glazed

THE MASTODON COFFEETREE, Gymnocladus hesperia

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 20:43:26 GMT

THE MASTODON COFFEETREE,

Gymnocladus hesperia

By Eric Martindale Oct 5th, 2026

LIVING FOSSIL FOUND IN BRANCHBURG, NEW JERSEY

Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky Coffeetree) has been documented as the only species in its genus in North America. Now, there is a newly discovered and critically endangered species known unofficially as the Mastodon Coffeetree. It’s known from eight specimens in Branchburg, Somerset County, New Jersey. Its leaflets are tremendously larger than Gymnocladus dioicus and the other five Gymnocladus species in Asia. The leaf structure is completely divergent from G. dioicus, and the canopy structure is very open and tufty. This is the Eocene fossil species Gymnocladus hesperia, known from the Green River Formation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Leaves Compared
Natural Variation of Kentucky Coffeetree
Canopy Structure Compared
Known history of the Property .
Review of Five Gymnocladus species from Asia.
My Goals
Conclusions

THE LEAVES COMPARED

Mastodon Coffeetree (left) from Branchburg, NJ, and Kentucky Coffeetree (right) from Teaneck, NJ.

Edward MacGinitie first described G. hesperia from fossil leaves in 1967. While the Mastodon Coffeetree could be a completely unknown species and not G. hesperia, the safest position is to say that it is a modern subspecies of G. hesperia found in the fossil record, but not different enough to be classified as its own species. That is a conservative position. The primary basis for this claim is comparing all known Gymnocladus species, as follows:

Modern botanists and paleontologists are free to disagree that the Mastodon tree is G. hesperia. They can say the leaflets are too big to be G. hesperia, just as MacGinitie said G. hesperia is too big to be G. dioicus. That would be a continuation of MacGinitie’s reasoning. The overriding factor is that the G. hesperia fossils are the closest thing to these Mastodon Coffeetree leaves, and they are from the same continent. An identification as G. hesperia should be the starting point.

Scientists are encouraged to compare the fossil leaves in detail to those from living Mastodon Coffeetree and Kentucky Coffeetree specimens, and if the taxonomical evidence warrants, they can publish a scientific paper establishing that the Mastodon Coffeetree is a species separate from the fossil species G. hesperia. I estimate 25% that will happen. I don’t have the credentials to publish a scientific paper. What I can do is gather the evidence, and present it.

This relic population of 8 mystery coffeetrees contains 7 trees on a 1.1-acre residential property, including a champion which is approximately 11 feet in circumference. The 8th tree is on a neighbor’s lawn, and it is about 2.5 feet in circumference. It is not yet known if this is the site of a former Native American village. It’s at the right place for one, at the top of a low rise, and about 50 yards from a babbling brook which could source fresh water.

There may be only two female specimens. There is strong reason to believe that the female trees bear fruit every two years, unlike G. dioicus which bears fruit every year. One mature female specimen was found bearing Gymnocladus bean pods with beans. Another mature specimen may also be a female, but in an “off year” and not fruiting. The homeowner identified that tree, just west of his garage, as the tree that produces the most bean pods. This specimen dropped two flat bean pods in August, without any beans. No other bean pods were hanging.

When paleontologists first studied the leaflets from the Green River Formation, they concluded that they were Gymnocladus leaves. It was amazing to find Gymnocladus leaves 2.7” – 3.35” inches. Kentucky Coffeetree leaflets are commonly in the range of 2.0 - 2.5”.

MacGinitie and Banisteria B. Brown said that the size, venation, and shape of the apex (leaflet tip) on the fossil leaflets were too different from G. dioicus, and therefore it’s a different species.

The below link is a good summary article describing how the coffee trees co-evolved with megafauna once native to the United States. https://poorprolesalmanac.substack.com/p/kentucky-coffee-tree?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

MacGinitie described a completely new species, Gymnocladus hesperia. Hesperia means west, because the Green River Formation is west of where G. dioicus is now found.

Legume fossil from Mississippi embayment formation, Alabama +/- 35 mya. Could be Gymnocladus.

Just for comparison purposes, below are some maple leaves. Nobody is going around saying these maples are the same species, with “regional variations in the leaf shape”. Same issue for cherries, willows, birches, and even some oaks.

It’s an understatement to say that the leaves of G. hesperia are different from other Gymnocladus. It’s absolutely prehistoric and completely different from all other trees, period. The large terminal spine of leaflets is so dominant that the entire leaf is almost a compound leaf, like a Walnut or Ailanthus. Think of it as a compound leaf that has one pair of much smaller leaflet stems jutting out near the bottom of the leaf. The ancestors of G. hesperia were likely compound leaves, and G. hesperia is an early stage of bipinnate. It is a missing link to the more complex bipinnate leaves of the rest of the Gymnocladus genus. This is going to blow the socks off the entire botanical community. Why is there even a debate that this is a different species from G. dioicus? There’s absolutely nothing like it in North America. Not in Gymnocladus, and not in any other genus native to North America.

The large size of the leaflets in the Mastodon Coffeetree is outside the natural variation of leaflet size for the Kentucky Coffeetree. More importantly the whole structure of the leaf is different. G. dioicus has no terminal leaflet stem. I searched through hundreds of images online, and I did find one G. dioicus leaf image with a very short terminal leaflet stem at the end of the leaf. It’s #9 on the display of 10 coffeetree leaves.

Mastodon Coffeetree not only has a large terminal leaflet stem, but it’s dominant, and the terminal stem has the largest leaflets. The terminal leaf stem is the defining characteristic of the species.

LEAF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN G. HESPERIA AND G. DIOICUS

NATURAL VARIATION OF KENTUCKY COFFEETREE

Some observers are commenting that the Mastodon specimen is simply a variation of Kentucky Coffeetree. For now, let’s just look at 10 various Coffeetree leaves. Let’s consider which are G. dioicus, and which might be other species:

Just to be clear, #5 is G. hesperia, and the other nine leaves are G. dioicus, at least for now. There can be speculation on whether some of these could be other species or subspecies:

VARIETY A, classic Kentucky Coffeetree = Images 1, 6, and 10

VARIETY B, a stouter-leaf species = Images 3 and 7

VARIETY C, huge bottom pinnae and small leaflets at the end = Images 4 and 8

The above images show considerable variation of Gymnocladus dioicus in size and leaf color, but nothing remotely close to the leaves of the Mastodon Coffeetree. Some of the differences in these images may reflect hybridization. Pure and distinct tree species can and do hybridize. If hybridizing was going on, that actually adds great weight to the claims that the Mastodon Coffeetree is another species of Coffeetree. G. dioicus would have had to hybridize with another species of Coffeetree to produce its leaf variation. Is that species the G. hesperia?

