the door IN ITS FRAME

The frame is often overlooked as a key component to a properly operating entry door.

- MARY ELLEN POLSON

That's not necessarily bad, as you want the frame components to give no trouble and be all but invisible so that eyes fall on the front door.

We walk through door openings every day, rarely giving thought or even noticing the framework we pass through or the sill we step over.

That was my experience until I noticed my front door needed a fresh coat of paint. Only then did I realize the sill was badly deteriorated and that the door frame itself had been inexpertly modified to accept a storm door. (My repairs are shown on p. 40.)

At least my door closes firmly in its frame, shutting out the wind, snow, and rain. The hinges are properly set and securely attached to the jamb - the inner part of the door frame that takes the weight of the door.

A tour of a neighboring building down the street told a different story, however. Built as a store in the 1850s and converted to apartments decades ago, it has two pairs of Victorian double doors that are among the few surviving details. Roland Miley, the contractor who has been sprucing up the exterior, told me he'd like to keep the doors but there was no way to seal them.

Exterior doors are subject to severe conditions.

Driving rain penetrates the smallest cracks and gaps... the contrast between a cold, damp outdoors and dry, warm indoors puts the woodwork under tremendous stress. -JOHN LEEKE, OHJ, August 1993

Like many Victorian-era entries, these doors had been accompanied by a second, interior set of double doors to minimize heat loss as well as offer extra security for the residents. When the building was converted to apartments, the interior doors were removed.