Featured Project: Beautiful Doors for the Ledgelets Guest Colony

Featured Project: Beautiful Doors for the Ledgelets Guest Colony

Our range of woodworking services gives us the ability to work with clients on many different aspects of their property. We may first be asked to build shutters and then restore furniture, or vice versa. This ‘under one roof’ benefit is convenient, and allows us to work closer with someone to deliver exactly what they want.

Earlier this year we were hired to replace windows and shutters for a portion of the beautiful Ledgelets guest colony in Southampton. In addition to the replacement of their windows and shutters, we also built a few stunning (and practical) doors.

Along with a Dutch door, we also worked on a four-panel sliding door and a two-panel sliding door. The fabrication and installation were challenging, however we rank these doors as the best to come out of our workshop in quite some time.

Lift & Slide hardware system:
We used the lift and slide hardware system to give the doors a smooth function that would remain weather sealed when locked. Lift and slide components are made of stainless steel rolling and locking components with solid brass tracks to ensure that they perennially withstand the elements.

Door Construction:
In order to ensure the doors remained stable during its lifespan while remaining aesthetically pleasing, we made them with an Accoya core and 3/8” thick Virginia cedar veneer. This allowed us to book match the grain using one piece of Virginia cedar for the interior and one piece for the exterior styles of the door. We laminated our veneers with west system epoxy so that there is no chance that they will delaminate over time.

Frame Construction:
The frame was also made with an Accoya core to prevent rot when it came into contact with the masonry. Multiple components where made in Virginia cedar to cover the Accoya core, and to engage with the door’s weather seals and track components.

Finish:
For the top coat we used a mixture of ‘Epifanes’ gloss and matte varnish to give the door its own unique semi-gloss finish. In between coats we colored out any of the white flecks that the Virginia cedar had to make resemble Bermuda cedar as much as possible.

Going Dutch:
A Dutch door is a door divided into two parts horizontally, allowing one half to be shut and the other left open. Requesting solid Virginia Cedar, the client and their designers decided on the Dutch door design. The door is the main access door to the house and opens up into the kitchen.

It was both challenging and pleasing to work on these pieces. This is one of our favorite door projects that we have worked on so far and are proud of the results.