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I'm prepring to sell and have an issue with the interior doors in my house. They are original, from the 40s, solid wood with nice glass doorknobs. Love the look. However, the hardware is rickety, has fallen off on 2 doors, they don't shut correctly, and the bathroom door is a bit warped.
Needless to say, agents say to replace all 9 interior doors (2 hall closets, 1 bath, 3 beds, 3 bed closets). My issue is that I can't afford new solid-wood doors or glass knobs. The replacements will need to be hollow doors with silver-toned levers/knobs.
How much of an issue is this in a moderately priced home (were not talking luxury home here, just a median-price average house around 200k)??
Don't replace the doors, replace the hardware! Van Dyke Restorers - Van Dykes Restorers - is a good place to start. Nothing causes me more heartburn than somebody who cobbles up vintage houses with poorly selected "replacement" or "modernization" efforts.
It is going to depend on what buyers in your area are looking for. Here, we have a lot of 1920s and 1930s Craftsman bungalows. People love them and want as much of the original fabric of the house as possible, including the original panelled doors and crystal doorknobs. Replacement doors are generally considered inferior, as are modern doorknobs. Most buyers looking in our older neighborhoods would prefer "quirky but charming" original doors that don't work quite right to "perfect but soulless" replacements. If you can get a feeling for what people prefer in your area it should be able to guide you whether making repairs to your current doors would be better than replacing them.
All real estate is local!
Without seeing the house, location, etc. ... it's hard to know what to advise.
However, doors and hardware must work correctly. You don't want a door knob falling off in a prospective buyer's hand; it would leave a very bad impression!
The doors must open and close easily and correctly. They must be in good repair.
It seems you have 2 options - fix the doors and hardware or replace them!
If you replace them be sure the new doors and hardware fix with the style and look of your house. New material should look like they have been there for years - execpt they are in great condition.
Good Luck!
In just about every case where I have had an older home with nice hardware the effort to get it to work like new and/or track down stuff that matches (or at least is close) has paid off. Old door hardware is generally pretty darn easy to just clean-up and get working good. You strip off old paint and the metal is generally way more solid than all but the high end stuff that you can buy at the big orange box.
Most every town has some source for cast away old hardware that you can buy cheap OR an online source.
I also doubt that doors that are truly SOLID and old would need to be replaced. Even if there is noticeable warping in the door, a good block plane and a check by a skilled finish carpenter are generally all that is needed to get everything working great. There are tricks to putting new life is doors that have been abused. If the screws have chewed up the hinge area you can drill out the area and fit in new hardwood dowels to strengthen the area to rehang hinges. Ugly finishes can be stripped off and everything redone to showoff the quality of old wood.
No one likes hollow core doors and the only time you would want to use them is to quiet down the slamming in a multi-unit rental.
You can sometimes find high quality hardboard with solid wood veneers on sale for a fraction of solid wood doors and they look spectacular, feel about 90% as good as solid.
Needless to say, agents say to replace all 9 interior doors (2 hall closets, 1 bath, 3 beds, 3 bed closets).
I think your agent is an idiot.
Retain and maintain- as much as possible. There are plenty of restoration places around, and several on the net. Figure out what is needed to get them in proper working order- and if your handy- DIY. If not, see if you can locate a local carpenter that has experience with old doors and hardware.
As I buyer, I would rather have doors that function than original doors that do not function. We bought a house built in the 50s, the doors are fine but the hardware/knobs are all broken; due to the type of hardware, all the doors will need to be replaced. Would have been a deal-breaker except the house was very cheap.
Couldn't you find some cheaper vintage knobs on eBay or at a resale shop? They often have things like that. I'm not a realtor, but I would be surprised if buyers in the 200K range are expecting solid doors.
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but better than a closet that can't be opened due to poor hardware and no replacement hardware available.
