Hello,
This is my first post but I’ve been reading these forums for several months now.
You all seem like a very knowledgeable bunch, so I have a question. My wife and I are looking at building a new home in the next few years and we have been looking around getting ideas for our new house. I, being half Korean, want to incorporate an Asian feel into our future home. So I was wanting to build a front door for the house. Like I said the house is still a couple of years off, but I was wanting to work on the door sort of as an on-going project.
Well now for the question. Are there certain building codes that govern the construction of entry doors or can I just figure out how big I want it to be and start building? Also I’m look at incorporating glass in the door.
Thanks
Replies
Hi,
About 3 yrs or so, Woodsmith had an issue on how to build a front door. If I think of it, I'll check which issue number it was this weekend and let you know next week.
"My mother failed to see the irony in calling me a sonofabitch" - Jack Nicholsen
You all seem like a very knowledgeable bunch Sure fooled you, didn't we?
Couple of thoughts on the door... Most doors have no rating, except here the door from the attached garage has top be self closing and solid core, to resist fire breakthrough from the garage to the house. Most front doors tend to be the widest doors in the house, usually 34 or 36 inches wide. And the typical residential door is 6'-8" tall, but 7 ft and 8 ft doors are starndard items from all door manufacturers.
One big question ... the frame and hinges. Are you going to install a temporary door to secure the house while you build the custom door? Or do you plan to build the whole assembly yourself. Weight is an issue too. Three hinges would be the minimum, but if the door is tall or heavy, four nice hinges wouyld be better.
The glass ... what is it? Will it be a piece of art glass, like stained glass? If so, be sure to buy the glass before starting the door ... it's a lot easier to get the opening right the first time. If you are just going to have a piece of oval beveled glass cut to fit, then do the door first.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
IIRC, our local code requires a 36" minimum width for the front door, maybe all exterior doors(?), and 32" minimum for interior doors except closets. Check with your local bldg. department.
As this is something you want to do even before the house is built, starting with a temporary security door in the same jamb is an excellent idea. Last thing after you have your furniture and appliances moved in, touch up the jamb and swap the doors. It's a nice symbolic completion, and it keeps your good door from getting scratched and dinged.
-- J.S.
biggest item is to plan for the wood expanding and contracting and build with that in mind.
The guy that builds custom doors for the high end new homes here, does this.
Stiles and rails are made as a core of edgeglued poplar, then faced on the edges with 1/2" hardwood, and the whole stavecore plank is then surfaced on a planer, ready for the 1/8" bandsawn-and-dressed "veneers" of hardwood. The glueup is done using a vacuum bag.
With "engineered" stock like this, the stile-and-rail door slabs are made up using tradional mortise and tenon frame construction.
I would not recomend poplar for the core. Its not that stable and not a good outdoor wood. Glass in a door has to be either laminated or tempered. If you plan on using art glass, have a piece of the forementioned put on the outside of the art glass. Dont use biscuts in the joinery,wont hold up. True mortise and tenon is best.
I highly recommend Doormaking by John Birchard...darn good book!
Has doors with glass ideas and several different building styles. Helped me more than once.
cheers,
silver
We have a mess of codes to deal with. Ansd a permit is necessary. If an Inspector catches us building a door without a door-building permit, the WHOLE project gets a stop-order, not just the door building "trade".
Properly prepared drawings by a structural door engineer are required. Stile width, rails, these are all called out, the number of penetrations(mail slot, "peep holes"), even the type and location of the knocker needs to be indicated.
Material selection is checked. It's verified at the "glue-up", which, needs to be monitored by a city inspector. There's a certain temperature range that this is permitted, clamping pressure is tested by a scale, and the time is also watched.(20 min minimum, depending on the type of glue called for).
If the job is in a historical area, there is an addition set of rules.
Then there's a "concealment" inspection. This is before any paint or stain is applied.
April Fools? A door permit? You gotta be kidding, right?
Holy s*it! Glad I don't live in that city! Does sound like our Historic District where a bunch of control freaks run it and make rules about the smallest, stupidest things. Just so I don't offend anyone, I suppose entry doors are important and should be built correctly. And I'm sure Historic District Commissions serve a valid purpose.
You live in a comunist country? Build the door before work and haul it to the job in your truck , It'll look like you bought it at home depo then.
Buy good ball bearing hinges (look in the industrial section) . I like Stainless steel for entry doors and brass for inside.
good ball bearing hinges . . . I like Stainless steel
I second that. Also, the front door is a good place for 2 pair (four hinges) per door--especially carrying a heavy custom door.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Wow! Thanks for all of the responses. Like I said, we probably won't be starting on the house for a couple of years. I just was wondering what building the door would entail before I started to actually get into building it then find out it won't work or I couldn' use it etc. You guys have given me some great info. Thanks again
I built the front door to my home in 1999. I'm too tired tonite to give a detailed response, but as far as codes go, the only one that's certain is that any glass has to be tempered or, some allow laminated. But, that's easy to do, just order it that way. You can order custom sized double pane insulated glass tempered in any size you would need for a door.
There may be other peculular local codes, such as a minimum width, but you'd want at least 36" for the front door anyway.
Speaking of tempered/laminated glass made me think of when I was asked to design a remodel for a juvenile facility--it had to be secure, but bars were kinda out of the question. I was told that the youngsters would just use lighters to burn through Plexiglas, so I had a layer of Plex put between wireglass. Guess it worked--haven't heard of any escapes through windows! In a similar vein, they asked me to make a counter for a food stamp window. It had to be secure from robbery--they wanted bulletproof windows. So I called for 1-1/2 inch Plexiglas and then thought, "What about below the counter?" Was told not to worry about that! Hoped a gunman never wised up and aimed below the countertop!
inch and a half "plexiglass" is not bulletproof..
plexiglass is cast acrylic
you need Lexan
polycarbonate is bulletproof ( at least more resistant)
acrylic just shatters..
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Oh. Hope they never had the opportunity to test it! We won't mention where this was.
You have plenty of time, do some reading. Front doors get a lot of use. They have a big impact on the overall appearance of the house. The joinery and materials need to be first-class. Weatherstripping is important and not necessarily easy. They get baked and frozen on the outside and exposed to the sun. Virtually no finish holds up well to that. If possible, try to incorporate an overhang or porch or something to shelter it. Will last a lot longer and need less refinishing. Its a challenging project but still no reason why you couldn't do it if you take care.
If you do it yourself, you may want a shaper. Not real easy to do the necessary joints with a router. May be a good excuse to buy some tools if you need them. Jointer, shaper, table saw, band saw, planer. Maybe a mortiser.
> Weatherstripping is important and not necessarily easy.
Check out http://www.conservationtechnology.com for excellent weatherstripping and other protective products.
-- J.S.
Here are a few more comments on building your own front door. I'd recommend measuring a standard front door and match the critical dimensions. The door itself should match in height and width precisely, so if it ever needed to be replaced by a future owner it could be with a stock door. It should be standard thickness, 1-3/4", so a standard lockset will fit. Also match the frame dimensions so the entire assembly could be removed and replaced with a stock door without any changes to the rough opening.
When I built mine, I used replacement weatherstripping that matched what a standard door would have. I just copied the grooves from a standard door frame and threshhold.
Here's a link to some photos which show my door. It's an arts & crafts style, in Western Red Cedar with double pane insulated tempered glass. http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=35025.3