This is a continuation of the "Sagging Garage Door" saga from 06-17-12.
What with the Big Heat, etc, it's not practical to repair the door.
Have been to Lowes, Restore, etc. Can't find suitable replacement.
How difficult is it to "build" a door? 32 x 80 x 1.25"?
I look at the rail and stile construction and think "A Mess Of 2x8's, Some Plywood (for panels) And A Table Saw". Of course, it's more difficult than that.
I don't need anything particular fancy, just secure and reliable/durable.
Anybody built one? Can anybody help with little details? Simple mortise and tenon? Which (exterior) glue? Fasteners???
Thx, P
"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."
A local door installer will have the connections to get a new wooden section if that's all you need. Post a pic, and I'll identify it and source a replacement out of Houston. Local is better though, if you are in Houston you're in luck - I know a great installer.
If you find where door companies drop their "dead doors" in the back, you may find a old section in near perfect shape in the dumpster. They won't mind if you take it, they have to pay to dispose of them.
Or ask one of the guys to save you a decent section from a job, and let him install it for $75 or so. Chances are good he has some in his backyard for that exact purpose.
Don't mess with springs or a cable under load if you don't know what you're doing - they can maim and kill you.
Yeah, I've built them that big. Flush doors. My methodology...
Rip 3/4" thick x 1 1/2 wide strips off a 2x4 or your choice of wood.
Lay them out on a flat surface butting and gluing the rails to the stiles. Clamp in position after assuring they are square.
Drill through stiles from outside into top & bottom rails and glue in 2 -
1/4", 5/16" or 3/8" dowels at each corner. For a door of that size I'd probably also use a wider - 2" to 3" - center stile butted to top & bottom rails.
Glue and dowel in internal rails. At least two. Wider than the perimeter pieces is a plus though not much of one. If you use a center stile, offset the internal rails so you can drill into their ends through all the stiles.
After the glue dries, you have a frame of the correct size. A rather delicate frame but a flat one. Next step is to glue 1/4" plywood on both sides to all rails and stiles; once that is done the door will be strong and rigid. Try to get plywood that lies flat as possible. To glue to internal rails/stile you will have to weight and/or nail.
For the perimeter rails and stiles, you can use clamps but you need a lot. You can make a bunch inexpensively by getting 10' lengths of 2" or 2 1/2" PVC, sawing it into rings about an inch in width and then making a saw kerf through one side of the width. What you wind up with are a bunch of "C" shaped spring clamps. They aren't very strong but are more than adequate for gluing on the ply. Especially if you use them 3-4" apart. The greater in diameter the original PVC pipe, the weaker the clamps; greater width of the rings gives greater pressure.
The ply will have a tendency to slide so unless you have nailed it, take care in getting one side even to but a bit wider than the stile; that enables you to trim off excess ply without cutting into your stiles.
If you can use a thicker door, I would. The one above will be 1.25 (if the ply is exact or if you have adjusted rail/stile thickness to compensate) but there isn't very much wood for hinge screws. You can get more wood by using thicker rails/stiles and thinner ply...HD/Lowes carry "door skins" that are
1/8". That is plenty thick enough as the only thing the ply is actually doing is holding the frame together and square. With either 1/8 or 1/4 ply you will wind up with a light weight door that is strong.
For glue, I would suggest Titebond ll. Titebond lll if you are anal :)
BTW, the same construction works well for cabinet doors and partitions. You can make them pretty much any thickness from 3/4" up (using 1/2" thick rails/stiles and 1/8 ply or hardboard).
Make it out of 5/8" MDO plywood and attach 1x trim or strips of MDO to create the panel. Do not make it out of construction lumber unless you like the look of warped with gaps.
If you can't fix your door - and you were given instructions here - why would you even think of making a door? Doors are sold all over, cheap. You want to make some windows and cabinets too? Different story, different tools, and different discussion. I've done some woodworking, with fairly expensive saws/routers/dadoes. Wouldn't even think about making a garage entry door. They're cheap as hell to buy. And if I did want to make one, I'd study the "art" of door-making first. Doubt you'll find many door-makers here. But it's worth talking about. And that's my 2 cents.
That's hard to conceive there's nowhere in any place of any size at all that doesn't have a "veritable plethora" of salvage building materials...where are you located?
...
As far as slab construction others have mentioned it's not particularly difficult (but then again, I don't see rebuilding what you have as particularly difficult, either). If the problem perceived is one of the opening being open while the weather's hot, as noted before a very temporary piece of ply and a couple of tubafor's can close up the hole while you're working on the door...
Actually, if you have "the right stuff" even panel doors aren't terribly complex. Typically full-size doors use full-length or at least long tenons instead of the "stub" tenons common on raised panel doors of kitchen cabinets and the ilk. This means one needs an undercut pattern bit to make the coping cut to match the stile cut. These cutter sets are much harder to come by than the kitchen cabinet type. OTOH, it is possible to either use loose tenons or just dowels...