There’s a serious geneticist named Eugene McCarthy who believes the creation of new species is entirely the result of hybridization, a concept that he calls macroevolution. He has coined the term “Stabilization Theory”. It explains how a species can exist stabilized and unchanged, even for tens of millions of years. After an initial hybridization event, a long time goes by before a new species is genetically “stabilized”. Stabilization Theory is the strongest definition of species I have ever read. McCarthy’s take on hybridization and Stabilization Theory could be relevant here, so I am including it. www.macroevolution.net

The Solitair image (#7) was sent to me from the Solitair tree farm in Loenhout, Belgium. https://www.solitair.be/contact / I contacted them because the Solitair leaflets online were intriguing. They emailed me a picture of an actual leaf. It’s not a Mastodon Coffeetree. However, the leaf structure is clearly not graceful and symmetrical like the most classic G. dioicus. It’s seriously divergent, and closer to image #3. Image #3 was found online; we don’t know from which American State. Is the Solitair specimen and Image #3 yet another species of Coffeetree? I am certain that Solitair is not G. hesperia because it does not have the large and dominant terminal leaflet stem of G. hesperia.

The gracefulness of #6, the classic Kentucky Coffeetree, might be a reflection of its stabilization. This is the most common variant of Coffeetree. It is the “pure” form with zero hybridization. Note that the leaflet pattern is also the most symmetrical, and the color is a lighter green.

If Solitair knows the American source of the original beans, they are advised to get more beans from that same source and establish a population of male and female trees, and to prevent hybridization with classic G. dioicus. Solitair is an important genetic lineage.

Let’s consider the possibility that there was once a large and diverse lineage of Gymnocladus species in the United States, like the many species of oaks and maples. It retreated and expanded with every glacial cycle. Megafauna frequently knocked over trees, creating enough sun for the various Gymnocladus species to grow well, and they pooped out seeds ready to germinate. Gymnocladus species were very common. When the megafauna disappeared, those tree species started disappearing one by one. Those that survived retreated into very small populations. Native Americans then cultivated them for soap and medicinal purposes.

Botanists saw that the coffeetrees were rare, and decided without serious thought that it’s one species which is rare throughout its range. Now with the discoveries of the Mastodon Coffeetree in New Jersey and Gymnocladus sanctus in China, this can be re-evaluated. It might be prudent for science to break up G. dioicus into several species.

CANOPY STRUCTURE COMPARED

These Mastodon Coffeetrees are weird trees, especially the older ones. It even LOOKS like a living fossil. I’ve never seen any deciduous tree with such an open canopy. The leaves are clumped into what I call “tufts” that are a bit comical, something like a Dr. Seuss tree. The tufts and the open canopy are the defining aspects of the species. A cut twig looked like it was decades old, and each year it just added a millimeter or so to the length.

I didn’t count how many leaves were on the tuft, but all the leaf stems were clustered very tight together. The clustering and tufts are reminiscent of some specimens of Black Walnut and Ailanthus, but much denser and more pronounced. All the leaves were anchored to the twig within just a few inches of each other.

Another difference is the reproductive strategy of the two species. Kentucky Coffeetree sprouts vigorously from the roots, and even makes colonies. There is no evidence at the farmhouse site that Mastodon Coffeetree does this. Another factor in making them rare.

 BARK COMPARED

There is some variation on the bark of both species. The Mastodon bark is browner, but not as brown as Black Walnut. There are little or no hints of orange or red. Kentucky Coffeetree is more likely to be a lighter gray and for the bark to be have more plates than ridges. On some specimens, the plates are more pronounced than others. G. dioicus will have accents of orange or red around the edges of its plates, more so on younger specimens.

KNOWN HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY

I visited the homeowner’s house on August 1, 2026 to quote a home improvement project, and I parked my car right under a female Coffeetree, with bean pods hanging. What struck me were leaves. Dendrology is just a hobby for me. I’m a contractor, and I specialize in Bilco-type doors. www.glazedcellardoors.com In past decades, I led successful open space campaigns.

The primary theory for the origin of the trees on this property is that the original farmhouse owner planted them around the house 150 - 250 years ago, so that the seed pods could be food for horses or pigs. Wherever he got them from, that population is very likely extirpated. A secondary theory is that the farmhouse was built on a low rise near a babbling stream, at the site of an abandoned Native American village. Some specimens remained.

The farm was turned into a housing subdivision about 20 - 30 years ago, with dozens of houses on approximately one-acre lots. The original farmhouse now sits on 1.1 acres. I searched the neighborhood and found only one more specimen. The homeowners who own 7 specimens are supportive of preserving the trees, and are very interested in all findings.

The existing population is on upland soils. There are no major hills in the vicinity, but the terrain is rolling. The geology is layers of red shale and red sandstone bedrock of the Newark Formation, of Late Triassic age. Actual bedrock is likely to be at least 10-30 feet underground.

Some specimens have a single trunk that trends upwards, but the trunk is not perfectly straight on any specimen. On other specimens the trunk divides into two, and over time one of those becomes dominant, and the other is secondary. The species most likely prefers open sun. The leaves are a deep Irish green, a deeper shade than most Kentucky Coffeetree. They start to turn yellow at the end of September and early October.

The bean pods are similar to Kentucky Coffeetree, but the beans inside are a tad smaller and not as dark. I was unable to see the flowers, as my visits were past the flowering season. They are believed to be dioecious, meaning a tree has either male or female flowers. This is uncommon in deciduous trees, and may reflect a more primitive state of evolution.

The “coffee seeds” and Tamarind

The leaves are dominated by a large terminal spine directly bearing larger leaflets than those on the secondary leaflet spines. The terminal spine has 5 pairs of very large leaflets, for a total of ten. There is only one pair of secondary leaflet stems, and 1 pair of pinnae below them.

Representative leaf of G. hesperia from a mature tree

It’s a bit scary that the fate of this species could rest with one or two female specimens. I collected 21 seeds from the leaf litter. All 21 passed “the float test”, meaning that they sunk in a pot of water. There’s a good size stash of seed pods under a large holly bush. I own a house on 3.5 acres a half hour away. I will germinate the seeds and plant them on my property.

I was going to try the pulp in the bean pods as a tea, but then I read that G. dioicus pulp is used as a soap, and to stun fish. These bean pods may have the same toxins found in G. dioicus. If there’s any chemical compounds that are medicinal, they would have to be carefully extracted.

The below trees are all very healthy, and they are distinctly different from Kentucky Coffeetree. Each branch has just a few tufts of leaves, and the canopy is open between them. Just perfect for a Mastodon to wrap its trunk around a leaf cluster, and pick it with a few bean pods

If this were G. dioicus, it would be the State Champion for New Jersey. I’ve chosen not to nominate it as State Champion for G. dioicus for New Jersey. It’s the champion G. hesperia.

The old farmhouse in Branchburg, NJ

REVIEW OF FIVE GYMNOCLADUS SPECIES FROM ASIA

In order to establish that this is an undocumented species or a living fossil species, we must identify all known Gymnocladus species, to rule out that “these may be a non-native Gymnocladus already known to science that were planted here”. Here is a link for a taxonomic review of the genus Gymnocladus, with emphasis on Asian species. It’s written in technical jargon, good for scientists, bad for the general public.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/405261248_Taxonomic_review_of_the_genus_Gymnocladus_Fabaceae_Caesalpinioideae_Gleditsieae_with_emphasis_on_Asian_species_including_a_new_species_G_sanctus

The average person finds technical writings difficult to read, so I created a Word document that summarizes the above link, and focusses in on the relevant information.

