I would like to build a new entry door for my house, there is something about those metal or fiberglass doors that just doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t see a whole lot of discussion or articles about door making, I don’t want to take on a mission impossible. I have been woodworking for 30 years and have built most anything so I think I have the skills. My entry door faces north, out of direct sunlight and there is a generous overhang so it wouldn’t take severe weather directly. One of my concerns is how to properly weatherstrip a wood door. any suggestions about this project are greatly appreciated.
tom
Replies
I'll make an attempt here as long as you don't assume it's anywhere near comprehensive. Weatherstripping - So many varieties available, how do you choose? IMHO most of the after market stuff you'd get at home improvement stores looks exactly like that - aftermarket. The compressable gaskets that come in steel prehungs and others are effective and allow for some expansion and contraction. It shouldn't be too hard to get ahold of a set of them from anyone who makes or sells prehungs (like millwork shops) and if you can cut a channel you can put them in. Via your post this probably isn't an issue. Would also strongly consider a storm door over it for the added protection they provide, especially a wood unit. You can also get thresholds in varieties of cost and style but again, IMHO, the steel or brass with the vinyl filler strips seem to work well, though you do have to pay some attention to getting the joint between the vinyl and door right. Too loose, not effective. Too tight, and the vinyl wears and tears. As far as making the door, I think most here and elsewhere would recommend either a thru mortise & tenon or floating variety. I recall reading somewhere that the thru version was much more preferable on doors, especially exterior, yada yada yada - I don't think it matters a great deal. Any joint will have it's downsides. If you use M&T rather than biscuits, I think you'll do fine. Have a good bud who pretty much makes about 80% of his living on custom doors, and it's not for the price. He does what he calls staving, which is basically making a core around which all the "show" wood wraps. The cores are made of poplar, cut into thin sections (I'm guessing inch square) and tongue & grooved, but rotated 90 degrees each piece. Every piece, the grain counteracts what's next to it. All that expansion and contraction might fight itself to death you'd think, but when you stave together 30 little pieces, none of them exert enough energy on the other to split, and the advantage is the doors don't tend to grow and shrink as much with the seasons. For the Rails & stiles, the facing is all resawed solid stock and wrapped so the grain is continuous around the piece. Any required breaks naturally fall at corners. The panel cores are wrapped, and where the panel profile will be cut, the wood is wide enough and thick enough for the end result to still be oak, or hickory, or ... now this has me thinking and I'm not sure what the corners are. It'd almost have to be miters but that doesn't hold water to me, so give me a couple days and I'll ask him. The panels are completely finished before assembled so no lines show and so there's finish around all the edges. The final assembly is run through the sander to get rid of any ridges or small defects, and then everything is hand sanded from there. Lots of work goes into that, I'd wager. Hope this was at least a little help.
RWORIGINALS
Thanks for the comprehensive advise, I'm still researching ideas ad yours sounds great, I printed out your reply and will study it in detail, again thanks
tom
In response to the weatherstrip issue, we rabbet our frames for a 1 3/4" door 1/2" X 2 1/8" deep with the saw cut extending into the depth an extra 3/8" to accomodate "Q-LON" weatherstrip. It has small ribs on the tongue and is very simple to install. On the bottom of the door we use the aluminum extruded type with a replacable rubber sweep. In the lower corners of the door ( a notorious place to try and seal) we use a stick on strip with a fuzzy face. I cannot recall what the trade name is offhand, I do believe you can get them at hardware/home centers.
As to door construction I use stave core stiles skinned with whatever the wood spec'ed is and use 8/4 for the rails. I have very few problems with bowed/warped doors and most are in snow country above 8000 feet. The joinery is straight foward cope and stick cuts on a shaper with 1/2" or 3/4" stub tenons (depending on the door thickness) and 1/2" dowels for alignment. I have never built an entry door and put the effort into mortise joinery and it has had no effect on the performance/longevity of the door. Assembly is also straight foward as I use Tightbond II for glue of all parts including door skins. You just have to work fast when doing that so the glue doesn't start to set before you are ready. Actual assembly goes fairly fast but you do need to clamp each rail part as you glue them in because you probably will not assemble a door in less than about 10 minutes. I have done doors with as many a 21 panels in it and assembly time was more like 2 hours. Have all your clamps at hand and help if you can. It makes things a lot easier. Good luck Joe
An excellent reference book is Door-Making by John Birchard. That book inspired me to use loose tenon joinery(both sides of the joint are identical) on a custom church door 38" x 70". I also decided to use plastic resin glue which is waterproof and has an open time of over 1 hr. which helps to make the glue- up less stressful.
silver
Tom,
I notice that the DIY stores are now selling a retro-fit magnetic seal similar to those used by Larsen and other manufacturers for their storm doors.
Jeff
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