We used reclaimed solid wood doors in the home DH and I built. Two were exterior doors from a friend's parents home and one we picked up at a salvage store. (See below). DH hung two on sliding track to save space in our small home but the third is cased and hung as our bedroom door. The pine boards on the wall, and the light fixture, were reclaimed also.

Hi.
When we remodeled the upper storey of our 1937 house we wanted things to fit in with the main floor. We planned pocket doors for 2 bedrooms and a walk-in closet, and found salvaged doors that looked right. Our contractor patched the old knob-holes and built the wall openings to for the doors - trimming one of the doors to accommodate an angled ceiling pitch when the door is pulled closes. For the bathroom, I found a big “office” door w large glass insert. The builder trimmed it some to fit in a cased opening. (And I applied a film to obscure the glass.)

It worked great for us. (If you go w pocket doors, don’t try to save money on the mechanism/track. A jammed or broken door means knocking holes into the drywall ;-)

Btw - because we got salvaged doors that were practically free, and had them available _before_ the stud walls were built, it was really no big deal for our builder, a friend, who was working solo and paid by the hour.

The hardest part is finding the doors with the right swings , the more matching doors the harder it is. Usually it is cheaper to buy Newfie you consider the the time it takes to find the doors, build the frames, hang the old doors on new frames then refinishing the old doors and find the right hardware to go with them.

have the doors you want on hand before they start building the walls. With the doors there, they can build it to the exact measurement that you need. if you need to shave off or trim here and there, it's not a big deal to do. you can always put on new hinges (or new hinges that look old)

I want an older home with charm but they are few and expensive where we want to live and hubs dosnt want the maintenance worry.

You're like many of us: you want a new house that "lives old".

In keeping with this philosophy, go with new doors that "look old". I live in an old house, and two of my interior doors don't close right -- one is a bit warped and has worn the paint off the trim -- the other doesn't stay closed, which is especially irritating because it's my bathroom door.

Older homes usually have paneled doors of some sort. The older homes I had been in in my area had basic 6 panel and that is what we used when we replaced our hollow core doors, but there are others. Since those doors are still made, I would get new doors that have the style of whatever old door style you like. Looking at older homes to plan a new one is a good way to have more timeless, if not trendy, elements in your home.

I used old 5 paneldoors when I built our house. I found ten matching doors on craigslist for only $10 each. Since I got them before I framed the interior, I just designed each frame around its respective door. It took a LOT of work to get them usable, though. Most of the work was in getting the paint off of them. A couple of them were very short, so I spliced a piece on with dowels and glue. Since most of our doors are painted, they came out fine. We left a couple of them in their weathered, as-stripped state, as we like that look as well.

They had no hardware, so that was the next challenge. They used the old mortised locksets, which are a dime-a-dozen, but you have to shop around. I found a large group of old brass Art Deco backplates, and another batch of matching glass door knobs. The knobs are the early ones that develop a slight purple cast. All of this stuff was sourced on ebay, but again, it took patience and a lot of looking.

In the final analysis, they were a lot of work, but we love the look and feel (they weigh a ton). Here's a couple pics-

Nothing prettier than an old growth, solid wood door. As mentioned by Joseph above, the sad thing will be the expense to adapt them for use. I remember watching a friend of the family (when I was a child) make a set of French doors (12') for our home in Florida. The doors were full view glass doors with grids and I watched as he put them together piece by piece.

That skill and level of carpentry work is such a scarcity these days that it will come at such a premium. We are seeing the lack of skilled tradesman in the market as the US Government has completely changed our work force with their policies. The idea that college is the only next step has ruined the American workforce with regards to the trades.

Using old doors in a new build is done all the time. It just depends on how much you want to spend to get the doors to provide the look you want.

I installed several old doors in a new build house in which the builder left rough openings sized for each door as they were all different sizes. The home owner had found the doors and actually had the house exterior colors done to compliment the red color the front and rear French doors were painted. I built the frames from scratch to fit each door. The front door was 8' high, 48" wide, had leaded, beveled glass, and weighed about 250 pounds. The rear French doors were full glass(not leaded/beveled), but painted the same red. Interior doors were all different, one had a louvered insert, one was a four panel and another was a decorated slab.

I even built her new door sill plates with bloodwood, a wood naturally red and close in color to the doors(that cost her $200 for just the wood). I spent six days just on framing, painting the frames and installing the doors. That did not count trim, which I did for the entire house later.

Expensive? Sure, but the result(along with all the other designed in 'oldness') was and old looking brand new house. Expensive? Of course. Was she happy? Extremely.

I have used reclaimed doors in a few different ways. Although I have saved quite a bit of cash using reclaimed items, whether the choice was cost effective is not so obvious. Your time has value and your builder's or contractor's time is expensive which is a cost you must pay with real money. You have to find, evaluate, purchase, transport and prepare the items then store them until required. Those are not one person tasks either.

Use reclaimed items for their unique qualities and looks, not the price tag.

"....in which the builder left rough openings sized for each door as they were all different sizes. The home owner had found the doors and actually had the house exterior colors done to compliment the red color the front and rear French doors were painted. I built the frames from scratch to fit each door."

This ^, please.

I have old doors--interior and exterior-- throughout my house that we built 7-8 years ago. We had initially intended to purchase high quality new solid wood doors which are very expensive, but worked with a builder who is also a "picker" and so had ready access to lots of old options. Purchasing the old doors themselves was not particularly expensive, less than than solid wood new ones we had originally priced. BUT having them cleaned, repaired and in some cases not just painted but painted with a faux wood grain by an artisan was very expensive. We also used old knobs and hinges--which are not as hard to find as you might think. The impression that I got was that if you build the house with the doors in hand hanging them and fit isn't that big of a deal. Retro-fitting however is a nightmare. The effect is fabulous and is one of the many reasons people assume my new home is a remodel of a much older home.

The beauty of the way HandyMac did this job is the clear demarcation of responsibility. The builder left a rough-in; he's done. HandyMac has three parameters in which to work: the size of the rough opening, the size of the reclaimed doors, and making the customer happy. Therein lies all the challenge and satisfaction with no one to blame but yourself if she ain't happy.