Construction Q?

asphalt cowboy

I've got a 12'x24' addition on the back of the house that has a concrete floor that I use for a work shop. I want to put in a wider door so I can bring in larger projects like motorcycles, lawn tractors, you name it. I'm thinking 48" wide by standard height.
Given the price of custom size doors I'm thinking of making my own by laminating 3/4" plywood and covering the exterior with fiberglass or FRP panel painted with gel-coat.

Do y'all think something like this would hold up over the long run?

buschmaster

sounds like you already have a normal exterior door in place. don't ask me how you're going to mortise a hinge on the edge of plywood. have to be a barn door type of setup if you're going to do that.

will it hold up? seen a few of those, they do, but they get floppy after a few years. laminating it like you said ought to fix that.

pulsarnc

Plywood door will work fine . Just have to strip /edge iron 2x4 around the perimeter . Have one like that on a walk-in cooler . Been there about 14 years

roswellnative

google builders surplus and buy a double set of doors , get it prehung with a frame. A lot less cost time, and will hold up

roswellnative

And instead of removing the existing door what about just cut a new hole, put in a header, and add an additional set

Smitty500mag

roswellnative wrote:

google builders surplus and buy a double set of doors , get it prehung with a frame. A lot less cost time, and will hold up

Not to mention a whole lot better looking.

buschmaster

here's another option.

http://www.shedking.net/roll-up-shed-doors.html

asphalt cowboy

Maybe I ought'ta back up a bit here.
When I first bought this place there was an 8' slider in this wall so there's a 10' header already in place

To the left of the door there was considerable water damage, as in rot, that I have repaired with new studs, bottom plate and new exterior for the 24' length. There was also foundation damage under that area, but no sag or cracking of the floor. I'm hoping I have that effectively fixed.

This work was all done back in 2011.
What I meant by 'laminating' is two sheets of 3/4" glued and doweled together to give the inch and a half thickness of a normal door. And I do have a used solid core steel clad pre-hung that I acquired in '13 or '14, but it's a standard 36" width, annnd it's not hung yet. Was going to put it in now we have cooler weather, but got to thinking a bigger door sure would be nice.
Needless to say, this has been on the Low Priority list.