Analysis of Taxonomic Review by Eric Martindale

CHAPTER SUMMARY - The conclusion of the Gymnocladus review is that none of them are close to the Mastodon Coffeetree. Four of them have very small leaflets, including Chinese Soap Tree. These species can be easily and firmly ruled out. Only G. sanctus is anything like Kentucky Coffeetree, but it is missing the large terminal leaflet stem of G. hesperia.

MY GOALS

For the G. hesperia species to be identified as living, and more formally described by science. The taxonomical differences are enough to make the call. A DNA comparison to Kentucky Coffeetree would be welcomed, and it would provide incontrovertible proof.

For conservation efforts to initiate. Mastodon Coffeetree is a critically endangered species. Specimens can be grown and planted in arboretums, in parks, in school yards, in fields, etc. The recovery of this species will be an amazing conservation success story.

Conservation Strategies. If individual non-reproducing specimens are found, grow saplings from fertile beans gathered at the Branchburg location, and plant at least four of them near each individual male or female tree. When they mature, there’s a very high chance that there will be a reproducing population of both male and female trees. Another conservation option for individual trees that are found is to identify if each is male or female. Then graft twigs from distant trees of the opposite sex. After a few years these new branches will flower, and cross-pollinate with the rest of the tree. This will also work for the female G. sanctus archetype specimen at the temple in China.

There may be medical applications for Mastodon Coffeetree including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, blood-sugar and cholesterol control, and cardiovascular matters, Alzheimer’s, and more. Native Americans are known to have prized G. dioicus, and used the wood pulp and beans as medicine.

Persons wishing to contact the homeowner and examine the trees will have to go through me. The homeowners are supportive of conservation efforts, but should not be overwhelmed. This is private property. People should not be visiting the site or walking on the property.

CONCLUSIONS

Botanists and paleontologists who have studied the fossil G. hesperia leaves will be astonished that the species has been found alive. This is big news in the fields of botany and paleontology. G. hesperia can now be studied, and the information gathered will help round out the scientific understanding of the Legume Family and its origins. There are over 19,000 species of Legumes, covering everything from peas and soybeans to Acacias and Locusts.

Conclusions are represented below as percentages, meaning what chance does this author think a statement is correct. These percentages will change over time as more information becomes available.

100% = The mystery Coffeetree is not any of the Asian species of Gymnocladus.

Over 99% = The mystery trees are not a random hybrid. If I was one specimen, that’s a possibility. What’s the chance that 8 specimens are each a hybrid

95% = The mystery coffeetree species is more closely related to Gymnocladus hesperia than to Gymnocladus dioicus. Hesperia is known only as fossil leaflets, Eocene Epoch.

75% = The Mastodon Coffeetree is Gymnocladus hesperia. It is a living fossil. The leaflets of the Mastodon Coffeetree are much larger even than fossils of G. hesperia, and less elongated, but these differences do not rise to the level of speciation. 25% chance is that botanists will ultimately decide the differences with G. hesperia fossils are too great, and it is neither G. dioicus or G. hesperia.

60% = The tree population at the farmhouse in Branchburg, New Jersey, was planted by the original owner of the house between 1750 and 1850. The trees were very rare in nature at the time, but could still be found. 40% = There was a Lenape Native American village at the site. They cultivated the trees. The house was built, and some of the G. hesperia trees remained. Seeds of the Mastodon Coffeetree were sold or traded between 1750 and 1850, and misidentified at the time as “Kentucky Coffeetree”.

90% = Mastodon Coffeetree is extinct in nature. The species had been cultivated and saved from extinction by Native Americans since the extinction of the megafauna, because of the medicinal value of the pulp in the seed pods.

50% = The Mastodon Coffeetree was originally native to New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, which are outside of the natural range of G. dioicus. 50% it was native to elsewhere in the United States, and The Lenape brought it here via trade with other tribes, or via their own migration to New Jersey from the Midwest.

90% = Other Mastodon Coffeetrees that were planted long ago are still alive. Living specimens are out there, mostly very old specimens that were planted between 1750 and 1850, or earlier. Female specimens that are growing without a nearby male partner are not producing bean pods with viable beans. Where to look:

- In and around old cemeteries, parks, farmhouses, and abandoned farmhouses.

- At sites of former Native American villages, esp. on high ground near rivers

- Around very old churches, colleges, and estates in historic districts

- Along former canal tow roads, many of which are now public greenways in New Jersey.

- In the larger (older) cities of the northeastern United States

Now it is time for botanists and paleontologists to take up the case of the Mastodon Coffeetree and its conservation efforts. I will do what I can to propagate the seeds and establish another population on and near my own property.

It’s hard for novices to separate hickories, ashes, walnut, butternut, Ailanthus, and Locust trees because they all have compound leaves. The Mastodon Coffeetree does not have this problem. Think of the Mastodon Coffeetree as a compound leaf, but with two additional leaflet stems extending out near the bottom of the leaf. No other tree has a leaf like that. They are absolutely unmistakable.

I am keeping a database for individual specimens and any populations of G. hesperia. Any reader who identifies a specimen or a population is requested to email me and provide the location with a picture of a leaf.

Eric Martindale, owner

Glazed Cellar Doors by Confident Home Remodelers

ericmartindale2@gmail.com

#Gymnocladus #GymnocladusHesperia #hesperia #livingfossil #Branchburg #SomersetCounty #KentuckyCoffeetree #GymnocladusDioicus #mysterytree #sanctus #Solitair #EricMartindale #Lenape #bipinnate #MastodonCoffeetree

CRAWLSPACE ACCESS DOOR IN KEARNY

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 17:45:39 GMT

CRAWLSPACE ACCESS DOOR IN KEARNY

By Eric Martindale Feb 17th, 2025

NOT A SIMPLE PROJECT

Cellar doors that are in the corner of a rear wall are often the most difficult installs. This project in Kearny, NJ was even further complicated by a narrow side door to the right of the cellar door. It leads to a crawlspace used for storage.

Below is a close up of the crawlspace access door. It’s very narrow. The old door only opened to about 90 degrees, because it was hitting the cellar door. I convinced the customer to reverse the swing, so we could make the door much wider, and it could swing to 180 degrees.

This is no real challenge for us, we are carpenters and masons. My company, Confident Home Remodelers, started in 2008. In the early years, we had not picked a specialty, and we were doing every kind of project imaginable. We did framing, sheetrock, tiles, masonry, windows, doors, and painting.

We even did roofing and siding, using subcontractors. This proved to be a risky business plan, because I was relying on other people’s workmanship under my company name. No more of that.

By 2013, we decided it’s best to specialize in windows and doors, and we stopped taking on other projects. We have the skill set, but we just don’t want that work. And then in 2022, we stopped advertising for windows and doors. This was a big decision, and it’s been a tremendous success.

For almost three years, we only advertise and market for cellar doors. All of our competitors are window and door guys who occasionally dabble in these metal cellar doors, but it’s not their specialty. There are hundreds of them, just in New Jersey. There was no way to stick out from the crowd.

