Do I keep These Odd Steel Doors?

[wingnutthehutt]

UPDATE EDIT:
These doors are going away once my new door gets here. That should be around the end of the month, possibly sooner. Do you live in the Sacramento are? Do you want them? Make it worth my while to not scrap them.

Original Post
We just entered escrow on our next house here in Sacramento. It was built in 56 and has these weird, but kinda cool, old steel doors. They're definitely not original, but I'm not sure what to make of them. They don't seal around the edges very well, or hardly at all. There's no insulation, either. This concerns me because it gets pretty hot here in the summer. But they're strong and durable. It appears that they were built right here in Sacramento. The company still exists but I haven't called them to ask any questions.

What do I do with them? Do I yank them and install a modern door? My wife and I both like houses to look period correct, no matter what period the house is, but there is no way these are aesthetically pleasing. I thought about painting to math the house, but that seems like a band-aid for a bullet wound.

Side note, I'm not too thrilled about that hokey driveway light, either.

Inside:

 

[driftpin]

What have you got to lose but some $ if you call them and ask for an on-site evaluation? The $ would be if you decide to have them refurbish your existing units. See what they say.

I think you would be much happier with a high-end Clopay or another major manufacturer of residential doors. Interesting that those are side-by-side w/no stationary center structural element. I'd guess any replacement would be a single double-wide replacement.

I just had installed two Clopay 8' w X 7' h doors, singles, with a divider, insulated and reinforced for the very rigorous Florida 'high-velocity hurricane zone' rating, and am very happy with the product and the installation. I had installed two Liftmaster 8500 side mount door lifts, as well. The entire front of the gabled roof garage 'face' (front elevation) is poured, reinforced concrete. In the event of a hurricane, it's probably a good place of refuge, unless someone tries to drive a vehicle through the doors.

 

[ADSR]

Painted up, they not not look so bad. Add some rigid insulation and you're set.

 

[Ditch]

How do you connect an automatic door opener to them ?
Personally, I'd pull them and sell them to a farmer

 

[PelicanPines]

Gate opener?

 

[wingnutthehutt]

They slide pretty well, but there is no center support. I'm thinking I'll probably sell them and put in a one-piece door. Thanks for the input, will check back in a bit to see if there is anything else.

 

[fourjeepin]

Yeah, I'd dump the doors and driveway light.

 

[Wood'nMetal]

Dump their asses! Maybe a movie studio will by them for their next 50's themed TV show!

 

[ADSR]

Those doors are made in USA quality! And they're custom.

 

[FANTM58]

I like it , paint it a nice accent color. I love the mcm homes.

 

[slip knot]

whats scrap metal bringing now?

 

[CNGsaves]

Lights would HAVE to go . . . . too strange for sure.

As for doors, they're Cali nostalgia and worth keeping for now. May not have many options with the low roof.

I'd work on improving the interior of garage and deciding whether it will be insulated/heated at some future point. In meantime, Plan/PLAN/PLAN all your electrical and lighting upgrades first, before considering insulation/sheetrock.

Good luck with the new-to-you house. Can't beat beauty of Sacramento !

 

[ard]

You getting a home inspection worth a **** from someone not beholden to one or both realtors??????

 

[calif phil]

I dig the doors. I would keep them. MCM style is hard to beat.

 

[CoogarXR]

Put them on ebay, pick-up-only. Some MCM nut might give you some decent coin for them. I sold an old MCM-style console stereo for $600 that I found next to a dumpster, lol.

 

[Warrenator]

If you want to build a shed, you've already got two walls!

 

[Kevin54]

Shitcan the doors!!!!

 

[wingnutthehutt]

Thanks for all the feedback. This isn't our first home, just upgrading a bit. The house is mostly original which we're really happy about. I can't tell you how many houses we walked into and immediately said "Oh, this flipper watched 'Flip or Flop'" or that one with the nice couple from Texas who tend to disregard the architectural origins of a house and coat the interior in shiplap. But I digress. Aside from hating generic feel, my wife and I both hate paying for upgrades that someone else chose. Thankfully this one has been in the same family for about 50 years and is fairly unmolested, for better or worse. We're the kind of people who will pay for the stuff that other people are pulling out of dumpsters. Although, I'm usually the one doing the dumpster diving and flipping.

At any rate, these doors don't really strike me as MCM pieces so I'm not attached to them. The original would have likely been a single sheet metal door with horizontal grooves separating the panels every eight inches or so. Here's a screen shot of a DIFFERENT house in the same neighborhood. They should be shot for painting the brick, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Kevin54]

Just remember...from the original pic you showed, the front door isn't original either. So you may as well put on a modern garage door, white with raised panels, that is the norm for 80% of the country, and it will match the front door.

 

[77Mini]

I would get rid of the doors and buy something new

 

[Norcal]

The telephone # of the door manufacurer is quite old, think that style of phone number went away in the mid 1960's, and the address is pre ZIP code also, so that door could be close to original. Not really very pleasing to the eye but no reason to make it the #1 priority for replacement either.

 

[wingnutthehutt]

Just remember...from the original pic you showed, the front door isn't original either. So you may as well put on a modern garage door, white with raised panels, that is the norm for 80% of the country, and it will match the front door.

That's actually not the front door, it's a door into the breezeway between the house and the garage. Granted, it's not original and the front door isn't either. The real front door will get replaced with something period correct if we come across one. The breezeway door might, but it's hard to make it look right. Originally there wouldn't have been windows there.

