Rustic doorbell

For those lucky enough to have a lodge, cabin, farmhouse or ranch one of the final finishing touches to obtain a highly desirable high style look is to install a truly artisan made rustic doorbell. We are not talking about some mass produced import from the local big box store, but rather a rustic chime that is individually artisan made by a skilled American craftsman. Yes, they do exist, at least for now. And for those running a commercial establishment such as a bed and breakfast that incorporates rustic motifs into a lodge or cabin look this should also be a strong consideration.

Many of our hand made rustic doorbells are constructed of quartersawn white oak, which is recognized by it's unique tiger stripe grain patterns. Those familiar with the craftsman style will recognize it due to it's prominence in arts and crafts furniture and cabinetry as popularized by Gustav Stickley. Also available in many styles is cherry wood, which unlike the typical colonial usage is not overly stained with reddish tones.

Rustic doorbell chime wiring

You will want to make sure wiring is already in place, especially if you have a log cabin. Log cabins with solid logs can be difficult in terms of running wiring so hopefully that has already been thought about in the past. A wired rustic chime mechanism requires between ten and sixteen volts in order to operate the mechanism. Somewhere in the building there is probably a step down transformer that takes the one hundred and twenty volts from the house wiring and converts it to sixteen volts or so to operate the doorbell. If you have a voltmeter it wouldn't be a bad idea to test the wires that you plan to connect the chime mechanism to and make sure you have the correct voltage. Someone will need to press in the doorbell while you measure or else the reading will be zero volts. It is very unlikely to have the doorbell transformer go defective, but it can happen rarely. If there is a problem it is more likely to be the doorbell button, which may have gotten it's contacts oxidized due to exposure to the elements. Contacts can be cleaned and lubricated with Deoxit, or if it is a regular plastic button you can probably locate a replacement at the local hardware store.