Now we are the specialists in cellar doors. We are the one contractor who can install ANY cellar door. No opening has ever defeated us.

We have become the leading experts at getting them done. Nobody else is using the commercial-grade glazing, and almost nobody else is using our hydraulic anchor cement. And we’ve installed so many that we’ve seen almost every problem, and we know what to do.

I do have one competitor (he’s in Monmouth County) who makes a big deal about being the only Bilco installer who handles all of New Jersey, and that he installs only Bilco, no other brand. I find this amusing because Bilco only makes standard sizes. That means he can’t install a custom unit, which is about 1/3 of the market. More importantly, he’s not installing Steelway, which is the superior brand across the board.

We laugh at the competitor’s marketing. He doesn’t install in Eastern Pennsylvania, and I don’t install in South Jersey. Who cares about that, seriously. Not one customer will ever think that either of us is any better than the other because of the geography of our sales territory.

Actually, I am better than him, but it’s for many other reasons. It’s not because of what counties I do or don’t install in.

You see this disaster in the above photo. After we removed the old wood unit, we expected to find a nice diagonal flat wall, not something irregular.

We decided it was best to frame the new opening for the crawlspace door while the cellar door was out. Of course, we used pressure-treated wood.

The framing includes several vertical boards, spaced as needed, and a diagonal board paralleling the slope foundation, but two inches higher.

After the framing, we custom cut a ¾” thick PVC board. They are available at most lumberyards, but they are by far the cheapest at Home Depot. Same brand, same material. It’s still close to $150 for a 4-foot x 8-foot PVC board.

It was tricky sliding it in, marking it, cutting it, and sliding it back in. And then we had to secure the far corner with some special carpentry.

The right-side masonry wall was very irregular, and we put a few coats of our hydraulic anchor cement during the framing.

After the PVC board was added, we poured a lot of cement between the masonry wall and the PVC board. There is so much cement there, no water is going to get into that old gap.

Here is the finished job. The crawlspace door has a latch and handle on the left, and the customer will add a padlock if he wants it. There are two hinges on the right. It opens 180 degrees, and the extra 10 inches in width makes it much easier to enter the crawlspace.

This job was installed in May, 2025. It’s a Bilco O-series, with African Grey as the glazing. It’s a glorious color, almost like a Martha Stewart designer color. It coats on well from a glazing perspective.

It’s one of the last Bilco’s we installed. Soon afterwards, we got special pricing from Steelway, based on our volume. They make all the same sizes as Bilco, and also the custom units. Bilco just keeps raising their prices, higher and higher, and Home Depot keeps raising the “Bid Room” criteria. Between those two factors, the cost of a Bilco doubled in a year.

We also like Steelway for other reasons, and an upcoming article will describe this in great detail.

I can still install a Bilco, for instance if the customer buys it and then decides to hire a contractor.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.glazedcellardoors.com We install cellar doors throughout Central and Northern New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania. In the off-season (winter), we are willing to travel further.

STEELWAY FOR A TIGHT OPENING

Wed, 15 May 2024 16:37:40 GMT

STEELWAY FOR A TIGHT OPENING

By Eric Martindale May 15th, 2024

BIG CHALLENGE IN NETCONG, NEW JERSEY

Sometimes an opening is just too narrow for a cellar door, even a custom unit from Steelway. The customer wanted to have an opening big enough for a washing machine or a dryer to clear. Those units are 27” wide, but you need a bit more to avoid scratches on appliances or fingers.

The old opening was only 29” wide, and Steelway advises installers to leave a 2.5” for hinge clearance for a standard install. That would leave an inside width of only 26.5”, which is not wide enough. We made a 28.5" inside unit width work by deliberately designing the install with two chiseled out pockets on the outer cement wall for hinge clearance. Steelway advises that this can be done, as a custom install, whenever needed. We also hinged the door left so it can open more fully. A hinged-right door, opening to the house side, would have restricted the opening more.

Bottom cement of the old opening is too thin

This was one of the most difficult measures I’ve ever done, because the other major problem was the front cement wall was too thin, and would have to be removed. I would have to dig into the asphalt, make a new cement base, add cinderblocks, and have them come to the right height. If I made it too high, the unit wouldn’t fit. If I made it too low, there would be an awkward gap to fill, and the sill would be sitting “high” on the front cinderblocks.

This customer was lucky to find me. I think 90% of potential installers would walk away and not bid this one, and the other 10% would fail at the install. There were numerous challenges:

- measure and order it the right size, and at least 28” inside width

- chisel out the hinge pockets

- get the “house side” level with the outer wall, it must open and close flush

- make the front foundation the right height, and centered front to back

- get it all leak-proof

Top of the old opening, prior to deck and railing

I admit I did spend considerable time measuring, and calculating everything. Compounding the problem was that the customer was going to install a deck and railing before the cellar door. And that guy passed on the cellar door part of the project. That’s OK, I can install a deck, but he’s probably better than me at railings.

The top of the unit was a thin slab of concrete, and the customer was going to cover it with some fascia board. I told them not to build it out too much.

I ordered the unit at Steelway, and it was ready in a few weeks. I showed up at the jobsite and saw the new deck and railing already done.

Someone else did the deck project

First, we removed the tarp and the prior door. It was not hinged. We removed the aluminum coil over the support boards on the house side.

One bit of luck was that the driveway had two layers. After removing the top layer, the lower layer was below the height of the adjacent cement slab. Most of the new cinderblock work would be sitting on the old cement slab, so we felt it not necessary to extend the foundation out. I used a jackhammer to level the old cement slab, as it was not level. And then we poured about one bag’s worth of our hydraulic anchor cement

Level cement ready for cinderblocks. It dries fast.

We held the frame of the new cellar door onto the opening several times, to calculate exactly how high the cinderblock work would be, and how far it would extend into the driveway. Customer said “a few inches is fine”.

Front cement is perfectly level, and ready for carpentry

Here’s the opening after the front cement work was completed. Notice that we chiseled two pockets in the left wall for the hinge clearance. This type of install is tricky, because it means we have to assemble the Steelway before installing it. There would be no way, after installing the frame, to insert the hardware that connects the door to the frame.

We also decided that the support boards on the “house side” were not the right height, and had to be completely removed and redone. That wasn’t part of the job, but we just did it. I used a pressure-treated 2x8, a pressure-treated 2x6, and on top I added a ¾” thick PVC board. We don’t like to have exposed wood, even pressure-treated wood. Getting it level was no joke either. That took some time, and precision cutting. I attached the PVC board to the 2x8 prior to installing it with long blue Tapcon screws into the house foundation. The 2x6 was added last, for extra support.

Completed Install

We used the Bilco-type nail pins, not the anchor screws preferred by many installers. We don’t like the idea that someone can simply unscrew them, pry out the cellar door unit, and then break into a customer’s house. The nail pins can be purchased at Home Depot or a hardware store. The nail pins are tough to remove, you need a grinder. We don’t care. We are not designing the install to be easier to remove by the next guy in 2074.

The unit sits flush and beautiful. It was a perfect install. The customer chose “Attitude Grey” for the glazing color. I would have gone with a different grey, a bit lighter than the siding, but the color was their choice. We glazed it at our shop, and did a little touch-up glazing after the install, and before the final cement. The glazing dries very fast, due to the nature of the product. It is not paint.