But, there are a few manufacturers who have started recently--I like to think my complaining has had some effect in this trend altho I don't know it other than I did have several conversations w/ Lonnie Bird when he was hawking for CMT about the lack and they introduced a set shortly after. Other manufacturers have followed suit so apparently they're selling enough of 'em to keep going... :)
Here's link to one of my favorite suppliers...Amana Tool--not cheap but _very_ good. For a "one off" CMT, Whiteside or if you can find it in some of the imports will last that long...
For your case you would use the 'screen door' set w/ slightly thicker material.
What have you available to work with???
Also note as somebody else has the caveats about material--plain-sawn construction tubaX material isn't going to be very stable in all likelihood. If you can find and select material, Doug fir kiln dried and selected to be near to quarter sawn would be a good choice. There's almost no clear white pine on the retail market any longer; it all goes directly to the window/door manufacturers straight from the mill or for export--I tried to by some stock for new windows for the barn a couple years ago and finally just gave it up as impossible for less than full bundle quantities at higher than hardwood prices... :(
I've seen doors made quite simply with full lap joints at the corners, glued and through dowelled. Cut the rabbets in the rails with a table saw(dado) or router. Same with the lap joints. Much simpler than Mortise and Tenon and almost as strong.
+1 to that. And 32 x 80 is a standard size that's readily availalbe. I think he's likely trying to fit just the door itself into the existing frame, instead of just getting a pre-hung and changing the whole thing. I would just change the whole thing, even if there were no other issues. In his case, the door is sagging, so to not change the frame would be a big mistake.
I thought about repairing the side door into my garage, mainly because the wooden threshold was looking pretty bad. The closer I looked at what needed to be done, the more evident it was that replacing it all with a pre-hung door was the best idea.
The short block wall on both sides of the original jamb was deteriorating. In addition, trying to get the sill out and replace it without removing the entire jamb anyway would have been very difficult. It was much easier to just rip it out, repair the block, add some more support in the threshold area and drop a pre-hung door in the RO.
That's one potential problem. But the biggest is the thickness. I foresee problems mounting a 1 3/4" door in opening designed for 1 1/4".
Too much hassle and expense. Frame looks OK for the application.
To a material extent, I'd *like* to make my own b/c I can do it in my nice, cool bsmt. workshop whilst the old door secures the gar. It's too damned hot outside (and my health is failing).
P
"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."
Why do you think that that will be an issue? If hinged correctly, wouldn't the thicker door just extend past the narrower jamb? Scab a piece of 3/4 x 1/2 wood around the jamb as an extension, fill the seam with wood putty, paint and no one will ever know. You'll need to do a little work on the lockset openings, but you could fill in that section of the jamb with new wood and cut new holes.
I'm just tossing that out there...perhaps you know something that will prevent you from doing that.
BTW...Have you looked at a home-parts store, the places that sell old doors, windows, etc.? The places near me have hundreds of doors of all styles, sizes and thicknesses. I just picked up a 6-panel pine door, a jamb, 2 hinges and a lockset for under $30 total for my son's basement apartment.
Installing a pre-hung door is more hassle than building a new door from scratch? Really? Nothing personal, but you came here asking "How difficult is it to "build" a door?" If you don't already know how to build a door, how do you know it's less hassle than installing a prehung door?
If you can find a used one at a house parts place, I'll bet it will be cheaper than the material to build a new one.
Of course, there a lot to be said for "I built that!" No argument there.
You can get a basic pre-hung entry door for $100. What is it going to cost to construct a door? As for hassle, it's far simpler to put in a pre-hung door than it is to build your own door. Much harder to screw up too. That's why pros do it that way.
As for aggravation, wait until you've spent hours building the door, many more hours of aggravation because it won't fit, close, etc in the frame from the previously sagging door, etc....
Can you wait until Fall? Taking out an old door, frame and all and replacing it should be a one day job. At least to the point that it's secure again. You could take off the trim day 1. Then pull the old door and get the new one in day 2. If needed just secure the door with a piece of wood instead of a lock. Day 3 install lock, trim, etc.
Perhat Lumber 314.481.9302 6023 S. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63111 accepts and sell architectural salvage, used lumber, used doors, used brick, asphalt kettles, and various building materials
Surprised I couldn't find much else online...there's _got_ to be somewhere w/ a whole pile of used doors to go through...
...
...
Can't spin a set of these except in large table-mounted router, unfortunately, sorry...but, you're perfect excuse to upgrade! :)
I'm still of the mind to suggest keep looking for more recycle places or just keep checking the stock at places you've tried or just bite the bullet and rebuild the one you have.
I really think you'll find it less daunting in practice than the trepidation before beginning. And, just think, once you've started then you _have_ to finish! :)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.