I’ve looked at a couple of 8’ X 8’ exterior double doors on a Napa Valley winery that were built from mahogany panels on a welded steel frame. My initial look at the doors was to consult only as a custom builder/specialist. My first impression was that the doors were reacting to extreme weather changes from very hot and dry in the summer to cold and wet in the winter and that the steel superstructure was not moving in tandem with the affixed panels as the panels were splitting apart. The doors had not been in place for a full year and subsequent visits to site measure showed even more extreme cracking and splitting as the wood dried out through the summer months. I’ve drafted up shop drawing, proposing a tenoned laminated veneer lumber stile and rail base with rigid foam panels and a 1/4” CDX “skin” as a base for 3/4” rift sawn white oak horizontal panels with 1/4” reveals with a simple 3/8” lap joint to allow some movement. My lead man and minor partner in the business feels that doing the job is going to tie us to the job for life, repeatedly repairing and rebuilding the doors because the extremes of temperature, moisture and direct sunlight will cause the same issues down the road. I estimated the job with a pretty big bonus but … not enough to do the job twice. My instinct is that the engineered wood core will move in concert with the oak overlay and the entire construction will hold together much more reliably than the metal/wood differential movement. Thoughts?
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What did your customer say?
The client is trusting my judgement but my partner is not. He is also concerned that the client is seeking an ironclad contract with a typical one year warranty for material and workmanship.
Well, if you won’t even guarantee a year then don’t do it.
Your idea of a floating panel sounds like the way to go to give you a shot at it holding up.
Under extreme sun and a full view storm with glass, most any type of door can foresee problems…..even a steel skin or fiberglass. You know the extremes of your area better than this retired dumb carpenter from Ohio…..
If you do this job, please return with some pictures. This entry sounds outta’sight!
I don't see any way you can use natural products in this situation. Especially since customer is not willing to accept natural movement of materials.
I would be concerned with the possibility of moisture getting between the oak and plywood skin. You could end up with cupping and rot. Why not use the existing steel frame and design a skin that can move? Solid wood doors of various design have been in existence for a long time, the trick is to use material that has been properly seasoned and design for wood movement.