Hi,
I have just build an exterior gate ( or door) with six panels and fanned slats at the top. It is redwood and all very pretty with a mexican flair.
Here is my question/problem:
Panels in a door need to float so as to respond to changes in humidity. Here in Arizona it change from very hot and very dry to hot and damp quickly.
But it would be nice to seal the seam at the bottom of each panel to keep the rain out of the dado that receives the bottom of the panel.
Any thoughts?
Thanks Roger Haar
No way to keep a watertight seal and you're better off (particularly in a mostly dry climate) to simply leave it so it can dry out.
Option is to not have a full dado but a quarter-moulding on the exterior side so there's a small space for the moisture to wick through. I've seen doors built w/ a few drilled holes through the bottom rail into the panel groove to allow for a weep but it's fairly uncommon practice as far as I know.
Roger wrote: I have just build an exterior gate ( or door) with six panels and fanned slats at the top. It is redwood and all very pretty with a mexican flair.Here is my question/problem: Panels in a door need to float so as to respond to changes in humidity. Here in Arizona it change from very hot and very dry to hot and damp quickly. But it would be nice to seal the seam at the bottom of each panel to keep the rain out of the dado that receives the bottom of the panel. Any thoughts?
You've started well by choosing redwood for this application. I'm betting it'll be fine, but perhaps on the bottom, you could ride the panels on a spline, instead of in a groove (if you've got enough panel thickness.). That might allow any moisture to escape a little more easily. Tom in Tucson
Hi little brother (:-)
Sounds very nice. Do you have a photo?
Are you concerned about moisture getting into the wood? If so, how about putting sealer on the panels before assembling the door (maybe it is too late anyway.)
You might also put a rubber tube inside the dado so that is compressed by the wood panel but have enough 'give' to keep contact with the panels while allow expansion and contraction.
- Bob
forget trying to keep the water out. configure the door so that water that gets in can flow through and finish all trapped surfaces before assembly. consider holding the panel in with removeable stops rather than fixing it in a groove.
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