And unlike paint, only an hour later wet cement can touch it, and be wiped away with a sponge without marring the glazing finish. (Hint, we glaze, get some lunch, and by the time we come back, it’s ready for the final cement). We do a lot more cement work than other installers, and yes, it takes time.

We were very pleased with the performance of the Steelway unit. It opens and closes almost effortlessly, and when it closes, there’s no gap along the front. Bilco has that problem, especially on their flat units, and every customer complains about it. Bilco wasn’t an option for this job, because they don’t make custom size units.

We take great pride in our work. All customers deserve to have quality work done on their homes, whether it’s an old house in a working-class urban neighborhood, a typical suburban home like this one, or it’s a multi-million-dollar estate. We do them all.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.glazedcellardoors.com We install cellar doors throughout Central and Northern New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania.

BILCO DOOR FOR NEWARK HOUSE

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 19:47:56 GMT

BILCO DOOR FOR NEWARK HOUSE

By Eric Martindale Feb 5, 2024

THOUSANDS OF HOUSES NEED A NEW CELLAR DOOR

When it’s time to fix up the house, it’s often best to start with the foundation, and work your way up. A young lady in the Weequahic Section (aka “The Mighty South”) of Newark called us in January, hoping to add a Bilco door to secure her home, and have a workable entrance for contractors to finish the basement. Confident Home Remodelers is New Jersey’s leading installer of cellar doors, also known as Bilco doors or Steelway doors.

She’s living on one floor, and has family members renting the other floor at a discounted rate. It’s nice to see people providing for family members in need of affordable rental housing. We respect that.

We’re used to showing up at an appointment and seeing a tarp over a leaking cellar door. Not this time. There was nothing there but old rotten plywood. “Don’t step on it”, she said “It will collapse and you’ll fall into the stairwell”. That was the heaviest piece of plywood I’ve ever had the pleasure of moving. The water really adds to the weight of the board. Sadly, the opening wasn’t any much better after we removed the plywood.

The foundation and the stairs were severely crumbling. The house was over 100 years old, and this was the original masonry, without any repairs in all those years.

We sold the deal, and due to the shape of the foundation, the only unit that would fit was the large Bilco SL series. The customer decided to go with “Rustic Red” as the glazing color, to match the trim around the windows. See below picture of the house. The house is better than average for the neighborhood, and has large rooms throughout.

This shade of red trim is quite popular in the urban areas. It’s a deeper red than the red primer on a Bilco. We glazed both sides, every square inch, prior to delivery. We buy the glazing chemicals from a glazing supplier. The glazing is non-porous on the molecular level, blocking out all rust. We do not “paint” our cellar doors. Glazing costs more than paint, but we’ve never had an owner-occupied homeowner say, “I want to save the $200 difference, you can paint the Bilco instead of glazing it.” We’ve solved the rust problem with these cellar doors, and that’s why people are signing our contracts.

In consultation with the customer, we decided that the best approach was to remove some of the asphalt covering the collapsing foundation, level it, and raise it just a bit so that water will not come in. Flat properties with driveways tend to develop water problems with their Bilco’s, because when the driveway is repaved, suddenly parts of the Bilco are below grade.

After the excess asphalt was removed, we determined that the back right corner was 2 inches higher than the front right corner, and almost 3 inches higher than the front left corner. Well, that’s on me. I saw the opening, and it wasn’t fully covered with asphalt. We knew it wasn’t level. I gave the price, and levelling it was part of the contract. Probably I would have asked a tad more if I knew what was involved, but we got the job done. If during the demolition, I find something completely out of sight, such as a buried electrical or plumbing line, or a termite-infested sill, that’s a valid reason to tell the customer there’s going to be a cost addendum. If I say we’ll level a unit, and the levelling is more work than I thought, that’s just on me.

We jackhammered about an inch off the highest parts of the right foundation side, and we added an assortment of standard bricks and extra-thin bricks along the front. We then laid a level of 4” solid cinderblocks, and we leveled and squared everything while the cement was wet. The weather was on the cold side for cement work, a bit below the magic 45 degrees. The key is that it was not below freezing overnight, or the prior day. If there had been a frost or freeze overnight, we would not have installed that day, because the masonry really “holds” the freeze all day. We know quite a few masonry tricks, and we used one of them to make sure that our hydraulic anchor cement would set fast in such cool weather. It was hard in one hour.

Also, take note that even low 50’s temperature would have been no good for masonry work if had been 25 degrees overnight, and then dipping that low a few hours after the work. The 45-degree masonry rule has some serious footnotes.

I don’t want to make it look easy, because it was not. We used our tools to ensure that the new foundation was exactly perpendicular to the wall, square on all corners, level horizontally, and in this case projecting 45” from the house wall on both sides. There’s an order to installing the new cinderblocks, and they don’t go in consecutive. That’s another trade secret. You have to know where to start, and the pattern of laying down the cinderblocks. Any good mason reading this knows what I’m talking about. Anyone not understanding should not attempt to rebuild a cellar door foundation.

Here’s the new foundation completed. We put the old plywood back, and called it a day. My fingers were getting numb.

A week later there was another day warm enough to work, and not raining. We returned to do the main install. I secured pressure-treated 2x4’s to the bricks, using a masonry gun, extending down from the sill to the foundation. On this particular install, there was a 1.5” gap between the house foundation bricks and the unit due to the positioning of the house sill plate, so we had to fill that gap. We later buried these 2x4’s in our special cement. We don’t leave exposed wood on our installs.

In preparation to secure the Bilco, we carefully cut and removed a section of vinyl siding and ½” Styrofoam insulation. You can’t cut the opening the same size as the Bilco, because that makes it problematic to secure the new J-channels. They’ll either be too tight, or there’s too much gap. Additionally, the top flange has to slip under the existing siding. It can’t be cut too high or it will look silly, and it can’t be too tight or the screws to attach the J-channel will be hitting the metal top rail. There’s a sweet spot, and there’s no more than ¼” tolerance up or down. It was trial-and-error for quite some time, on different job sites, to figure this out. Is it best to install the J-channels first, or the Bilco first? Ah, ah, ah, my competitors might be reading this article. Yes, there’s an order to these steps, and it’s not readily apparent. We’re not revealing this valuable information.

During the install, we decided to take pictures of what we consider to be a design flaw with the Bilco SL unit. We’ve been cursing the SL unit for years, every time we install one. The last pre-drilled hole on the rear of the triangular foundation is not easy to secure, either with a screw or the Bilco nail-pin. The angled cross-bar support is in the way. See the angle I have to hold the drill, in the below left picture. It’s very awkward. Of course, we’d prefer it to be perpendicular. It we were securing the Bilco to the foundation directly, that’s the awkward angle for the Bilco nail-pin as well. The right picture below shows a finger pointing to where we think the hole should be. I am going to send this information to Bilco, and ask them to slightly change the SL design.

Design flaw on Bilco SL. We'd prefer the drill hole to be here.

