Your Dutch Door ....... why not !

The Dutch Door (a pair of half doors) was common in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and appears in Dutch paintings of the period. They were also commonly found in the Dutch cultural areas of New York and New Jersey before the American Revolution.  The initial purpose of this door was to keep animals out of farmhouses, or keep children inside, while allowing light and air to filter through the open top. They were also an intregal part of trains, for the conductors and passengers safety

Woman at a Dutch Door, 1645,

 by Samuel van Hoogstraten

Woman at a Mendocino Dutch Door

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

The Dutch Door offers a certain freedom to a room or home.  It lets the outside in and keeps the outside out.  Most Dutch Doors open inward and are almost a secure as a single door if they are connected together mechanicaly.  My clients love the beauty of wood and the beauty of their surroundings.  I believe they want to bring the environs into their home, kitchen, or studio, as much as possible.

Here is a view from the inside
what a nice view

Here is a close-up of the styles of hardware
 we used.  Both halves lock with keys.

The "excitement" at Mendocino Doors is that the client gets to design his or her Dutch Door.  Some folk wish to have multi-light panes or single lite arched-top.  It is your door and you get to help me design it.  You can design simple panels, art glass, or even a dentil shelf. The Dentil Shelf is attached to the Dentil Posts with stainless steel screws and covered with rosewood pins.  How would you want your Dutch Door?

The Dentil Shelf

The panels are Curly and
Burl Redwood

The "half-lap" joint has
weatherstripping

                      















Soooooo ..........if you might ever want a Dutch Door, just give me a call or drop me a note and we'll design your door together, and you can make your dreams come true.

Here is a Dutch Door we
just finished

You can go to MendocinoDoors.com and go to The Magnolia Hill Dutch Door to see some more pictures of the construction and completion of this beautiful door.

Thanks for taking your time to listen to me ramble !
                                              

One doormakers solution ........

Here is One doormakers solution to the everlasting question.......

"How do you hang a wreath
on a Craftsman Door with no nails?"

A client asked me this very question so I laid awake a few nights before 

I came up with this solution.

Take a thin ribbon of any width and cut it long enough to tie around your bow
 or fasten it to your bow


CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE




My Dentil shelves are about 1/16" off of the door surface for water drainage,
 so slide both ends of the ribbon down behind the shelf



Here I am using a dowel to show you the principle, but......




you can use a much smaller item like a toothpick or the shaft of a Q-tip




mark the toothpick to the width of the ribbon





cut off the excess and pull the ribbon tight





Now just attach the wreath to your ribbon ....... and

Have a Very Merry Christmas !

and please visit Our Site again

The Challenge of Contemporary and Conservation ..... with style!

Question:
  How do you make a modern contemporary door using salvaged, recycled, and green materials ?

That was the question that I had to ask myself with a challenge of solving that situation while creating beautiful door.

"the rest of the story!"

    I was asked by a local contractor, known as Rosenthal ~ Thorton Construction, if I could make a door similar to a sketch provided by their designer, Ron Press.

My first response was ......... SURE ......... then the caution sign started flashing and the sirens started getting louder.  Why you ask ?  Back in the 1400’s most of the doors were plank style doors made of boards attached together to fill the hole in the wall.  Cut lumber, even though it is no longer growing,  still swells and shrinks due to seasonal and climatic changes.  This can mean that several boards fastened together would swell up in the rainy season and actually bind so tight that the plank door would swell to the point of not opening without a stiff shoulder and a running start.  So that is the primary reason for developing a frame-and-panel door that really has only the outside boards that will swell and shrink.

So there must be a solution .......... and there is.

Take a 100% recycled waterproof substrate (core), edge it with Redwood (2”), on all four sides, and face it with  book-matched thick veneers that give the plank appearance, but won’t swell and shrink during seasonal changes.

Now before you think of the postcard thin mass-produced veneers, as seen on most doors and furniture these days, think of slices of wood about 5/16” thick.   We sawed these planks from vertical grain Old Growth Redwood lumber 

                            

Then we take these thick veneers and make two large sheets and adhere these beautiful pieces of wood  to the inner core made of  recycled material.  This material will have to remain a “secret” for now, but it’s pretty cool! These faces we adhered with my ever faithful waterproof glue in a vacuum press.  This press is like a giant “seal-a-meal” that exerts 1750 lbs of pressure on every square inch of surface.  And I keep these pieces  in my press for at least 72 hrs (3 days), until it is fully cured.

Next, after sanding, came the the inlay of a 3” wide stainless steel strip, on each side.  This was “sorta” tricky, but we got it done and each piece wraps both ends and is affixed with stainless steel screws.

By the way, 90% of the consumer market stainless steel come from recycled sources.

