Door Hardware

 The original door hardware was present throughout much of the house when we moved in. We were missing a few doors worth though because the home was expanded over time. It had layers of old paint and was really in bad shape. The original finish was a copper plated brass but most of the copper was gone. After searching everywhere - ebay, old restoration sites, local salvage yards, etc. - we could not find matching hardware. We wanted the house to have a uniform look throughout so we decided to mold the plates and knobs we had and reproduce them. We have removed all the hardware and cleaned it up a few years ago so we had nice pieces to work with.

 The molds were created. A thin layer of vaseline was put on our existing hardware.

 Then the mold was made using Durham's rock hard cement. Then the bondo was poured and allowed to set. The pieces that resulted needed a little trimming/finishing but were a good replica.

 For the door knobs, we used old brass knobs and then just added the pattern to the face.

Once they were completed, the were sprayed with an antique copper paint - the closest to the original color we could find. We still need to install the knobs to all the doors but at least now there is a matching pattern to go throughout the house.