I need a pair of internal 'wardrobe' doors in my garage so I went to inspect what is available at Jewsons. £52 for a pair of 540mm wide doors would do the job but being a meanie I dont like the price. Doors in a garage do not need to be beautiful, they just have to hang properly without warping
So a sheet of MDF looks like the answer but I've not used MDF much before. Would 12mm thickness be adequate? Should it be ledged and braced to stop it warping or will it be OK by itself?
Anna
Can you not grab hold of a sheet, wiggle it, see if its stiff enough for you. MDF is quite water susceptible, so it would need to be a dry garage.
NT
It probably will warp in a garage.
Best to knock up a frame of e.g. 2x1 planed and double skin it with THIN MDF. I've used 19mm(3'x2') MDF in small doors in a utility room, Its OKish.
OTOH discarde wardrobes with ply/frame doors are two a penny.
Health warning:
I am not usually susceptible to allergies. However, whenever I drill or saw MDF I invariably come out in red-blotches. I don't know if this is common - but I have seen stronger health warnings about using it.
18mm should be ok by itself. Waterproof flooring grade chipboard perhaps?
Do they have to be a particular size, or do you have some flexibility? If you can accommodate a range of sizes, you may be able to pick up some
*actual* wardrobe doors cheaply or for nothing. Have you looked at your local Freecycle? There are often wardrobes on offer where I live (central Warwickshire). Also, our local tip has a shop where they sell discarded stuff which is too good to go to landfill. Maybe yours does to?I've a feeling that if you use MDF, you'll need 18mm to get the necessary rigidity - and that starts to get fairly heavy - *and* expensive.
Just put some cross pieces where you are going to site the hinges and see if 6 mm will do. If that curls, put some more cross rails on it.
Don't glue the rails as the timber is most likely to curl.
Thanks for your advice everyone. I shall try and get hold of some second hand wooden wardrobe doors - that seems the simplest and cheapest option
Anna
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