# rotten 20" wide door casing



## CarlySmarts (Nov 23, 2010)

I'm working on a 9'x5' door casing in the French Quarter, New Orleans. These boards are 20" wide and 2" thick. This building is about 150 years old. Any suggestions on how to build a 20" casing at 2" wide for this exterior door? I will most likely use spanish cedar. It will be painted and I would like it to look as seamless as possible.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

CarlySmarts said:


> I'm working on a 9'x5' door casing in the French Quarter, New Orleans. These boards are 20" wide and 2" thick. This building is about 150 years old. Any suggestions on how to build a 20" casing at 2" wide for this exterior door? I will most likely use spanish cedar. It will be painted and I would like it to look as seamless as possible.



*WELCOME TO THE FORUM*

Edge jointing lumber to be glued up for the width would be pretty much "seamless" looking.












 









.


----------



## CaptZZ (Feb 26, 2008)

Agreed, especiall if you're going to paint it anyway.


----------



## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Casing or jamb?

Just some general preservation rambling here............If they're 150 yo(original),uh they must've done something right?Reverse engineering is your go-to method here.Same woods,same techniques,same tools,USUALLY produces the most pleasing results.

Problem with that last para is....if its the Jamb thats in question(and pretty much every pc in the house),most preservationists are gonna insist you keep as much of the original as possible.The prob is that chnges the tools/techniques.The original builders would NOT be under same constraints and would bust it out and replace whole affair.

20" wide jamb is synapsi'n...2 1/2 brick thick wall to me?Is this brick const. with stucco?If so,you are treading in some shark infested water WRT just jerk'n that jamb out.REALLY really need to find out the exact wall cross section detail......if it's brick,what happens in a nutshell(and this should be a looooong drawn out explanation/treatise)is that theres about a 50/50 chance of doing un repairable damage as the "interior" brick will come spewing out.IOWs since wall is 2 or 2 1/2 bricks thick....the bricks that make up the "inners" were originally WAY softer,sorta culls and just thrown in for space killing.Hence the need for an accurate assesment of actual materials.

What is the problem w/original jambs?Assuming rot..........your job is to sit there and figure out exactly how and why it happened.If a leaking secret gutter or window sill above caused it,well hopefully you see where I'm going.This last point is exactly why folks get in over their head in "old house" world.Tom Hanks "Money Pit" movie is funny........because its mostly an extremely accurate portrayal of this above effect."Honey,it sure would be nice to fix that fr porch"....then roof caves in.So,you really have to do the detective work figuring how/why it got this way.

If I were to insert shamless plug here,haha it would go somthing like this......"Here at XYZ engineering,we have spent years developing the technique's to solve your problem Mr. Homeowner" and so on.What cust. dosn't realise is how most of these co.s are simply G.C.s who don't know chit about the nuances of old house world and are just skimming for work.Its a tuff field for cust. trying to make the decision on when so-called experts even have a clue.One resource is your local Historic group.They're certainly not building experts but can "possibly" assist in finding someone who can help.


----------



## CarlySmarts (Nov 23, 2010)

*preservationists beware*

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Smith, you are indeed right about several things. First off, as much as the jamb should be saved as possible, however, like most structures in the area, it has been ravaged by formosan termites and is soft to the touch in many areas on outside, which means the backside is most like gone. It has started to pull away from the exterior stucco, which was repaired in 2005 after The Storm. It is indeed several courses of brick. The interior is sheetrock. This project is indeed a can of worms, but most projects I do here are of the same caliber. I am a carpenter specializing in historical renovations and repair. 

The area is under the jurisdiction of the HDLC, which has the power to shut a jobsite down if it does not meet their preservation specifications. I do not like dealing with these paper pushers, but it is best to keep them happy. Kudos to you if the preservation society in your town has actual builders on their board and woe to you if it has none. But you're right. I should contact them for more info. This actual jamb doesnt have much left to it and has been screwed around with for many many years by people who had no clue. Aw, geez. Whata project. Thanks, again!


----------



## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

Don't be too hard on the Historic folks...........they have a very tough "row to hoe".Getting caught up in all the "politics" isn't gonna help a thing.I could write a book on what folks have messed up,and most with very good intentions,some very sad.But would be way better served to write a book on the good aspects of historic preservation........so when dealing with the "club" med folks,keep a very upbeat,positive approach.

Could/can bore you to tears with long drawn out treastise on this or that aspect of old buildings.But following is more of general guidance.In the case of your jamb......take this time to become conversant in brick world(and you might hit up the "club" for a name here).Learn what headers are,learn how your bricks were made,what and why is matching mortar EXTREMELY IMPERATIVE!Take the same approach to your knowlege library and learn about the stucco on the outside,the when's,where's why's and how's.You don't need to be an expert....just be conversant and learn to be patient.

Basically in your jamb problem,look at my first post about "inner" bricks becoming rotton and spewing out when you remove header.Inspecton holes cut with big Hole Hawg runnin a 4" hole saw might save a huge mess.

The tools/techniques that the pros use are somewhat gaurded or secret.They aren't availible at the local home store.Furthermore most are way outside of any attempts at safety(OSHA),so aern't for the faint of heart.Some of the procedures are in the realm of open heart surgery in their trickyness and potential for death.You need an arsenal of jacks.Below is just off the top of head.

>Porta Power's as used in auto body.

>An asst. of large Hyd. jacks,20T and up

>Old car bumper jacks

>Railroad jacks

>Basement columns,the pipe type that are adj. and used for temp support,can be used in weldment situations

>Safeway scaffolding

Worst case with your jamb header would see us building offset jacks....a cpl inside and a cpl outside......with a weldment,surgically implanted BEFORE Header removal.It would be installed over header to support the inner,rotten bricks.Done in a very proffesional/safe manner to allow removal and instal of new members.......hence the "offset".Pics are a dbl edged sword,in alot of ways these are timehonored tricks and its like a magician giving out the secret.

The following is a very NON-PC sort of trick,tell the "club" you found an original door jamb cvd with dust in the attic.They love story's with happy endings.Best of luck,BW


----------

