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I’m preparing to replace the terribly ill-fitting 110 year old doors on my carriage house (see attached photo). The doors will swing out. The structure is in sad condition, but it’s what I’ve got.
I’m turning the first floor into a 4-season woodshop and can’t see the point in heating it unless I replace the doors. The jamb leans out, is at an angle and is racked. I’m leleeryf removing the existing jamb, so I’m thinking of building a new jamb within the old one that’s square and true (opening size isn’t an issue). Any advice on the matter? Also, anyone have a suggestion for sources of plans for such doors? Thanks!
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Seth, it looks like part of the reason the doors are crooked is 'cause the building is crooked--don't you want to fix that first?
*Seth, Hard to know for sure from your pic. If your foundation and bottom plate/wall are sound and attached try running a com-a-long diagonally across the wall from top to bottom plate. Over a period of several weeks, slowly ratchet them to being closer to plumb. You may surprise yourself as to how easy it might be.If that fails, I would then decide to rebrace existing structure so it does not continue moving and reframe the door opening. The easy way out may be to make the opening smaller, but I would consider enlaging it so you do not have to mess with residing. By reframing you can hang your doors reasonably plumb and have them work better.Another option would be to go with an overhead garage door which you could install plumb and not worry about the lazy jambswalk gooddavid
*Fix the building first? I'd love to! (I'd also like the 150+K needed to do the job!)What you can't see from the photo is that it's three stories tall and the back wall is a 20' stone retaining wall into the side of a mountain. I've had a structural engineer design and install an internal system to hold the place together until I'm ready for the second mortgage and take on the real job of rebuilding it completely.Oh, a sad story. . .
*I agree with Dave. If you have the head room, insatall an overhead door behind the existing swinging doors.Looks the same from the outside but keeps the heat on the inside.
*For exterior doors up to 4x8 on outbuildings and such, I usually make a 2x4 frame and glue and screw a sheet of 3/8" smooth T-111 to the back of it. You can fill in the front of the door between the framing members and make it as attractive as you like but I'm afraid the back of the door will look like a sheet of plywood with alot of screws in it.JonC