I want to make myself custom wood entry door. What wood to use? The house entrance is covered by the porch overhang 5' deep roof.
My house is very energy efficient, I put a lot of effort into E4 windows and multilayer insulation. So I want to make sure the door will be well insulated too. What's the best way to insulate it? Make a door core from closed cell foam insulation? If I put 1" foam between two 3/4" of wood this would make door 2.5" thick. Also how to make frame water and draft proof? Any references preferable with pictures and drawings would be greatly appreciated.
On Sat, 29 May 2010 05:40:44 -0700 (PDT), Sasha wrote the following:
Make your nice wooden door as you like and leave the insulation to an external storm door, Sasha. Quick examples below:
Here's one full view style, allowing your beautiful door to show through:
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Or a larger overlap-style:
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--------------------------------------------------- I drive way too fast to worry about my cholesterol. ---------------------------------------------------
storm doors really dont give you an r value. they will cut the wind, and maybe make a small air barrier between the two woods. you might get R1 from a storm door, but it will help on some draft.
We make custom entry doors and use extruded foam in the panels, sandwiched with 1/4" skins of wood. For the frame we use stave core construction, so no foam there. There are a variety of sweeps and weatherstripping options available. I'm not sure about the overall R- value but I'm sure it's definitely the weak link insulation-wise. That said, we don't get many complaints.
I made an insulated door for my old house over 20 years ago. As best as I can recall it was 3/4 inch cabinet plywood on the outside, 2" Styrofoam in the middle and 1/4 " cabinet plywood on the inside, about
3" thick in total. The frame was made of 2" fir with a 3/4 or 1" angle iron routed into it all the way around. It's a solid door. I doubt a man could kick it in. It's still there (ex wife) and working fine.
In cold weather it warps inward at the top and bottom a bit, maybe 1/4 of an inch. About the same amount as the metal clad doors do on my new house.
I ended up putting storm doors on all my outside doors in the new house. It was the only way I could stop rain from leaking in. There wasn't much leakage and I would never had noticed it had the house been built and finished as most are. I was able to slow the leakage down with caulking but I could not stop it completely. If there was a good wind when it rained some water always found a way in somewhere.
I built the house myself and moved in before the interior was finished. Had the floor been finished I probably would never had noticed the small wet spots at the corners of the door frames. My neighbors have the same type of doors and all have some leakage. One has a sliding door in his bedroom that is really bad. I suspect it's a common problem and may lead to some rather expensive repairs in years to come when the floors begin rotting out under those leaky frames.
I bought good quality storm doors. They seal well and add enough to the R value to stop the full height glass in the existing doors from icing up in winter.
I just built a new shed and did everything I could think of to keep water from coming in under the door frame but sure enough if there's a strong north wind when it's raining there's a little wet spot on the floor at both corners of the door frame.
By the way my new house is about 1900 sq' with at least three times the amount of windows as my old 1950's 900 sq' bungalow. The new place is well insulated and costs at least 30% less in heating than does the old place. My son bought my old house so I still hear about the bills in that one and the ex wife's place.
I live in S AZ so heat loss is no biggy and certainly rain and the like are no problem either. I have a roofed courtyard over my front door. But in your situation I would have a front door that is 2X4 framed with up to an inch of whatever on each side of the frame. Then fill the cavity with insulation. Since you would like to door to be pretty I would have an inner insulated door to use when the weather and conditions are such that it would be prudent. The main outer door would have as one of its properties being a good sealer against the elements. A roof overhead as I have in my courtyard. Waterproof and weather proof exterior that is also attractive. I see in decking material in Home Depot that is not wood but looks nice when used as decking. Plan the door so the exterior can be replaced without compromising the mechanical and structural integrity of the door. Also since we are talking about more weight than usual use piano hinging. Door latching and locking hardware is available to handle the additional size.
I made my garage doors (including an entry door) Out of 1-1/2" extruded polystyrene (styrofoam) covered with 1/8" lauan plywood door skins. Then I applied 3/4" cedar to fake up rails, stiles and muntins to make it look like a paneled door. The actual door frame was made out of 1-1/2" cedar including a wood reinforcement where the handle goes. So the whole assembly was 2-1/2" thick around the edges. Any competent locksmith should be able to extend the shaft on your handle.
The frame was made of 2X10 cedar, rebated to accept the door. Two kinds of weatherstripping, one that fits in a slot in the door rabbet and the other that is screwed on the farame. Expanadng foam between the jamb and the framing, covered with brickmold on the outside.
I live in the Yukon, so avoiding paying for heating the great outdoors is important. Hope this helps.
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