Original Modernista doors and windows: restore or replace

Should you restore original doors and windows or replace them?

Restore them if the timber has kept its shape and profile and the damage is local: knocks, cracks, missing hardware, layers of paint. Replace them with a replica if the frame is distorted, the lower parts are rotten and the profile is already lost. The choice rests on the condition of the wood, not on a love of the old.

The original joinery of a Modernista building, whether Eixample-style doors, balcony windows or glazed doors to the living room, is often the most valuable part of the interior. It cannot be bought off the shelf: the profile, the timber species and the wrought hardware were made for one particular house. So every decision begins with a restorer's visit, not with a window catalogue.

What does a restorer do to a door?

They take down the leaves, strip the layers of paint, sometimes dozens, and find the original varnish or colour. Then they repair the joints, graft in missing wood of the same species, fill cracks, fit the leaf and the frame, and clean and refit the hardware: hinges, knobs, locks, bolts. The job ends with an oil, wax or varnish finish and, if wanted, painting in the historic colour.

Restoring a door is slow, hand work. One leaf occupies the craftsman for several days, plus drying. So for a batch of 12 to 20 doors in a flat, the cost can be comparable to making replicas. The price is given after inspection, not from photos. The exact cost for your home will be in the estimate, after the visit and measurements.

Can you put double glazing in an old window?

You can, if the frame is deep and sturdy enough. There are slim double-glazed units, about 10 to 14 mm in total thickness, and vacuum glass thinner still, that fit the historic rebate without changing the profile. The alternative is a second window on the inside, leaving the old one whole. For acoustic insulation that is often best.

What has to be decided. The profile: thin glazing bars cannot carry heavy glass. The seal: a modern gasket goes into a groove around the perimeter. Condensation: on the warm side of the window, moisture must not run down onto the wood. Single glass in an old frame loses several times more heat than modern double glazing, and gaps add more. With a protected facade all this is handled separately: the outside appearance must not change.

How do you restore stained glass?

It is taken out, photographed segment by segment and restored in the workshop: cleaned, broken pieces replaced with glass matched in colour and texture, the leadwork re-soldered and the panel refitted. If the glass is painted, the paint is conserved and not repainted.

So that the glass is not broken and does not lose heat, protective glazing goes on the outside or inside: a second layer of plain clear glass with perimeter ventilation. This keeps the design and removes the draught. Do not throw away even small fragments: they help match the colour. Glazed doors to the living room or corridor need protection from knocks more than windows do: they are used daily, and the glass is the first thing to suffer.

What should you do with inner shutters?

Restore them and put them back to work. Inner shutters (contraventanas, persianas de librillo) fold into the window opening, darken the room in daytime, shield it from the street and add a layer of thermal and acoustic insulation. In a principal flat on a noisy street, they are often more useful than a new curtain.

Hinges and hardware, stops, timber slats and catches are repaired. New seals, a coat of paint or oil and sometimes a soft-close are added. Removing them for a «clean» window is not worth it. If they are badly damaged and a copy is not sensible, they are replaced with folding timber panels in the same style or with curtains in a recess. The principle is the same as for all joinery: assess first, then decide.

When is a replica more honest than rescue?

When the timber is destroyed by more than half, the frame has lost its geometry, the profile is gone and repair would be a patchwork of other people's pieces. Then the workshop makes a copy: the same profile, timber species, glass thickness and the hardware salvaged from the old window. A copy is more honest: it does not pretend to be the original and lasts longer.

Keep documentation: photographs, measurements, a profile sample and a few old parts that can be kept as a memory of the house. In a protected building, changing facade windows is handled with the city and the comunidad, and we have a separate article on it. For interior doors there is more freedom to replace, but it is still better to keep the pattern of panels and profiles.

How does BCN YARD approach old joinery?

We survey doors and windows together with the restorer, photograph and measure them and sort the elements into three groups: restore, copy, replace. We give the cost in the estimate after the visit. We run the project in Russian and Spanish, with one person responsible. Send photos of your doors and windows and we answer within an hour.