walnut burl front door, foyer panelling

[Dixon Peer]

Here are pictures of a door I built for a house my wife and I are building for ourselves.  The indoor shot gives you a look at the recessed panels in the foyer that my guys, Tom & John installed.  It goes around all walls of the foyer 60" high and up the staircase.

 

[nickao]

SWEET! My front entrance has been in the works for months, can't let the wife see this picture, she may get the idea I can actually finish it some time soon!

nickao

 

[Brice Burrell]

Dixon, do you have a close up the walnut burl?

 

[Dixon Peer]

Dixon, do you have a close up the walnut burl?

No, not really.  The stain is quite dark, but you can see the gorgeous figure when seeing the door in person.  I suppose I could try a close up though, and post it if it comes out well.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

        Very nice. I really like the light dark contrast.  Looks like you are adding some nice custom work to your home 

Seth

 

[robtonya]

That looks great. That is a project I would love to tackle someday. I ordered a New Yankee Workshop dvd, and measured drawing of a mahogany front door he did. I haven't set down to watch it though.

 

[Dixon Peer]

Hi,

        Very nice. I really like the light dark contrast.  Looks like you are adding some nice custom work to your home 

Seth

Yes, the contrast is good, and it'll look better when the finish coat of paint goes on.  I see too many new homes where the people (owners or builder) stain the whole deal---sidelights, pilasters and all, and it really spoils things.  You get a much better, more dramatic effect when only the door is stained.

 

[Brice Burrell]

So, is it a oak floor, poplar trim, I assume it will be painted, inside. Have you settled on colors yet? Is that mahogany porch flooring??

Nice work, looking forward to the close ups if they turn out well.

 

[Dixon Peer]

So, is it a oak floor, poplar trim, I assume it will be painted, inside. Have you settled on colors yet? Is that mahogany porch flooring??

Nice work, looking forward to the close ups if they turn out well.

Your powers of observation are good.  The porch floor is ipe though, but that would be hard to differentiate in those photos.  WOW, has ipe gotten pricey!  I suppose a lot of the price is transport as the price of oil is so high and ipe is HEAVY and comes from Brazil.

The inside floors are just number one common white oak (superior in every way to red oak), the trim is custom run poplar and will be painted white of some shade.  The drywall will be painted Benjamin Moore "chocolate burgundy", a deep brown that has just a hint of red in it.  There you have it...

 

[Brice Burrell]

  I thought mahogany because the flooring looked a bit red, maybe its my monitor. Taking another look I see the darker planks mixed in, pieces that much darker are a little more common with ipe than mahogany. Plus with the piece of scrap down to protect the floor I expected something that might get damaged, with ipe almost being bullet proof I didn't think it needed protection. But like you said the price is up, better to cover it.

 

[Dixon Peer]

In response to Brice's last:

Work people come in the house every day over that ipe floor.  It's better to protect it.

 

[krs2404]

light switches look pretty far from the door. was that planned?

 

[Eli]

Wow Dixon. Nice work. Throw one up of the finished product here when you're done, huh? 

 

[Dixon Peer]

Wow Dixon. Nice work. Throw one up of the finished product here when you're done, huh? 

I'd be glad to.  It's nice to get complimented from others that know what goes into these things.  It's especially nice in these "chicken little" the sky is falling times (according to the media, anyway).

 

[Dixon Peer]

light switches look pretty far from the door. was that planned?

Sure it was planned.  We always go through our houses with the electrician before he nails up any boxes and mark out locations.  I don't remember specifically the situation you refer to but there was a reason for it I can assure you.

 

[Eli]

They don't really seem that far from the door to me. The way they are laid out, you can group them with all the ones in the next room, which judging from the style, is a living or dining room. Add to that the fact that the front door is often not the most used daily for entry/egress, but more commonly to welcome guests, and it makes a little more sense.

 

[nickao]

I'm with  krsd2404. When I open or shut that front door I want to be able to shut off or turn on the ligts while I am in the Entry doorway, not have to walk in a dark house to the corner to turn on or off the light foyer light. Seems I am always in a rush and that would drive me nuts. The only reason it was done in my house in the first place is that was simpler for the electrician.

I actually moved my switch from  the way it is finished  in the picture above to closer to the door. That switch would have been perfect in the first panel next to the door. If you wanted something there in the corner for something else you could of had both.

But its a great entryway regardless and its not my house. The door looks so darn good I do not think anyone will be looking at the switch layout anyway, I didn't.

Remember, different strokes for different folks.

nickao

 

[Dixon Peer]

The switches/outlet are where they are in part because the panels next to the door are smaller and the cover plates would have been cut; that never looks good.  Also, the windows flanking the door are about twelve inches or so wide, the panels between door and windows are about twelve as well, so what with the fact that the porch light will be on at night if anyone is expected to come in by the front door and it'll cast light into the foyer I don't really think there will be much of a problem.  I think we can worry about bigger things actually.

 

[Eli]

I think we can worry about bigger things actually.

touche.

 

[nickao]

Dixon nothing to worry about. I was just commenting on something someone else brought up that seemed correct to me.

I worry about my son who has bad kidneys and needs daily shots. He was in the hospital for 8 months he is now five and thriving. Don't sweat the small stuff and please don't take anything on these forums the wrong way. I feel I should have not even commented on it now.

For all I know you could have said "Oh my gosh you are right" and changed it so only a single switch was at the door and the rest in the corner. I have been project manager for well over 30 homes and just know that these little things come back to aggravate the home owners , especially when they are spending 500,000.00 and more for a house.

Please accept my apology if I offended you. But please if I ever post anything that seems not quite right bring it to my attention. The guys on this forum have a lot of great ideas. If I do not agree I will say so. But to a lot of my clients a switch like that is not a small thing and many homeowners have balled me out for far, far  less.

nickao