How old is this front door?

[ThatGeorgianHouse]

How can you tell the age of a front door? Trying to work out if this door is original or not? Door photos of inside, hinges, edge of frame and close up of panels. Still trying to figure out age of door. If 1930’s or older I’ll keep, if new than 1930’s I’ll replace. Really do not want replace an old door though if part of the history of the house. House was built in 1855. External door furniture is definitely more modern times but unsure on backplate of letter box as seems quite aged

 

[Stevers]

Nice door! Might well be the original Georgian/Regency door - interesting that the inside is so plainly finished without mouldings. It has a quality 'hand made' look to it, and isn't showing any signs of distress (joints opening up etc.), it just needs a well applied coat of gloss in a dark colour to set it off.

My four panel Victorian front door (1879) is in a dark teal/petrol gloss with the frame and top light in cream to set it off.

 

[mardinor]

Lovely door. Whatever its age, you couldn’t find a better quality or more suitable looking one to replace it with. Just needs a quick sand, key and repaint. It’s a day’s job.

 

[Cubist]

That particular pattern of external door has been in production and popular use for hundreds of years with little change and, without some slightly invasive examination, which at best would produce little conclusive evidence concerning its actual age there would be nothing to suggest whether it had been made in say the Victorian period or even last Thursday. Some clues could be garnered by removing the letterbox to examine the species of timber used in its construction should the grain structure of the wood still be visible and it may even be possible to gauge its rough age by removing and counting the number of layers of paint that may have been applied since it was produced. The only other clue the door could remotely offer, and that too would be far from conclusive, would be an accurate measurement of the thickness of the timber stiles - the uprights - to ascertain whether that suggests Imperial or Metric measure were used when the doors principal timbers were cut and planed.

The other furniture of the door could feasibly have been replaced many times and, as barrel locks were widely used from the late Victorian period, the lock too offers no clues. Nor does the door exhibit any evidence of a rim or mortice lock of any kind that might have suggested greater age. That, sadly, leaves just the hinges but these do provide some valuable insights.

Its not clear from the photographs provided but the rebates into which the hinges are mounted in the casement are longer than the leaves of the hinge but the corresponding rebate in the door stile appears to be a snug fit. This suggests that the door was replaced at some point in the history of the house - albeit that this discrepancy could be explained by a simple error of the installer. The hinge design too is fairly common and alone does not offer much in the way of guidance beyond the wear and tear they exhibit which might suggest they have been in use for decades. That leaves just the screws used to fix the hinges to the casement which again could have been replaced many times but do offer one clue perhaps insofar that Philips (Cross Head) screws were not introduced until the 1930s. This could be interpreted to mean that the door was last replaced in the casement some time since the mid 20th Century.

Which leaves us with nothing positive or reliable to indicate the physical age of that door but there are indeed suggestions that it could date back to the mid 20th Century or earlier. However, assuming that it is in good physical condition and shows no sign of rot of any kind WHY would you even consider replacing it? Some simple TLC could easily extend its life by at least another 25-50 years. Scapping it, simply because you think it may be much younger than you would like it to be would be wasteful to say the least and, to my mind, bordering on the criminal.