Almost ready for the post-install cement. That’s the original wood clapboards of the house, exposed for the first time in decades. Almost every house in Newark once looked like that, most with peeling lead paint and exposed rotten clapboard corners. It’s interesting that this house was never painted, and later the vinyl siding was added.

We sloped our hydraulic anchor cement up against all metal edges and flanges inside and out. The hydraulic quality keeps water from soaking into the cement, and the anchor quality prevents it from cracking away from the metal, and allowing condensation or rainfall to get into the gap and rust out the unit. Do not ever use Type-S mortar to install a metal cellar door. That’s a guaranteed failed installation. The Material Data Sheet for Type-S Mortar says it’s for masonry contact only, brick to brick, or cinderblock to cinderblock. It is specifically written that Type-S Mortar is not for steel contact. Better listen to what they say.

Done and beautiful. We skim-coated the exterior foundation. Notice also that we angled some cement to cover the vertical pressure-treated 2x4. The customer had a spare piece of plywood stored in the garage. We offered to cover the ugly old wooden clapboards, a no-charge freebee. She can paint it in her spare time. Below is the finished install. Now that there is a good cellar entrance for workers to come and go, the customer can get the basement finished.

The customer’s rear yard is quite small, and it’s half-paved, half-grass. When the job was done, the customer remarked that she really likes the tall SL-Bilco unit, because the traditional units project out further, and that would take away from usable space for outside family gatherings. They’ll all be coming in the Spring and Summer, and will be quite impressed to see the new Bilco. If I’m lucky, I’ll get some referral business.

Here’s a side view

We take great pride in our work. All customers deserve to have quality work done on their homes, whether it’s an old house in a working-class urban neighborhood, or it’s a multi-million-dollar estate. We do them all.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.glazedcellardoors.com We install cellar doors throughout Central and Northern New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania.

PROBLEM CELLAR DOOR IN RIDGEFIELD PARK

Sat, 20 May 2023 16:35:06 GMT

PROBLEM CELLAR DOOR IN RIDGEFIELD PARK

By Eric Martindale Feb 5, 2024

MUST BE DONE BEFORE DRIVEWAY IS PAVED

We got another incoming call from a customer hoping desperately to resolve basement flooding. She first reached out to her brother, who referred my company. He had found us online, and he also contracted with us for a cellar door replacement.

“Wait till you see this terrible cellar door, it’s an odd short size, it’s falling off the hinges, and that heavy rain we just had, well, I just had the worst basement flood in my 32 years of living here”, she said.

Upon inspection, the unit was indeed an unusual size. I couldn’t make out the manufacturer either. It was sturdily built with strong hinges, but after so many decades, the rust eventually won out.

In this case, the Bilco was sitting in the lowest corner of the back yard, and right at ground level. Even the smallest rain brought in some water. To make matters more complicated, the foundation also had to be extended about 18”, just to fit the Bilco “O” series, which is 47” across, and projects 58”.

I saw that if we extended the foundation out another 18”, the front edge of the Bilco would be about 2” below grade. This customer’s basement flooding problem was not going to be fixed with 4” cinderblocks, I had to go to standard 8” blocks.

Nobody has ever explained what the Bilco letters O, B, C, and SL stand for, so here’s my best guess

“O” = original
“B” = the second model
“C” = the third model
“SL” = super large

We had to do a lot of digging. Some of the excavated dirt is on a tarp, and the rest is on the driveway. We didn’t want to destroy the lawn with the excavated dirt. We wound up finding a home for most of the dirt. The neighbor next door wanted it to level out some area.

Below is the new masonry foundation, before the installation of the Bilco O.

Before we delivered the Bilco to the customer in Ridgefield Park, we glazed it in our back yard in Maywood. That’s my wife, Jossy, doing the glazing. The commercial glazing chemicals are supplied by a chemical company. It’s far harder and stronger than any paint, and according to everything we’ve researched and what we’ve been told by the chemical supplier, the glazing is far more rust-proof than any paint. It’s similar in composition to the original glazing on a bathtub, that never rusts through unless deliberately scoured by abrasive cleaning. Nobody is ever going to scour a cellar door in that manner.

Rust has been the enemy of the cellar door industry for 100 years, and to the best of our knowledge, Confident Home Remodelers is the first installer anywhere to apply a commercial glaze to a cellar door. We believe it will be 99% rust-proof, and if any rust ever does come, it will be a tiny bit right at an edge, and never in the flat part of the product either inside or outside. We believe that the commercial glazing will outperform the powder-coated painting that Bilco provides for some of the cellar door sizes that they sell.

We’re won’t be setting up shop for spraying the glaze until we move to a bigger and better location, so for now we are brushing it on. The glazing chemicals are a 3-part mix if sprayed, and a 4-part mix if brushed on. It smells strong, but our house in Maywood has a big side yard bordering a good-sized woods that is actually in Hackensack, so there’s no neighboring house right next door to complain. Maybe the deer don’t like it, but they are eating my beautiful woods bare, so I don’t feel so bad. I am the unofficial caretaker of the woods. I’ve coordinated or helped to coordinate several cleanup events. We watch over the woods to make sure bad things don’t happen.

We had to remove a little asphalt to install a higher row of cinderblocks. I was the one with the camera, so there’s no pictures of me, but we both worked very hard. Thanks to God the weather was great.

The asphalt was stupidly thin, barely 1.25”, lol. It was easy to cut with a grinder, and pry out the pieces.

Here’s the finished Bilco. The customer will have her landscaper grade around the Bilco, because the yard still slopes towards the Bilco. The foundation is 5” high. After the grading, the foundation will only be 2” high. The asphalt patching is temporary, the customer is going to rip out the driveway and redo it. ALWAYS change your cellar door before the driveway, if it is adjacent. This way we can do any and all foundation repairs without impacting a freshly paved driveway.

This customer had a foot of water in her basement in very early May. She called us on May 5th, urgently hoping to change the Bilco before the next heavy rain. We completed the installation on May 19th. I told her that her flooding situation has been worsened by a new vinyl fence, but the new Bilco is now high enough to prevent a repeat.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.confidenthomeremodelers.com We install cellar doors throughout Northern New Jersey. We’ll soon be expanding our install coverage to include the Lehigh Valley and Bucks County, PA. We’re told the area is tremendously underserved by Cellar Door professionals.

INTRODUCING INDUSTRIAL GLAZING

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 16:46:19 GMT

INTRODUCING INDUSTRIAL GLAZING

By Eric Martindale Feb 5, 2024

BETTER THAN BILCO’S POWDER-COATED PAINTING

Bilco took a bold step forward about 10 years ago when they decided to offer their B and C models in powder-coated paint. Yes, it’s far better than the pre-primed red, but it has limitations.

Now in 2023, one of their leading installers, Confident Home Remodelers, is taking a bigger and even bolder step forwards. We are now offering all Bilco units, not just the B and C models, with industrial glazing. There is no comparing this glazing to any “paint”. We won’t ever use that word to describe this product.

