DIY Network

Restoring Vintage Sliding Garage-Doors A Ft. Worth home, in the 1930s modern style, gets a distinctive period feature restored. From "Restoration Realities" episode DRTR-211

The restoration experts from DIY's Restoration Realities visit Fort Worth, Texas to help a couple restore an original feature on their very distinctive 1930s "modern style" home. For this project, we rehabilitate a rotten and rusted set of garage doors, re-creating an operational and stylized element that effectively complements this extraordinary abode.

The project house

Homeowners Joe and Tracy Self

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Project Background:1930s Modern
Fort Worth, Texas

Joe and Tracy Self know a thing or two about home restoration. Tracy's an interior designer and Joe's an architect and assistant professor in interior design at TCU. They're putting their expertise to good use as they restore a 1930 house--built in that period's modern style--in Ft. Worth, Texas.

The couple didn't want to restore just any old house. They wanted a true work of art--based on an appreciation of architecture Joe developed at a pretty young age. The modern style building they found was visually fascinating, but in pretty rough shape. When they purchased it and began restoration in 2004, it had been a rental property for several years, and deterioration was beginning to show.

Before restoration work began

Interior, before restoration

Undaunted by the challenge, the Selfs began adding details to make this classically modern house more "modern"--such as raising the roof and adding clerestory windows.

Exterior restoration and structural enhancement.

But when it came to restoring a set of original sliding garage doors and re-creating a metal hood and jambs for it, they called on Restoration Realities. The doors' rollers were rusted, windows were missing, paint was peeling and the original metal hood that once capped the door opening (visible in an old photo of the house that the Selfs had found) had gone missing.

Restoring the sliding doors back to the way they looked in the 1930s requires first taking them down so they can be repaired and repainted. Along with repair to the doors themselves, the project will entail refinishing all of the hardware.

The garage doors . . .

before the project.

The Self's backgrounds in architecture and interior design helped them in this historic restoration.

As for replacing the hood, since Joe and Tracy have chosen metal for many of the surfaces and finishes on their home, that's what they want use as we reconstruct the new hood and jambs. Making way for metal jambs will involve first removing the existing wooden ones. The first step is to get the doors down off their tracks. The doors hang from brackets connected to rollers that run along a track. By resting the doors on blocks, it'll be much easier to remove the brackets.

True 'modern' has to do with space, not just style. It's not about surface, it's about creating flowing space.
-- Joe Self, homeowner and architect

Following is a list of tools and materials used in this project, followed by the basic steps followed in this restoration.

Tools:

table saw and push bar
sliding compound miter saw
8" dado blade set
concrete cutting saw
circular saw
jig saw and blades
pneumatic finish nailer
hammer drill
orbital palm sander
angle grinder with cutting blade
power hand plane
cordless drill and screwdriver attachments
1-1/8" drill bit and smaller
masonry bits for lead anchors
3/8" socket set
vice grips
crescent wrench
sledge hammer
hammer
pry bar
cat's paw
chisel
tin snips
chip brush
rubber mallet
carbide paint scrapers
screws
caulk gun
saw horses
10' metal brake, cutter and stand
metal hand brake
utility knife
angle square
chalk line
paint brushes (sable for oil; polyester/nylon for latex)
paint trays
paint roller covers
roller frame
electrical cords
measuring tape
marking pencil
two empty, clean paint-cans
clean cloths
chemical resistant gloves
safety glasses
particle masks

Materials:

metal stripper
spray degreaser/cleaner
lacquer thinner
spray-on lithium grease
red-oxide spray metal primer (2 cans)
hammer finished spray paint
6/4x8"x8' poplar stock for window frames
(or 2x4 treated poplar)
5" sanding disks for orbital sander (60, 80 and 120 grits)
#3 steel wool
nails for power nailer
dust masks
blades for carbide scrapers
oil based primer
latex finish paint
2x8x10' treated lumber for jambs (2)
split lead anchors and galvanized lag bolts or tapcon concrete anchors
22 gauge galvanized metal
fasteners with neoprene backing
metal screws
white latex caulk (2 tubes)
paintable silicone (2 tubes)
acrylic panels for windows
lock hasps
shim blocks
plywood sheets for work surface

Estimated materials costs: $150-$350

Estimate project time: 2 days

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