hardware as supplied to us
  • Referal to hardware specialists for help selecting the best solutions

Project Coordination

  • Offer expanding network of experts and consultants
  • Can assemble a team or work with your professionals
  • We are problem solvers for architects and builders

Finishing

  • Services can include priming, staining, and painting
  • Natural, sustainable line of products available for easier maintenance