What do you call this door part and where to order this online?

[T. T.]

Dear all:

Just a quick question wish you could help. We are living in a very old house (1930's) which has a old wooden door that has a 5" x 8" (outside rim: 7" x 12") viewing windows (or maybe I should say "door")... This viewing "window" is quite old and is not sealed very well, so when we turn on the heater, the warm air will escape from this viewing window - not really energy-smart. As I just had a good luck ordering a hard-to-find window part from a online store, I wonder if there is also an online store that sell this kind of part, and if so, where could I find it? And what is the official name of this type of part?? Many thanks!

Here you could see some photos of this "door" that I'm talking about...

on What is THIS?)

Thanks!

[Reed]

It appears you have never seen any late-night movies set in the Prohibition era showing the entrance to a "speak-easy".

similar items at:

[whchuang]

Dear Reed, thank you so much for your reply. Yes few hours later after I posted this question to this group, I found some items on eBay which then realized they are called " vintage peep hole viewer speakeasy"

By the way, another side question, is there any way to weather stripping this kind of viewer?? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Reed wrote:

[T. T.]

[David Martel]

TT,

It's not really clear what's leaking. You'll need to take this apart, clean everything up, and repair the seals. I'm guessing you'll need some paintable caulk and some glazing compound. The glazing compound will seal the window glass to it's frame. The caulk is used to seal everything back to the door. Adding a storm door might be a better fix.

Dave M.

[Goedjn]

Is there, in fact, any glass in it at all? It looks like a metal grill and a metal shutter. If not, there's certainly room between the outer grill and the inner shutter to caulk a sheet of lucite in there.

[Norminn]

In the picture you posted, what is beyond the little opening? Looks like metal grate. Pretty cute feature. I would be inclined to caulk it shut for the winter and, when warm weather arrives, take the door down, strip it, refinish, fit (two panes if possible) plexi inside the little door.

You will probably chip the paint removing screws to get the metal door out, so that is the reason I would want to wait for warm weather. Stripping the metal and removing rust will help keep it nice for long time, as it is a very unique feature. If you do refinish, be sure to prime the metal with a good metal primer right away after removing the paint or it will begin to rust. Looks like there is enough depth to the door to fit in two panes of plexiglass with a narrow spacer between them and drilled at the corners to fit the screws. Put fine line of silicone caulk around inside pane and outside the outer pane.

[Bennett Price]

Consider something like this - cheap, easy- also available at ACE HW stores. It will fill the gaps around the door.

T. T. wrote:

[Heathcliff]

Does the little door latch firmly? If so you could try putting some stick-on weatherstripping around the edge of the door, it looks like there is maybe just barely enough overlap between the little door and its frame so that would work. Alternatively, find a small decorative pillow that will just fit in there and stuff it in for the winter. (Today is my day for "stuff a pillow in it" answers.)

[T. T.]

[Fay]

"T. T." wrote in news: [e-mail]:

My parents have a small door like this and it has 1/2" spring bronze weatherstriping. Their door has a glass so you don't have to open the small door to see out side. If you want to talk you open the door.