Ooo, those other doors in the neighbourhood set quite a high bar, don't they? Whoever made the last two photographed was really showing off, the marginal glazing bars with the bullseyes in the corners are rather complex joinery. Seeing stuff like that, and particularly your existing door which the aesthetics are wonderful, humbles me about my own skill, there were some seriously skilled individuals in the past and there are very few today that can match them.
Windows wrote:1. Has anyone got any guidance on attaching wooden door frames to existing brick structures without causing too much damage to the original structure?
As Bob said, drill and affix with frame fixing screws, spray some expanding foam around the outside of the frame to fill any gaps and provide a thermal break (or you could use Oakum and Lime if you're some kind of luddite
) and it's not going anywhere without someone crashing into it with a car.
Windows wrote:2. Anyone know anything about getting Edwardian look stained glass with modern security/thermal properties?
I've not had it done, but it is possible to get stained glass double glazing, It's not something I trust my supplier with as they struggle to get even regular units correct at the best of times. I personally wouldn't bother with the thermal aspect of it as, again, as Bob says, it looks to be an uninsulated porch and there won't be much gain from the double glazing without insulating the porch itself, I'd be looking at finding someone who can do acoustic laminated stained glass from a security and noise reduction standpoint.
Windows wrote:The top of the opening is an arch, so that could be an interesting challenge.
I've got a book that goes into a lot of detail on how to lay out those arches if you want me to take a few photos of the pages for you.
Windows wrote:Great question, Mike. What are the options? Inward opening rectangular door that doesn’t protrude into opening and extends beyond plinth at bottom? Inward opening door that sits within opening, but has cut outs at the bottom? Rectangular door that sits within opening, but framing is thicker above plinth level? Are there others that I’m missing?
Personally, I would sit the frame in the opening and have cut-outs in the frame to accommodate the plinth. From the measurements you've given the difference between the plinth and the wall above it is about a 55mm offset, so on a 95mm section being cut out will leave you with 40mm at the bottom, more than enough. With a 95mm section and taking the rebates into account, 15mm each side, your door would roughly be 980mm wide, or 3' 2.5" in old money, quite a fair bit wider than a standard door but scaling off the photograph you've got about 2400mm before you have to start worrying about the arch so it'll be a fairly tall door too and not too badly proportioned.
My advice would be to decide on your ironmongery from the outset, it can dictate how you will construct the door. Something I've been using lately has been the Winkhaus AV2 3-point locking gear which is pretty good aside from the striker plate keeps looking and feeling a bit industrial compared to the lock, the shoots automatically throw upon the door being closed so it's very secure but very easy to lock yourself out without the key, the heritage lock with the keyhole higher up the door than a modern one (modern doors have the cylinder about 900mm from the bottom of the door, the heritage is about 1400mm) looks more in keeping with old world joinery.
https://www.winkhaus.com/en-gb/door-locks/mechanical-door-locking-systems/automatic-locking-systems/autolock-av2-heritageAnother consideration is timber, being in the brick reveal the outer door will get a lot more weather than the one that's inside the porch, so you will need quite a durable timber to withstand the elements. The de-facto timber of choice these days among British joiners I would say is Accoya, which is a sustainable, totally stable chemically altered softwood (Radiata Pine) that has amazing durability and is guaranteed for 50 years above ground, the downside is that it costs as much as some high-end exotic timbers these days at around £4000 a cubic metre or £115 a cubic foot. Alternatively, you could go for what everyone
used to use in copious amounts which would be either Sapele, Utile, or Iroko, each have their own pluses and minuses but are less than a third the price of Accoya. I personally would avoid commercial softwoods like "Joinery Grade" which is Scots Pine, which isn't particularly durable though some claim it will last forever when you paint it with linseed oil paint, snake oil was more believable.
https://www.accoya.com/uk/Then there are draught seals, I usually use two which are the Aquamac 124 in the seat of the rebate and Aquamac 21 as a wiping seal on the face of the rebate, also you will most likely need some kind of threshold on the floor, I like the Exitex Macclex low-profile thresholds as they're simple to fit and work well.
https://www.marchesironmongery.co.uk/aquamac-124-weatherseal.htmlhttps://www.marchesironmongery.co.uk/aquamac-21-weatherseal.htmlhttps://www.marchesironmongery.co.uk/exitex-macclex-15-2-threshold-914mm-aluminium.htmlOf course, there are loads of little design details and allowances required for doors, but we can can go over those another time.