Big Door To Second Floor - How?

[celticsoc]

I have a balcony on the back of my house. It is outside the master bedroom, with a sliding door leading out to it. The sliding door needs to be replaced. My problem is getting it to the second floor. Because of turns, it can't really go through the house, at least not without first being dismantled. If I dismantle it first, I can't be sure it won't leak later.

The door is extremely heavy. The balcony is about 9-10 feet off the ground. The area is not accessible for a boom truck. The skidsteers/ forklifts can't go higher than 8 feet.

My thoughts were: 1) get long 2 x 12s and ease the door up them on an angle using ropes, 2) make a set of satirs to walk it up (perhaps ridiculously labor intensive) 3) get really strong giants to carry it up

Does anyone have any better ideas?

[HeyBub]

Don't lift - hoist.

Block and tackle from the roof.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Sure they can. Just put a platform on the forks to raise the door by the 1 or 2 feet you need. Lift up and slide the door off.

[marson]

I would look at taking the doors (glass) out. Usually you can, though you might want to call the company who is making your unit. Then the frame should be easy to lift up on the outside, and surely you have the room to take the doors up inside the house. Otherwise, I think the forklift idea is the best. Anything you build, be it off the roof or a ramp is going to have to be real beefy and will take a lot of work and materials. If you do go that route, I'd set up some scaffolding in such a way that you could lift it in stages. But that would be a last resort.

[aemeijers]

Sure, penetrate the roof to mount a block and tackle for a one-time job. #1, the long planks, is the way to go. Use a block'n'tackle or come-along attached to a padded 4x4 propped up high across the INSIDE of the doorframe, plus several guys pushing from below to take the strain off the winching device. Standard warnings about proper rigging and spotters apply. You never want humans under a non-belayed load. Most of the weight will be caught by the ramp boards, but if the thing got loose and slid down the boards, it could still cause serious injury. If you can tempararily take down a section of deck railing, that would simplify matters. Once the top half of the new door is above deck level, just lay it down on the deck and slide it, then stand it up.

aem sends...

[celticsoc]

I already have the door. I am planning to dismantle it and take the glass out, but the frame itself is heavy as well, and would have nothing to support it as I bring it up outside.

As for the suggestion to hoist from the roof, the roof is a mansard, and its peak sits much higher than the balcony. I don't know if I'd be able to get up there to do this comfortably.

I was at Menard's the other day and saw another 9 foot door they were clearing out. I was at $400, plus delivery and a $20 second floor charge. I was going to buy it, and use the original door for the downstairs deck door. I will eventually need to replace that, so I figured now might be the time to widen that doorway. All together, it would have been about another $500, with a little lless carpentry upstairs because the Menard's door was a closer to perfect fit. The deck door would have been a lot more carpentry, with widening the door and all, but it was a future project. It would have been an acceptable tradeoff for me, at least in my mind at the time. Unfortunately, the delivery guy at Menard's said it couldn't be done with their forklift, since they can't go over 8 feet up.

So, I am at square one. A couple good suggestions here, but unfortunatley nothing I can apply yet. I appreciate the efforts, and would welcome additional suggestions, or even modifications of those provided. Thanks again.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Of course not. You run cables over the roof and tie off to either a light pole at the street, or the bumper of a pickup truck. Hey, if you do that, you don't need the block and tackle, just a driver for the truck. And a six pack, of course.

[Mike Paulsen]

[e-mail] wrote: (snip)

Have you considered renting a drywall lift? You'll want to check the load and height specs of the models available at your local rental center, but 150lbs and 10' lifting height shouldn't be a problem.

[Al Bundy]

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:BWeXh.5448$ [e-mail]:

Ahhh, another fan of the Red Green Show. Duct Tape - Handyman's best friend.

[HeyBub]

Nobody said anything about penetrating the roof! The paucity of your imagination prevented you from seeing the bigger picture.

The only way to achieve a mechanical advantage from BELOW the item is by the use of levers (assuming you're not using hydraulics or other forms of jacks). If operating from above, you can use pulleys and achieve a MONSTOROUS mechanical advantage. A small child plucking a string can easily lift several tons.

By attacking the problem from above, you reduce the problem from finding a sufficiently long lever (bow to Archimedes) to one of attaching a block. The attachement doesn't have to be the roof, a suitably tall A-frame would work as well.

That'll work. Rip the door frame right outa the house so the doors can be attached to the frame on the lawn.

[betsyb]

Donate a couple bucks to your local Fire company and they have the knowhow and the toys.

BetsyB

[mm]

Please let me know when you do this, so I can film it. I want to send it in to Funniest Home Videos.

If you do this, attach some rungs between the 2x212s to keep them a fixed distance, and triangulate part of it so it doesn't all fold upp.

Other people have tried things liek this that make it FHV, so be sure to let me know when you are doing it. I hear they pay for some of the videos they show.

Have a couple people review your plans once they have developed. Tell them to bring their cameras too.

[Goedjn]

Gin pole.