“According to the International Stainless Steel Forum; unlike other recyclable materials, 85% - 95% of stainless steel does wind up being recycled - very little winds up in landfill. The is  because stainless steel is so precious and durable.” (Sourcing http://www.greenlivingtips.com).

Last but not least, we found stainless D handles that we mounted on both sides.  They wanted handles that mounted without visible mounting brackets and we found this hardware through a wonderful online company called KnobDeco (http://www.knobdeco.com).  I think you’ll agree these handles are like candles on the cake!

If you are interested in viewing more of this door, please visit our Door Gallery and check out The Sea Cliff Entry.

I also would like to invite any questions you may have regarding custom doors, gates, or stained glass.

I wanted to share some photos

While I'm waiting to show you more progress on my house full of doors, I thought I'd share some interesting wood related photos.
    I was walking on the back of my land and noticed the Redwoods needles, from 2 springs ago, was starting to turn brown as it does each fall.  As the winter winds come,  these clumps of Redwood needles blow out of the trees and blanket the earth with a golden brown layer of retired branched needles.  The Pomo Indians say that each winter the Redwoods cry and they call these dead branchs of needles, Redwood Sorrow.

 

Instead of snow, our Coastal forest is blanketed with the Redwood "Sorrow" that returns to the earth to become mulch and nurture our beautiful Redwood forest.

  

Speaking of Redwood, our cousins to the West continent grow a third variety of Sequoia.  It is called The Dawn Redwood.  Wikipedia states "Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet  in height. Local villagers refer to the original tree from which most others derive as Shui-sa, or "water fir", which is part of a local shrine."

   About 20 years ago I planted a dawn Redwood on the edge of our garden and today it is about 35ft tall.  Every fall it looses all of its' needles.  

All of the needles will yellow then fall off and it looks like the tree has come to a fatal end until spring comes and life and foliage returns to this nobel tree.

  We have a western Maple that grows along the Pacific range.  Its' latin name is Acer Macrophillum, Pacific Maple, or Big Leaf Maple.  And this is why.........

These leaves turn yellow, not red or orange, and then turn into this tan shell of a leaf before they return back to compost and nurture the earth.


Another cool picture that I would like to share, is a very thin slice of old growth Redwood.  I cut it off the end of a board and noticed it was so thin you could see light through it......... so I took it outside and shot a picture of this slice held up to the afternoon sun in the Redwood forest.

A simple detail you should know ......... this end cut is 5-1/2" wide by about 1-3/4" tall.  Each line you see, indicates 1 full year of growth.  Part of this trees life grew in such a dark primeval forest, that it took 45 years to grow one inch in diameter.  Imagine these magnificent trees grow up to 20 feet in diameter, and have been on this earth since before the time of Christ.


So, one day my friend Sunray was sawing a 6ft cant (block) of curly Redwood into thick veneers for beautiful panels in our doors. Well it was so heavy that he decided to saw it in half to make it easier to re-saw the thick veneers.  And believe it or not (you really should) when he sawed this 6ft by 8 inch square cant of Redwood in half, he found this......

Yup ......... that is a bullet.  But look carefully that is a bullet that was shot into a young tree, maybe over 100 years ago.  There is no damaged wood behind the bullet and this piece of Redwood was over 120 years old before the tree was logged 40 to 50 years ago, and left on the forest floor for us to find and saw into beautiful veneer, like this

But I saved the the block with the bullet to tell its' story.  If your ever in the neighborhood ask to hold it and have a look for your self.  Can't wait to make "The Bullet Wood Door" for some nice (peaceful) folks!

I've shown this picture before, but take another look.  Here is a picture of the end of a board that was milled for me by a local sawyer.

 

This tree was originally fallen, by a man with an ax.  How very cool.  I'll bet he would be proud that we utilized his hard work and efforts to create a beautiful door to grace a home of a wonderful family.

Then, I'll end with this

This is a picture of some hand split curly Redwood and the cut end of a Buckeye Burl.  Not much more to say other then I love Natures paint brush.

Please visit Our Website to see more of this beautiful wood.

Trying to Show and Explain Quality and Craftsmanship

Sooo......... there are literally dozens and dozens of door manufacturers out in this big wonderful world we live in.  And I’m sure that some of these manufacturers try to make a door that is not only nice to look at, but made with the “intention” for durability.

    Many of the doors on the market are presented as “solid wood, Oak” not solid Oak wood.  That is because the frame of the door is made with a Finger-Jointed 2nd party wood such as Pine or Poplar (see a youtube video on finger jointed wood at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_IprVDZRo).

Here you see short pieces of wood,  joined with a Finger Joint.
This allows manufacturers to take wood scraps and
convert them to pieces of lumber used inside their doors.
WE DON'T DO THIS !

