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I’d like to try something a little more “artistic” with the insulated metal security door on our garage. What I had in mind was glueing 1/2″ rigid EPS (for a wee bit more R value) to the exterior, then glueing pine tongue and groove (the cheaper, 1/4″, “rustic”, quality) vertically over this followed by the horizontal and diagonal “door” features. In the location of the lockset, the EPS will be replaced with solid blocking (the lockset will have to be brought out to the new exterior distance), as well as a trim boarder around the edges.
This door faces an alley on the west side (directly across from another house), so it receives very little direct sunlight. Water splashing from the alley is probably more of a danger then rain run off. Heat and humidity is not much of a problem around here (cold is).
I’d like to leave the wood to weather on it’s own, but I don’t think pine that thin will last very well without some kind of protection. Maybe a stain, or combination of several to create a permanent weathering.
Has anyone tried this? If this plan (or a variation on it) works, I’ve got two overhead doors which will probably be next in line for the same kind of treatment.
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I have never tried what you mention, but would try to dissuade a customer from doing it. "Trying" it is another matter. If you do try it, I would suggest a sheet good. 3/8 Rough Sawn Ply. These types of ply lay fairly flat. However, the metal door and the ply will move,at a different rate and I think there's no guarantee that it won't fall off. Check the manufacturer of the door to see if there is any wood in it that would accept fasteners. I don't think i would add foam to it's thickness. You'll be lucky enough if you can find a lockset that'll fit the door thickness as it is. Same with the Z'd overlay. Weather will jump all over that detail and the edge when open will look bogus even if you could find the lockset. Maybe a custom built door, closer to the look you want is the answer.
The overhead doors, if metal, would be a similar nitemare. The head and side jambs would prob. have to be redone to fit the new thickness. Or the entire door mounting system would need to be moved in. If only the ext. stops touch the door, and there is enough clearance at the top for a thicker door to operate, then you may get lucky just moving the stops. You might be better off getting new doors more to your liking.
With any luck you'll get another opinion entirely opposite of mine. Best of luck.
*Yeah, and what about all the weight you'd be addin' to those overhead doors. Will the hardware hold up? Will the openers lift the weight? Not sayin' it couldn't be done, but you might create some problems along the way. - jb
*The overhead doors are flat panel, Hi-R, with the heavy duty fittings upgrade (one step up from residential and half way to commercial quality). Since the trim work hasn't been completed yet, there's plenty of working room to reposition the weather stripping (or adjust clearances). But back to that plain old entry door.Realizing that this will create multiple jamb stops (multiple weather stripping opportunities?), Appearance of the exterior closed door is what counts, not the break down of the illusion when you open it and peak at the other side.I felt the 1/2 rigid would provide the "strech" layer between the metal and wood to allow for different expansion rates. Some other material might be more suited to the job? I've been trying to avoid physically peircing the metal (screwing the wood to it) to avoid adding more sealing considerations. I don't care if I marr surface of the door for life (my door in this case), but I do care about maintaining it's integrity. I also thought using thinner panelling (1/4" or less) would help preventing cupping and warping (being evenly glued down flat). The idea is to create an old board and batton (barn door) look, not recreate a regular panelled door (I could have found any number of off the shelf exterior doors to do that).The idea of using a veneer surface over a door seems to strike fear in the hearts of builders, yet I've never once heard one say "ya I tried and it failed horifically". Someone must have tried a technique remotely similar at one time or another? Is there some piece of wisdom that I'm missing that should steer me away from exploring this road?Thanks for the comments none the less!
*I have attempted to glue(veneer) decorative material over metal in the past and it has infact failed to hold a bond over time. The only method I would suggest is to countersink screws below the surface to the metal, then plug and sand flush. Any attempt to not use screws will fail, I learned this the hard way. Bill Swales
*I'm with Bill screw the wood down . Maybe a 1/2 " thick batten at the top and bottom foam between and overlay the t&g. You can special order locksets for door thickness and setback , so that should not be a problem. On the overhead door , use commecial hardware and track.