Screen Door

[Herman Munster]

Hi all, I am thinking of building a screen door for the front of the house. In the past I purchased one from the borg, real nice looking on the outside, metal clad, removable full length glass, expensive..... Particle board on the inside, now rotting thru and rusting. My questions. If I were to rebuild the door, what wood would you use? It will probably be painted white. But the wood needs to hold up to the weather. MT joinery or pocket screws or biscuits. Q2. Do you see any problem salvaging the hardware (hinges, tracking to hold said glass, knob, etc) to re-use on new door. TIA Mark

[P.H. Thorsted]

Pine should be ok for the screen door as long as you are painting it and keep up the maintance from year to year. I would do all the painting before installing the hardware, tracking, glass etc. Make sure every wood surface has some paint on it. You could also put on some clear varnish or other over the white paint.

Paul T.

[A.M. Wood]

Not sure how old the door is but if its only a few years old, there may be a reason why it rusted / rotted so quickly that should be repaired. If you can't do anything about the dampness, a wood door may not be a good solution.

[TeamCasa]

I like vertical grain fir, cypress or SYP - if you paint it. Costs vary greatly in different areas. Check with your local hardwood supplier, they will/should steer you in the right direction based on local woods available. Dave

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[SonomaProducts.com]

Can't imagine exactly how you can use pocket screws without an ugly factor. I guess you could use those shaved of plugs they sell but as soon as I consider using those it's a red flag that they aren't right for the joint.

Regardless, a door takes an amazing amount of stresses. I built a pine screen door using dowles that as a piece of furniture would have lasted forever. It deterioriated in about a year.

I would go with M&T myself. If you paint it well, you could make it out of any material really. Poplar would be a good choice. Cheap, great to work with, stays straight, yada yada. You might drench it with water sealer first and caulk the glass seats well so you don't get intrusion.

Reuse the hardware seems OK to me. Again, silicon ondet the hinges\screw holes to minimize water damage.

[Luigi Zanasi]

Clear western red cedar. Other clear stable woods could be used (e.g. Doug fir, hem-fir, redwood, white pine, luan, etc.)

Cedar is best (or maybe redwood). But if it's painted and maintained, other woods mean 30 years instead of 40 (YMMV)

MT best. Biscuits might work. I don't believe screws would hold up to the stress.

As long as they are not rusted.

YAMW