The telephone # of the door manufacturer is quite old, think that style of phone number went away in the mid 1960's, and the address is pre ZIP code also, so that door could be close to original. Not really very pleasing to the eye but no reason to make it the #1 priority for replacement either.

Yeah, definitely old. You can tell from the benches, cabinets, oil stains, etc in the garage that the man who lived there until he passed away spent a lot of time in the garage. The company that made the doors is less than a mile from the house.

They're weird. They're gonna go. Not right away, though. We have more pressing details to attend to.

 

[poppakap]

The Streng brothers are the Sac MCM real estate gurus. https://www.eichlernetwork.com/homes-for-sale/sacramento
They may know sometime who would want them.

 

[metalmagpie]

Your pictures are way too high resolution. You should resize them until a regular browser window doesn't have to pan back and forth to read your text. Thanks.

 

[Lassen Forge]

We had those same doors on a separate garage on a rental in midtown - they are built like iron and last forever, but yeah, they look dated and industrial, and you can only put something in that's 1/2 the width of the door opening. (A gate opener with a little fab work would work as an auto-opener on those, BTW...)

Those are solid freaking doors, tho, and if it were me, after I replaced them with a modern roll up door they would become the new walls for my new shed. What's cool is they're part of old Sacto history that was all residential/industrial back then... so I wouldn't scrap them outright. Find a good use for them... (Someday go by 20th and N... cool neighborhood.)

The immediate downside to the upgrade is you'll have to add to the fascia above the new door, as the track rails are probably on the opening header... you'll also lose a little door opening height, but that's small beans. But you can also replace the front door to something either more modern or period correct.

 

[wingnutthehutt]

The Streng brothers are the Sac MCM real estate gurus. https://www.eichlernetwork.com/homes-for-sale/sacramento
They may know sometime who would want them.

They definitely are! We tried to get a Streng but it went 25k over asking which was already pretty much 25k over budget.

We had those same doors on a separate garage on a rental in midtown - they are built like iron and last forever, but yeah, they look dated and industrial, and you can only put something in that's 1/2 the width of the door opening. (A gate opener with a little fab work would work as an auto-opener on those, BTW...)

Oh cool! If it was an alley garage it wouldn't bother me as much. I like the gate opener idea.

Those are solid freaking doors, tho, and if it were me, after I replaced them with a modern roll up door they would become the new walls for my new shed. What's cool is they're part of old Sacto history that was all residential/industrial back then... so I wouldn't scrap them outright. Find a good use for them... (Someday go by 20th and N... cool neighborhood.)

Fontaine & Bean still exists but appear to have moved up to C street now. We currently live on 24th btw U and V so I definitely know where you're talking about. We really like it here but it's just not conducive to our long term goals. Plus the garage, although a rarity, leaves much to be desired. New place is closer to Sac State and has better schools.

The immediate downside to the upgrade is you'll have to add to the fascia above the new door, as the track rails are probably on the opening header... you'll also lose a little door opening height, but that's small beans. But you can also replace the front door to something either more modern or period correct.

Noted, thanks for the heads up on that.

 

[M-technik-3]

Neat door is the company still in business? Maybe they would like them? Call and speak with them saying you want a more traditional new garage door an maybe they'll give you a discount.

 

[tthornto]

Those doors are cool, just not as doors. Get a new garage door that is insulated and seals well, and can be opened all the way. If they are valuable (doubt it) I would sell them, otherwise I would re-purpose them. I bet they would make an awesome patio cover.

 

[driftpin]

One of the UK guys with a garage gallery has the same style door in his garage, so it apparently is a generic design. I'll see if I can find the garage thread.

 

[wingnutthehutt]

Neat door is the company still in business? Maybe they would like them? Call and speak with them saying you want a more traditional new garage door an maybe they'll give you a discount.

They appear to still be in business, but no longer build doors. Even if they did, asking someone for a discount because I happen to have acquired something they built 50 years ago makes no sense to me. It's like saying "I bought a non-running 85 Toyota pickup for $200 so the dealership should give me a big discount on a new Tundra."

Those doors are cool, just not as doors. Get a new garage door that is insulated and seals well, and can be opened all the way. If they are valuable (doubt it) I would sell them, otherwise I would re-purpose them. I bet they would make an awesome patio cover.

That's not a bad idea. Or maybe I'll just bolt them to the wall and start hanging my tools with magnets.

One of the UK guys with a garage gallery has the same style door in his garage, so it apparently is a generic design. I'll see if I can find the garage thread.

I'd be interested to see it.

From all the responses here I get the feeling that I am going to have to start a garage-build thread. Maybe a whole house thread since there seems to be some interest in that, too. I'll see you folks in a couple months!

 

[C_F]

Side note, I'm not too thrilled about that hokey driveway light, either.

Wow, no kidding! I'm surprised a good strong wind hasn't blown that thing off the roof by now.

 

[chrisBTSC]

Those are awesome. I would definitely keep them and try to find another use for them. Put them on a backyard shed maybe? Or if your garage backs up to the backyard why not put them on the other side and have them slide away from each other to open the garage to the backyard.

 

[wingnutthehutt]

Update! These doors are original to the house, they're even on my blue prints. I still don't like them for this location and purpose. I'm replacing them. My new door gets here around September 24th.

Do you want them? Make it worth my while.

 

[wingnutthehutt]

The Vespa, KTM, and Laguna Seca sign are not for sale.