Thursday, August 7, 2014

New back door

When we moved into this house the back door was one of the things that needed assistance. Finally, after almost four years I'm finally getting around to doing something about it. Please note I'm no longer a good woodworker though I do seem to be a bit handy when I need to be. Here's the way it looked. Since it didn't seal very well there had always been a tendency for the hallway, and our bedroom, to be cool during the winter. Sometimes the door would get covered with frost on the inside. If a door is getting covered with frost that means there are heavy energy losses there. I'm not exactly flush with cash so I made a new door from scratch.


Here's the rough opening with the door removed.

So that I could have something reasonable to attach to in the doorway I added a set of 1 x 4's. It functions in this case a bit like a door jamb.

Here's the top end with the 1 x 4's.

I made this frame for the door itself a couple of days ago. The 2 x 4's are recycled from another site. I used half lap joints at the corners. Unfortunately for me I don't have the means any more to make finger joints which would have been better.

Here's the doors framework filled with the styrofoam insulation fitted inside. I think this material is about an R-6 and I left the vapor seal intact on purpose.

A few hours later here it is ready for use. I still have some tweaking to do so that it will seal even better and operate more smoothly. It needs a coat of paint too.

Later I have plans to add a window in this door near the top. That's for later on though. I'll be double glazing it so that it will the most energy efficient it can be.