Then  the substrate (door blank) is edged with 3/4” Oak and the entire face surface is veneered with Oak or whatever species they are selling.  This veneer is about twice as thick as your business card 0.040" (yikes!) There are very few solid-wood door manufactures out there, and even fewer who use all vertical grain wood in the construction of their doors.

    How the wood is cut is very important.  Less than 25% of wood milled is "vertical grain", making it  more expensive.  However, vertical grain wood is infinitely more desirable than the cheaper and more plentiful flat grain.  Vertical grain is much more durable and stable, and will last up to twice as long!  Others may claim to use clear, vertical grain wood, but looking at their pictures frequently shows something completely different.  All of the salvaged lumber we have sawn, and all of the green
eco-friendly lumber that we purchase is Vertical Grain, because that will help us create doors that will stand the tests of time and the elements.

Here is a completed entry of
vertical grain Old Growth Redwood.
It is ALL solid Redwood

   Another revelation that I had (many years ago) was that if I delivered a door that was finish sanded but not sealed, all of the door parts “inside” of the door would never be sealed, by me or by the client.  Therefore it will be exposed to humidity and moisture.  This exposure makes the wood swell, shrink, mildew, water stain, enhance cracking, and could even cause joint failure. What a nightmare !
    Solution:  We seal every door frame, door panels, jambs, and even the door stops at least 3 times (many 4 times), with out own combination of premium exterior finishes, we call Varnish-Oil.

Here is a door frame that is soaking with our Varnish-Oil.
It will be wiped down after an hour or so and will
dry for 3 days and re-coated three more times.

These panels will receive 3-4 coats
of varnish-oil, allowed to soak in an
then wiped down and allowed to cure.

The panels will receive 3-4 coats of
varnish-oil before they are installed
into the door.

Even the stops for every door are soaked in a tub of our
varnish-oil so that, with the door and panels
ALL our door parts are sealed from the inside out.

      During the entire construction of each clients door, I photograph each step and after the door is glued up, I create a website for my client (and the rest of the world!) to see the progress and watch it blossom into the door they envisioned.  That is my goal and so far (knock on wood) this process and dedication to craftsmanship and quality is being embraced by very nice folks who dream up beautiful and unique doors for their home or office.  And for that I am thankful and strive each day to do better.

This "slice" of nature is a piece of vertical grain Redwood.
It is sliced very thin and that is the summer sun shining through.

Please visit Our Website to see how we make doors.  Thanks for stopping by.

Where Does the Salvaged Lumber and Green Sourced Wood come from?

Today we have become aware that all things are finite, except love and eternity!  That includes the forests of the world.  I have 4 grandchildren and I want them to have the opportunity to experience our forests as I have ............ so .............. I think I’ll leave them the trees that make our forests beautiful.  I have discovered, that with a little effort, we can find plenty of wood that can be “resurrected” an other sources that can be purchased from sources that replant and manage their forests as stewards of the land and forests, not pillagers.

Why salvaged or recycled wood for doors?  Many of my doors are Old Growth Redwood that was logged on the Mendocino Coast over 100 years ago.  We all know what a durable wood Redwood is, so it’s no wonder that logs that we left on the forest floor are still viable and make wonderful lumber.  Many times the trees were fallen down a gulch that was too steep for oxen to retrieve the logs.  Other pieces of logs were left on the forest floor because they were just to big to get onto a wagon and they would not split (easily) into smaller pieces.

This is the end of one of my door boards.
you can clearly see that this tree was
fallen by an ax over a 90 years ago

These logs have been laying on the forest floor
for many decades, and still have beautiful lumber.

All of my “figured” (fancy) Douglas Fir came from one log that a friend found in a “cull” (reject) log deck left out in the woods to decay or cut up for firewood by the local.  It had rot running throughout the log, which is why it was put on the cull deck, however there was still hundreds of board feet of beautiful salvageable Douglas Fir.

Here is a 5 foot diameter Douglas Fir log that we salvaged
from the forest in Humboldt County

I do buy Mahogany and White Oak from a hardwoods dealer about 3 hours from my home in the Redwood Forest.  All of the Mahogany that I use is sustainably harvested by Green Lumber Companies and the White Oak is harvested and replanted in the same ecological minded manner.  But the most important fact is that I travel down to “the big city” when a lumber container comes in and I hand pick and choose every stick of lumber that I have used in everyone of my doors.  There is just no other way.

Is it straight enough?  Is it vertical grain?
Are there any knots?

we scrape the paint off the board ends to find
the vertical grain sawn lumber .... very few

............ and I only choose the best quality wood I  can find .......... and if it isn’t of the quality that I demand and my clients deserve ............ I’ll just walk away and hope for a better day.

One more note you should know, I only use vertical grain sawn lumber in my doors.  It is the most stable and least likely to warp, now or in the next 100 years.  Make sure your doors are not made with random sawn or engineered wood with a veneer fascia. 

 Quality still matters.

.