We speak as professional DIYers *irony*: >We are currently in the learning phase where everything always ends up being much more expensive than expected, and online research doesn’t necessarily provide realistic prices – or does it?
“Problem”: We probably underestimated the cost for interior doors, at least if we want to buy them locally in stores instead of online. The dimensions are standard, 3 times 198.5x86 cm (78.1x33.9 inches) and 2 times 198.5x73 cm (78.1x28.7 inches).
The current doors are 22 years old, still in good condition apart from the door handles, but they have an orange tint that we don’t like visually. The existing laminate flooring (also brownish-orange) matches the doors but probably no longer fits our idea of a new floor.
The owner once suggested the idea of only replacing the door panels, but then the frames would not match the color of the doors anymore, right? We want white door panels or doors in a light wood finish.
Anyway, based on some online research, we thought that for about 120 euros (around $130), you could definitely get good door panels, especially since there are appealing doors online for around 70 euros (about $75) at first glance.
In a local specialist store, we nearly had a heart attack, as even the simplest white doors including the frame and handle barely cost less than 500 euros (about $540).
Or were we simply looking in an overpriced store?
We cannot replace frames ourselves. We have a trained carpenter among our acquaintances who once agreed to help us. We initially thought that replacing 5 door frames, door panels, and handles would take about 2 hours? Probably another miscalculation?
If we were to have the doors fully installed by a professional, based on your experience, what would be a rough estimate for 5 doors?
We originally didn’t want to order online because we thought: the doors might not fit afterward, complaints and returns might be much more complicated than buying locally, sometimes extremely high shipping costs, etc. But since these are basically standard sizes, given the local prices and our miscalculation, we are now uncertain whether we should consider ordering doors, frames, and so on online after all?
“Problem”: We probably underestimated the cost for interior doors, at least if we want to buy them locally in stores instead of online. The dimensions are standard, 3 times 198.5x86 cm (78.1x33.9 inches) and 2 times 198.5x73 cm (78.1x28.7 inches).
The current doors are 22 years old, still in good condition apart from the door handles, but they have an orange tint that we don’t like visually. The existing laminate flooring (also brownish-orange) matches the doors but probably no longer fits our idea of a new floor.
The owner once suggested the idea of only replacing the door panels, but then the frames would not match the color of the doors anymore, right? We want white door panels or doors in a light wood finish.
Anyway, based on some online research, we thought that for about 120 euros (around $130), you could definitely get good door panels, especially since there are appealing doors online for around 70 euros (about $75) at first glance.
In a local specialist store, we nearly had a heart attack, as even the simplest white doors including the frame and handle barely cost less than 500 euros (about $540).
Or were we simply looking in an overpriced store?
We cannot replace frames ourselves. We have a trained carpenter among our acquaintances who once agreed to help us. We initially thought that replacing 5 door frames, door panels, and handles would take about 2 hours? Probably another miscalculation?
If we were to have the doors fully installed by a professional, based on your experience, what would be a rough estimate for 5 doors?
We originally didn’t want to order online because we thought: the doors might not fit afterward, complaints and returns might be much more complicated than buying locally, sometimes extremely high shipping costs, etc. But since these are basically standard sizes, given the local prices and our miscalculation, we are now uncertain whether we should consider ordering doors, frames, and so on online after all?
Mizit schrieb:
And do you really think a medium brown door frame with an orange tint can be perfectly painted white?Absolutely! I have successfully painted black veneered doors white.
I wouldn’t bet on it never chipping over the years, especially with vacuum cleaning and children around, but any damage is easy to fix.
Best regards in short
Who knows – maybe you’ll actually develop a taste for it and end up saving more than just the door frames.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
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https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Winniefred15 Mar 2017 21:09So, we once renovated old doors and would never do it again. After three doors, we gave up; the fifth one just stayed as it was, and for the sixth, we decided to buy a new one instead and altered the opening in the wall to fit a standard size. The door was from a hardware store, installed in 1–2 hours, and cost around 150–200€ (it’s still working perfectly well after about 6 years). The old doors... don’t get me started. They had been painted many times. You couldn’t sand off the paint because it ruined the sandpaper almost immediately. Plus, the doors had many details and glass inserts. Removing the paint with heat and a scraper took... I don’t know, several days per door. My husband was swearing nonstop and could barely move his hands afterward. Then sanding, repainting, and in the end, you still had an old door. Granted, they were detailed solid wood doors, but our renovation wasn’t perfectly done, so it never really looked “finished.”
We’re currently in the process of buying an old building. We will install inexpensive doors ourselves (it’s not rocket science). We also have two small kids who unfortunately aren’t gentle. That’s why we prefer something cheap that the kids can draw on, bump into, etc. The doors are beyond saving without investing a disproportionate amount of time, so now we’re going with new doors, brought back to a standard size. They were really too ugly, worn, and messed up to just leave as they were.
Restoring old things to new glory is always great. But often it takes a very long time and might not look the way you want it to if you don’t have experience. You really have to consider it on an individual basis. Whatever you decide: I wish you all the best!
We’re currently in the process of buying an old building. We will install inexpensive doors ourselves (it’s not rocket science). We also have two small kids who unfortunately aren’t gentle. That’s why we prefer something cheap that the kids can draw on, bump into, etc. The doors are beyond saving without investing a disproportionate amount of time, so now we’re going with new doors, brought back to a standard size. They were really too ugly, worn, and messed up to just leave as they were.
Restoring old things to new glory is always great. But often it takes a very long time and might not look the way you want it to if you don’t have experience. You really have to consider it on an individual basis. Whatever you decide: I wish you all the best!
Winniefred15 Mar 2017 21:23The front door was still relatively new and remained unchanged.
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