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Appropriate interior doors for foursquare house

10 years ago

All of the interior doors in our Foursquare were at some point removed and replaced with cheap doors. We want to replace them with wooden doors that are appropriate for the house. Our Foursquare is pretty textbook with some Arts and Crafts influences. What type interior door should we be looking st? Two panels? Etc? Thank you

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Comments (7)

sombreuil_mongrel
10 years ago
"Five horizontal panels" was one very popular type.
Casey
User
10 years ago
Various ... almost anything except flat hollow-core will work.

My 1880s doors are 4-panel, with the 2 top panels longer than the bottom.

3-panel - one big on top and two tall verticals on the bottom were also popular.

2-panel - taller panel on top or bottom

4 or 5 horizontal panels
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NJaddition
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you. Your messages are very helpful. I am told our house is almost a Foursquare but not a traditional one. It was probably built just before the Foursquares became popular but has a bit of Victorian and Arts and Crafts. Apparently mostly a Foursquare but a bit of blend. Thanks for your help.
arlosmom
10 years ago
Our foursquare has the five panel style with two tall vertical panels at the top, a horizontal in the middle, and two shorter vertical panels at the bottom. At one salvage store, the guy called it a victorian 5 panel.
sombreuil_mongrel
10 years ago
It would probably be best to look at similar structures close by which most strongly resemble yours; and find the closest salvage place and see what styles they have that come close.
Casey
NJaddition
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks. To be honest I had not even thought of salvaging old doors but what a wonderful idea. I know of a few places that do that. Since we are very new to this ... Tips on how that works? Assuming I would find pick out and buy. Would builder then refinish / paint and indtall? Since we have so many cheap doors to replace I am concerned we may not find enough of the same door. Thoughts on different appropriate styles in different parts of the house? Thanks
User
10 years ago
You measure all your doorways carefully, including the thickness of the door. Also note what room the door is for.

If you are comfortable stripping and refinishing, it saves a ton of money. Then get a door installer who has worked on old doors and doorways to do the installing.

Since we have so many cheap doors to replace I am concerned we may not find enough of the same door. Thoughts on different appropriate styles in different parts of the house?

Try to match doors that open into a common area: all bedroom doors into the hallway, for example, would match.

Public areas - the rule of thumb is the lower status the room's occupants, the plainer the door to it was. Doorway from DR into kitchen would be quite plain compared to the door leading to the parlor or entry hall ... the status of the cook using the kitchen door being lower than the status of the guests coming in to dine.

The moldings would be different too. If a house hasn't been messed with, you can find the public rooms versus the door to the servant's area just by the difference in ornateness.

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