The glazing is not a traditional two-part epoxy mix either. It’s a three-part mix, with an optional fourth component if it’s brushed on instead of sprayed. We buy the mix from a chemical glazing supplier. Hey, we’re in New Jersey, and this is the leading State for all things chemical. If the change to glazing is going to happen to the cellar door industry, it makes sense that it would happen in New Jersey. We are at the cutting edge of this change.

Several customers that we’ve installed Bilco’s powder-coated units have complained, sometimes only months later, that rust is coming through.
We’ve been using Rustoleum primer and Rustoleum paint on units other than the Bilco B and C, with the same result. Rustoleum paint also has a very long cure time, several days, and this is a serious limitation. The finished product is “soft”, and it easily mars or scratches.
Nobody else is doing it. All other installers are either painting the cellar doors, or buying Bilco’s powder-coated units

Chance was on my side when a customer contacted me to rebuild the basement stairs on an investment house he owns in Teaneck, New Jersey. During the appointment, I asked “What do you do for a living”. He responded that he supplies industrial glazing. “Sounds like something I might need for my steel Bilco doors”, I said. His eyes perked with interest. I rebuilt his basement stairs.

The previous stairs were so narrow. The left stringer became rotten with termites because it was secured to the foundation wall, and it was NOT pressure-treated wood. Just one tiny crack is all the termites need to get in. The right stringer was lined up to that turquoise board. The old stairs were so narrow, barely 24” wide. I secured the new right stringer into a ceiling joist, gaining 6”. What, nobody does that. You know why? No carpenter does it because no carpenter thinks of it. I think outside of the box, and I did it. Problem solved. He was so happy that we did another project, a shorty rear door.

A week later I arrived at his factory with a few cut pieces of spare Bilco parts. He glazed them, and then let them sit in water for a week prior to testing them using various scientific tools and other methods.

ADHERENCE: One test was called “adherence”. Using some complicated tool with tiny diamond bits, he scratched the sample in a tiny crisscross pattern. He reported that adherence is 100%. This far outperforms any paint. The glazing absolutely will not peel or flake off, ever. It can’t be chemically stripped either. If you really want to remove the glazing, you’d have to sand it off with a rotary sander. I’m telling customers to be sure they want the glaze for the Bilco, because once it’s glazed, that’s it, it’s glazed forever. And if a customer changes the color plan of the whole house, it can be glazed over as another color. Theoretically a glazed Bilco can be painted, but why do that?
MOHS HARDNESS: Minerals and other substances can be rated using the Mohs Hardness Scale. Most people have heard that a diamond is the hardest substance, nothing can scratch it, and it rates a 10 on the hardness scale. Here’s two sources listing some common substances, and their ratings on the hardness scale https://geology.com/minerals/mohs-hardness-scale.shtml and https://simplicable.com/materials/mohs-scale
RUST TEST: He has a large steel object with his industrial glazing sitting outside his factory for 2 years. I saw it. It’s not rusting. I suspect that this industrial glazing is going to be a miracle solution for Bilco’s in coastal areas. Bilco’s at the shore rust out very quickly due to salt in the ocean air. Glazing is not going to help any steel object that’s already rusted internally, but a new Bilco, once glazed, should never rust. That’s straight from the mouth of the glazing supplier.

1 Talc
1 Vinyl composite tile
1 – 1.3 wood
1.5 Ice
1.5 Plastic
1.5 to 2 Gypsum
1.8 Calcium
2 #2 Pencil
2 to 2.5 fingernail
2 to 2.5 Halite (rock salt)
2.5 Galena (lead ore)
2.5 to 3 Silver
2.5 to 3 Gold
3 Calcite / Coral
3 Automotive paint (the hardest paint commonly sold)
3.5 Copper penny
3.5 – 4 Dolomite
4 Fluorite
4 Iron, Nickel
4 Limestone, sandstone, marble
4.5 = Our Industrial Glazing
5 Obsidian / Volcanic Glass
5 – 5.5 Glass
5 Concrete
5.5 Knife
6 Granite
6.5 Steel nail
7 Porcelain
7 Quartz
8 Cubic Zirconia
8.5 Masonry Drill bit
9 Ruby
10 Diamond

On the first install, I had to scrape some partially hardened concrete off the bottom of the glazed Bilco unit with a steel chisel. The chisel took it off without scratching the glazing. I simply couldn’t believe it. That chisel would have massacred any paint.

I’ve already sold four Bilco glazing contracts. The first one was just recently installed in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The homeowner moved in a few days prior. He chose a dark grey for the glazing color. We did the glazing at our shop in Maywood, two days before the install. It’s important to glaze before the install, so there are no untreated surfaces. The sad history of the cellar door industry has been that unpainted surfaces in the cement rust out the fastest, and they rust from the inside (from moisture) faster than from the outside surfaces directly in the weather.

Here’s the old wood unit. Very sad, very leaky, and a security hazard.

The demolition uncovered multiple problems. We knew it would be bad, but it was much worse than either myself or the customer envisioned.

The foundation was not level, and many stones were loose
We were startled to find a water line (red) and right next to it is an exposed electrical line
The front top slate was not level. This picture is actually showing it after we leveled it.
We wound up using four 55-lb bags of Cement-All. It’s not cheap, at about $26 a bag.
The lattice to the left needed to be straightened and secured
The gate to the right needed to be removed and remounted, and the bottom piece was falling apart
Boards above the Bilco were rotten, and needed to be replaced. Lots of custom-carpentry.

Here’s a close-up of the foundation. It was as bad as any we’ve ever seen. Many rocks were loose, and had to be reset with Cement-All

Here’s the glazed unit, installed onto the new foundation. We had to come back a second day, just for a few hours, to do the final carpentry, including

FINISHED INSTALL. We created a little triangular shelf, using PVC boards, to cover the water and electrical lines. Above the Bilco, and over the top flange, we cut a 1x8 PVC board. This will stop any water infiltration. PVC never rots. Everything was caulked and sealed as well.

The next Bilco, to be installed in Englewood, we already glazed it an emerald green. Every square inch is glazed, on all sides. It’s ready to install. If you are guessing that the Englewood customer is Irish, you would be correct. Two other Bilco’s, both to be glazed “China White”, are pending delivery. We are off to a strong start with the new Bilco Glazing business plan. We are not yet set up for spray glazing them, but that’s also part of the plan. Every Bilco has underlying defects with the red factory priming, so spray glazing still won’t make them perfect, but it will save on labor, both time and energy. And we’ll have a product that never rusts.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.confidenthomeremodelers.com We install cellar doors throughout Northern New Jersey, and a bit into Central Jersey. We might be further expanding, stay tuned….

NEW CELLAR DOOR SOLVES BASEMENT FLOODING

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 20:09:39 GMT

NEW CELLAR DOOR SOLVES BASEMENT FLOODING

By Eric Martindale Feb 5, 2024

OLD UNIT WAS SITTING TOO LOW TO A PATIO

Many times a customer needs to change out an old Bilco door to resolve basement flooding, not because it’s rusted, but because it’s sitting too low. I get several of these jobs every year. Most of the incoming calls come within 3 weeks of a big storm.

In the summer of 2022, a customer in Bergenfield, New Jersey found us online, and complained that water was just pouring down the basement steps every time there was an intense rainfall. Several times a year their basement was getting flooded.

