Oak ledge and brace doors and door frames

Property & Home
1

Hi,
Anybody know where the best place is to buy solid oak ledge and brace doors in France (near Carcasonne)? I can get them in the UK for about £160 (including hinges but not the door frame) but the shipping is obviously very expensive to France. I also need a source of oak timber to make the door frame. All suggestions welcome. Thanks.

Sula

2

Hi Sula,
Have you tried locating a local saw mill, those people tend to know the tradespeople very well

3

Hi John,
Unfortunately I am trying to source it for my builder from the UK. Sadly not quite retired yet so still project managing from afar! The builder is not very keen to source it himself and doesn’t seem to have any local contacts for oak. It may have to wait until I am next out there if I can’t find a company with an internet presence but that will hold up the works. Thanks.

Sula

4

Maybe you need a different “builder”…

5

I hear you but… he is cheap, very competent and reliable and that ain’t easy to replace!! :grinning:

1 Like
6

I always thought that our local sawmill was cheap for oak, having bought plenty there, but he tells me that he has a client that comes to the area annually to stay in his holiday home, then takes a trailer load of oak back to the UK!
Before we moved here, my wife worked for a freight forwarding company. One of their customers kept a French oak t&g flooring there. We bought it for our lounge, hall and dining room, 22mm thick x 150mm for less than half the price locally.
I’d have a look on ebay. There are many postings on there with oak for sale. Reclaimed would be useful. Your carpenter probably has the tools to cut oak railway sleepers into planks. At £27.60 each for 2.6 metre lengths, it’s cheap oak!
[https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Railway-Sleepers-Grade-A-grade-Reclaimed-Oak-2-6-Metres/264244302792?hash=item3d863013c8:g:MpIAAOSw7FRWX1k5]
I forgot to add that I made a ledge and brace door for someone that was burgled. It was just before Christmas and the door was wrecked. No chance of getting a non-standard sized door made in a couple of days. So I went to Chausson, the local Builders Merchants and bought some coffrage. Wood they use for shuttering. A 4m x 30cm x 25mm piece cost €13. It was enough to make one door. I stained it and had a good door for next to nothing.
Paul

7

Due to the treatment used on old railway sleepers they are not much use for anything, also they will be so well seasoned they will be as hard as nails. There is a lot of eastern European oak around, lower prices obviously.