YOU CHOOSE DIMENSIONS

“Unusual doors often take you to the unusual worlds!” 

― Mehmet Murat ildan

 

The backstory is that I am Anneke Schieberl, a Dutch American who spent her twenties in Italy, France, Holland, Spain and England. My husband and I used to love to look at the beautiful old world doors in our travels and he was a contractor who renovated homes, businesses, villas and even a castle in Zoagli, Italy. (Castello Canevaro) Most of the doors we make are deeply influenced b the castle doors in Italy, France, England, Spain and Germany. We encourage you to use your imagination and create a door. One customer sent us a watercolor storybook door she found in a children’s book and we made it for her exactly.

Our company is a family owned business. The doors are made here in San Diego. Since 2014 we have made about 10,000 doors. What I hear the most is that we are hard to find and then once we make a door we hear that is exactly what they were looking for. The quality of our doors is excellent. These doors can be passed down for generations. By using the reclaimed lumber you are keeping a link to the past alive. Doors create a magnificent first impression. With us you can help create the one that goes beyond just being an entryway into one that reflects your personality. Many of our doors have come about from a drawing a customer made as a sketch.

No two doors are ever exactly alike mainly because the grain of the wood. The defects in the reclaimed wood are naturally made and are random and will vary board to board. Natural characteristics are knots of different sizes (we can pick boards with the least amount of knots if desired), variations in color, grain swirl,  worm holes, pin holes.

Our niche is old growth 70 – 100 year old reclaimed lumber Doug Fir 1-3/4”- 2” thick but we can make your door out of any species of wood. What I need is the rough opening/jamb width/swing of the door. If you see hardware on a door it will come with the door. You are allowed to tweak the hardware. Maybe you want a square cage instead of a grapevine cage. Unless you specify this is a slab door your door will come pre hung in the frame. If it is a double door and we are shipping thru the logistics company we break it down but it is easy to put back together. If we personally are delivering as we often do then the double door will stay intact.

If you are getting a door you have probably already done your homework on your journey looking for your statement/forever door. You have probably visited a lot of websites and a door that starts out at $700 soon turns into a door 4X and kore the price as you add a jamb/hardware/trim and something you have to be careful about…especially if a site sells mahogany doors. ASK them specifically are these veneers and engineered wood. Even then you may not get a straight answer so then say if you were to take a saw to the door and open it up would you be able to see SOLID mahogany as opposed to engineered wood.

We never sell a door with a veneer of the wood species nor ever use engineered wood basically sawdust and glue. Whatever species of wood you have us make your door it is solid and 100 years from now you should be able to sand it and stain or paint it and get it ready for another life.

When you get a door from us it comes with the frame or jamb/two sets of trim and you can tell us if the trim needs to be for stucco or brick exterior. We can make the jamb any size…you do not have to stick to pre set sizes. The hinges we use a re commercial strength oil rubbed ball breaking hinges. At no extra charge we will kerf the jamb and send weatherstripping.  There is a complimentary threshold from the same wood unless you tell us you do not want a threshold. We can Dutch any door.

The wood we get is sourced nation wide from old barns and homes and businesses. The aged quality of the wood makes each piece so different. You can tell us if you want more or less rustic. I can send you files of all of the doors we have made and you can choose the look you want. You can choose a door off of the internet and chances are we can make that exact door.

When you see a price and the door includes glass that is for clear tempered or laminate glass. If a door is in stock and already has a beautiful architectural glass in it than you found yourself a bargain. The upcharge would be if the glass needs to be Low E dual paned and we offer a dozen or more architectural glasses also. All of the hardware you see if hand forged by a blacksmith. We can Dutch any door and any door can be made into a double or square or arch or eyebrow arched top.

Things we do not do…bore the holes for the locks. This needs to be done on site as well as for double doors the included hand made throw bolts for top and bottom need to be installed by the door installer. The EPA here in California will no longer allow us to stain the doors but it is easy to do. We will send with your door wood samples so you can practice the stain. I will send a video how to stain. We use Minwax oil penetrating stain.

We use a company called Seko Logistics to ship the doors but you are welcome to get your own shipping arrangements. The doors run 4 – 6 weeks. We often deliver personally to Arizona and Texas and all throughout California You are welcome to pick up here in San Diego and save shipping costs.

With the old growth Doug Fir reclaimed lumber you are getting a piece of history. Each piece of wood is unique and in turn creates unique doors and windows. Each beam is like a historical artifact and has its own story. Your door had a life before it became your door. It could have been part of a farmhouse in Colonial America or on a wall in a Duke’s Palace in Italy. Your door offers character shaped from it’s previous life. What I like the best are the color variations and multiple tones because of the wood’s experience with the weather. The amount of time a board was exposed to rain and sunlight and other environmental factors often dictates the exact color of the finished product which is why we give you wood samples from the exact wood your door is made of. The old growth Doug Fir also has a tight grain pattern that is quite coveted. This tight grain also leads to durability. Old growth refers to trees that have naturally reached their full maturity in an environment that encourages old growth. These trees are larger and stronger because it took centuries sometimes to reach maturation. Old growth forests are now protected and cannot be used which means using reclaimed lumber is the perfect alternative. Using reclaimed lumber is a sustainable option that reduces deforestation thus helping to protect the eco system.  All of the sawdust created from making these doors we put in large black trash bags and give them away for free to people who have farms and chickens and horses especially. They bring the bags back and we fill them again.

All the wood cut offs we bag up and give them away for free. One of the recipients of this free wood is the wife of one of our carpenters who makes the most beautiful wall art and sells on etsy. We put the bags of wood out weekly and it is always gone the first day. Nothing is wasted. Through all of this long windedness you can tell I am passionate about thee doors we make. They are literally installed in castles, historic hotels, wineries, restaurants and cabins and businesses, used on movie sets and enjoyed in homes of everyday people. 

Anneke Schieberl Custom Rustic Doors San Diego, California