“It needs to be replaced, but what’s the point of putting in a new one if water can still come in under the new doors”, she said.

I went over there to evaluate the problem. It took about 5 seconds for me to see exactly what the problem was. The Bilco was likely original to the house, and close to 70 years old. The patio was built some time later, and they didn’t excavate the yard first before creating the patio.

The mason recognized that it would be a problem that the new patio surface would be higher than the Bilco base, so he crafted a trench about 6” wide in front of the Bilco, and his trench drained out to the right generally towards the street (see bricks). That trench was an epic engineering failure right from the first day it was created. The trench is nowhere near the capacity to handle the runoff from the patio, especially because the trench doesn’t really drain anywhere very well. Water pools fairly deep to the side of the house.

I knew right away that the answer was to raise the Bilco about 4” using the small size cinderblocks all the way around the base. It was a brutal hot day in early August, way into the 90’s. It was simply miserable, and very humid. Yes, I personally worked, but I brought two guys instead of one, and they did the bulk of the work. We each downed at least 6 bottles of water….lol.

Here’s the job in phases. Customer had an old rusted Bilco B series, which is 51” wide, and it projects 64”.

After the demolition, we added 4” thick solid cinderblocks on the front and one side, and some bricks on the rear landing side.

Below is the finished masonry. We filled right over that pesky trench. Gone. We determined that it would be impossible for the water to ever pool more than 1” deep on the patio, as it would drain away on all sides. The new foundation is about 2.5” higher than the patio, enough to resolve the water issues.

The design for this job was trickier than most.

PLAN A: If we increased the foundation height 4”, and restored a new Bilco B the same size, the first step down would have been about 12” high, which is too high. Most steps are 7” – 8” high. That wasn’t going to happen. Let’s go to Plan B.

PLAN B: I then considered to replace the Bilco B with a Bilco C, which is 55” wide instead of 51”, and it projects 72” instead of 64”. By increasing the projection from 64” to 72”, that’s a gain of 8 inches, and the additional cinderblocks could become a step about 4” high. However, at 55” width the new Bilco would have been awkwardly close to the corner of the house, and more importantly there would have been a structural problem. The right side would have been past the existing Bilco foundation. It would have been awkward to stagger the new cinderblocks that much, and for cost reasons, we didn’t want to excavate a make a wider foundation. Customer was on a tight budget. That brought us to Plan C.

PLAN C: Gordon is Bilco’s biggest competitor. Gordon makes a CD-3 unit is 53” wide, and it projects 71”. The 2” saved on the width seems minor, but in this case it made a big difference. It got Gordon the order. It’s rare that we change brands from Bilco to Gordon, or Gordon to Bilco, but in this case, it was the smart solution. Bilco is a better brand, and it has the pump pistons, but Gordon was the best fit for this job.

Gordon cellar doors come only in a pre-primed red. Prior to delivery, my painter, Jossy, primed both sides and all surfaces with a Rustoleum primer, and then painted it a Rustoleum glossy black.

Masonry work can be challenging when the temperatures soar into the 90’s, because the cement sets very fast. At 95 degrees, the cure time for Cement-All is only 5-7 minutes, and if you don’t thoroughly clean the bucket in between batches, it’s even less. Cement-All will take 2 hours to set at 40 degrees, and about 1 hour in the 60’s.

For this job, we used a considerable amount of Type S mortar, which doesn’t set as fast. We used Cement-All where it was most needed, which was to secure the base of the Bilco to the new cinderblocks. Between the two cement types, we used 6 bags of cement.

Customer is very happy with the new cellar door.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.confidenthomeremodelers.com We install cellar doors throughout Northern New Jersey.

BILCO BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 19:30:33 GMT

BILCO BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

By Eric Martindale Feb 5, 2024

SQUEEZED BETWEEN STEPS AND A WALL

Welcome to the new blog for Confident Home Remodelers. For our premiere article, we are featuring a flat Bilco install in South Orange, New Jersey that we completed over the summer.

We were contacted by a customer that had already researched the available sizes of cellar doors, and he didn’t know how anyone could fit a metal basement door into this opening. They had a lot of problems

Non-standard opening
Limited opening width to fit a Bilco
Sitting too low, water coming in
The door was an old wood board, rotten
The door wouldn’t stay open by itself

Rotten wood between porch and the door. It looked ugly, and it was rotting to the point that animals could enter.
This particular cellar door isn’t heavily used, but the customer does a lot of entertaining on an adjacent patio with a built in “outdoor kitchen”. The condition of this opening right next to the rear door wasn’t acceptable. Especially not for an upscale neighborhood of classic homes.

We got the contract, and I ordered a Bilco BR-1, which was the narrowest of their flat models.

After he signed, the customer told me one guy wanted nearly $5,000. “It’s not worth that much, not even close. He sees the value of this house in a great neighborhood, and he’s overcharging”, I said. The customer was skeptical that I would complete it without any cost over-runs on the contract items.

Here’s how we managed the install:

First, we raised the front masonry by adding a row of bricks
Then we framed a few 2x4 vertical supports under the porch, and added a large ¾” thick PVC board going to the ground. It can be seen from the stairs under the Bilco as well.
Then we framed an opening using 2x6 pressure-treated boards. There are more pressure-treated boards than the camera angle shows, and we had to cut into the cedar shakes on the left side
Then we laid down the frame of the Bilco (red), and put a thick seal of Quad silicone underneath
Then we added the doors
Then we covered the top with another piece of ¾” thick PVC board, which overlapped the top of the Bilco flange. This piece was heavily caulked with Quad silicone as well.

Bilco and the other cellar door manufacturers don’t like it when contractors find a cost-effective way to avoid buying their overpriced metal extension pieces. They look ugly, and it’s just another metal piece to eventually rust and leak. We almost never use them.

And there it is, the completed job. On time, on budget. Both doors stay open when opened.

We offered to paint both sides with Rustoleum paint before installation for an addition $300, but the customer declined. The factory red priming is not intended to be the final coat. It’s much easier to paint it before installation, and it’s better that way because all surfaces of every part can be painted.

For more information, and to review all of our blog postings, see www.confidenthomeremodelers.com We install cellar doors throughout Northern New Jersey.

glazed

THE MASTODON COFFEETREE, Gymnocladus hesperia

THE MASTODON COFFEETREE,

﻿ Gymnocladus hesperia

CRAWLSPACE ACCESS DOOR IN KEARNY

CRAWLSPACE ACCESS DOOR IN KEARNY

STEELWAY FOR A TIGHT OPENING

STEELWAY FOR A TIGHT OPENING

BILCO DOOR FOR NEWARK HOUSE

PROBLEM CELLAR DOOR IN RIDGEFIELD PARK

PROBLEM CELLAR DOOR IN RIDGEFIELD PARK

INTRODUCING INDUSTRIAL GLAZING

INTRODUCING INDUSTRIAL GLAZING

NEW CELLAR DOOR SOLVES BASEMENT FLOODING

NEW CELLAR DOOR SOLVES BASEMENT FLOODING

BILCO BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

BILCO BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Gymnocladus hesperia