How To Repair Louvered Door

Built in 1966, my house comes from the latter one-half of the mid-century modern craze. It has a few features that some might associate more than with the '70s, like these lovely louvered doors.

People take been known to disparage louvered doors, and no offense to them but they are simply wrong. Allow'southward take a infinitesimal to appreciate these retro pieces of history and learn how to repair a cracked louvered door.

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Woods Is Beautiful

My louvered doors have a walnut finish. The dark grains of the wood contrast with the surrounding grasscloth wallpaper.

Mid-century modern homes are known for bringing the outdoors in with natural materials like wood and rock. The louvered door is no exception. Walking by my louvered doors is like stepping through the forest, if the forest had an organized supply of fresh towels and linens stored in its trunks.

Privacy + Air Menstruation = Win

Louvers provide privacy while allowing airflow and calorie-free. That's grade and function all in one pretty parcel, providing ventilation to closets across the world. The mid-century modern movement featured many stylish screens that separated living areas while still maintaining flow. Add louvers to the list of heroes in this category.

History and Style

According to The Gratis Dictionary, louvers have been effectually since at least the tardily Middle Ages when they were used to ventilate turrets. That's correct, castles had them.

In the center of the 20th century, louvered doors made their style into modern ranch homes, and I'one thousand glad they did so. Annihilation that's good enough for a castle is adept plenty for me.

Mid-century modern hallway with louvered door closet

How to Repair a Louvered Door

The louvered door is the understated workhorse of the mod ranch. So when ane of my fifty-year-old louvered doors started to crack and break, I was heartbroken. I thought we might lose an irreplaceable characteristic of our house.

Bi-fold louvered doors tin can starting time to come apart around the hinges over time. Our door was croaky at the height hinge. With each open and close of the closet the crack was expanding, causing some of the louvers to autumn out. Luckily, Eric knew how to fix information technology.

Restoring your fixer upper? See my home improvement guide >>

Materials:

Wood glue
Strap clamp longer than the perimeter of your door
Erstwhile towel to wipe abroad glue
Mending plate brace
Pencil
Electric drill or screwdriver
Apartment-caput forest screws
Hammer (optional)
Wax paper (optional)

Remove the louvered door, being careful to keep track of the hinges and any other loose pieces.
Set up the door flat on a protected surface, preferably over wax paper to foreclose any forest gum from sticking.
Make sure all of the louvers are inserted correctly into their slots.
Make full the crevice with wood gum.
With a buddy, wrap a strap clench around the entire perimeter of the door and beginning cranking the strap. This will close the fissure and cause some wood glue to spill out. Pull the strap tight, but not so tight that the door buckles.
Wipe away the backlog woods mucilage with a clammy towel, making sure there's no residue left behind. Let the glue dry.
Put the hinge pins dorsum into their holes. Y'all may need to pound them in with a hammer.
On the back of the door, set the metallic plate across the scissure. Use a pencil to marking the locations of the screw holes.
Drill small airplane pilot holes with your electric drill.
Spiral in the metallic plate using flush screws.
Hang your lovely louvered door back into identify.

We happily returned our louvered door to its dwelling house in the hallway where it now functions but similar earlier. Shine on, you walnut-finished beauty.

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