I want to make a door for a small (3ft x 3ft) opening outdoors under some outdoor steps.
What is the best wood to use? Will 5-ply wood be appropriate, or would it disintegrate under damp?
I want to make a door for a small (3ft x 3ft) opening outdoors under some outdoor steps.
What is the best wood to use? Will 5-ply wood be appropriate, or would it disintegrate under damp?
What you can get, what will last, what you can afford, what you can work.
3' square will need some framing, either round the edge in a square or else Z-shaped, so the "covering" could easily be quite thin ply - 1/2" or so and taking its strength from the frame.Exterior ply would work, but it must be a good grade (there are many grades of "exterior") and I'd still coat the edges with epoxy resin. It's expensive to buy, so I'd use it if I had it, but might not want to buy a fresh sheet for this one-off.
Personally I'd probably make a classic "braced and ledged door", only smaller. I'd use larch, because it's weather resistant, cheapish and I have a good supplier locally. You might consider Douglas Fir or some of the heftier cedars. What you most need is a real timberyard, not just a builder's merchant.
The Z frame is most of the strength, but not all of it and it does rely on the vertical matchboards for some rigidity. So screw these together, don't just nail them. Alternatively nail them with clenched nails (Nails long enough to stick through by an inch, then bent into a U with big pliers and hammered flat into the back of the timber, across the grain.) Make the matchboards half-lapped and only fasten them along one of their edges (the edge with the outer half of the lap) so that they can move a little with moisture changes. Don't set them right close together either, allow at least 5% expansion room.
Pitch Pine would sound appropriate.
Iroko would be another good choice. Sometime known as poor mans teak, it is not too expensive and stocked by most good timber merchants (not the sheds!!).
Bob
One of the many uses for old floorboards.
Cheers Richard
Shed/fencing treated timber might be ok for a rustic look.
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