Moravian Preservation Master Plan.indb - Society for College and ...

Moravian College • Preservation Master Plan
major issues. Doors at historic academic buildings
receive heavy use and require frequent inspection.
Door inspections should note any of the following
conditions:
• Sticking or gapping doors
• Damaged hardware
• Missing screws or anchors
• Worn finishes and exposed wood and steel
substrates
• Cracked or rotted wood
• Broken glazing, including transoms and
sidelights.
The best practice approach retains and repairs
as much historic fabric as possible. Regular
maintenance for historic doors should include:
• Gentle cleaning of door and hardware
surfaces
• Cleaning and lubrication of hinges and
closers
• Rust removal at hardware and the application
of appropriate protective coatings
• Replacement of missing screws or anchors
• Refinishing or repainting
• Replacement of cracked or broken glazing.
Causes of Door Deterioration
Doors are most commonly damaged from constant
use. Inspections are important to ensure that doors
are operating properly and hung correctly to avoid
failure at hinges or other hardware. Push plates and
kick plates protect the finishes in these vulnerable
areas. Wood and metal doors are also damaged by
moisture which causes wood rot and corrosion.
Deicing salts can cause damage to wood finishes
and dramatically accelerate the rate of corrosion.
Exposure to the elements will cause degradation of
the underlying wood.
Door Repair
Doorway features contribute to the building’s
architectural character and should be retained.
Historic doors often feature door hardware,
transoms (operable or fixed sash over doors),
sidelights (vertical or fixed ribbon windows
flanking a door), pilasters, entablatures, columns,
thresholds, and steps. Wood doors can be refinished
to repair scratches or worn areas. Typically, wood
doors would be finished with an oil varnish, though
modern polyurethane based varnishes are more
common today. It is important to match the original
finish of the wood doors in both color and gloss
level. Historically, doors were often more colorful
or sometimes darker than the modern palette. It is
important to retain the original design intent. High
gloss levels are inappropriate for new finishes.
Missing elements should be replaced in-kind, and
the door’s original size, profile, and configuration
should be preserved. Glazed entry features such
as transoms, sidelights, and partially glazed doors
should also be retained, repaired, or replacedin-kind.
In some situations, improved weatherstripping
around door frames can increase energy
efficiency and help protect a door’s historic features.
Deteriorated doors that are beyond repair should be
replaced in-kind, to match the original in materials,
design, visual qualities, and size.
Retrofitting for fire-safety should be done in a
manner that preserves the door’s historic features.
Many state building codes have special provisions
for historic buildings; these should be fully explored
before alterations occur. Fire-retardant coatings,
other means of egress, areas of refuge, rated
partitions, and other measures allowable under
life safety codes can avoid removal of a significant
historic door.
Door Replacement or Reconstruction
During the nineteenth and early-twentieth
centuries, the main building entrance often
featured substantial, if not monumental, doors
with elaborate moldings and features. If an existing
historic door is deteriorated beyond repair, it should
be replaced with a new door that is appropriate
to the period and style of the building. Historic
double-leaf doors should not be replaced with a
single-leaf door. Exterior historic doors that are
non-functional should be left in place and sealed,
not removed. Doors on primary elevations should
match the original in materials, design, size, and all
visual qualities.
Historic door openings should not be filled with
modern doors. New standard-size doors do not
readily fit into an old door opening and would have
a profoundly negative impact on the building’s
integrity. When historic door replacement is
necessary, the new door should be custom-made
to fit the historic opening. Modern flush design
doors are inappropriate for historic buildings. Door
John Milner Associates • October 2009 • Chapter 9 • Building Guidelines • 304