Door project

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pbv

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Hello,

This is my first post so I am sorry if anything comes across as confusing. I am planning on replacing the door a utility room in my house. Currently we use it to store bedding, cleaning supplies and whatnot. Its in my base ment and a concrete foundation.

Here is a link to a scale mockup of the room and what i have come up with so far.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/27366997/room CAD.skp and a PDF for anyone who doesn't want to install sketchup.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/27366997/room CAD.pdf


Here is my situation.

I would like to install the door and mount it with mortise hinges to the wall stud and the frame of the door. From my sketchup you can see that the door is custom made using ripped 2x4 to make them 2x3's in order to get consistent width on both boards. Then a 3/4 inch plywood surface is mounted to the frame to give it structure. Then a 3/4 inch plywood with my home cabinet wood type veneer as the face surface. The door will be trimmed in on the outside to hide the gap. The hinge side of the door will close flush and the other side will have a 1/2 inch gap to allow the door to open a close properly.

I didn't design this door with a jamb as the weight of the door may not be too much for a jamb.

The door will be heavy so I sourced some 6x6 stainless steel ball bearing butt hinges. I may install 2 hinges or 4 depending on your responses.

The door will be held shut using a magnetic lock which is not show on the rendering.

Here is the question:

Can I mortise the hinges into the frame studs and the custom door I am making and not have a problem with sagging? Is there something here I am not considering?
 
I cannot access your link but I can not imagine going to all that work on a door and not using a jam or how you would finnish the trim with out one. The weight is not a problem, you just use a few screws in each hinge that would reach thru the jam and screw into the studs. The door should be 1/4" smaller than the inside of the jam. To make it fit without hitting the jam you back cut each side 5 degrees off square.
 
The door in my cad is 4.5 inches thick. I was going to use 4 inch wide wood panels over the face to cover the gap on the left (non-hinge) side.

I expect the door to weigh approx 200-250lbs when completed due to the 2x4 frame, two layers of 3x4 plywood and the misc wood components fastened to it. I am not sure a three sided door jamb will hold the weight.

My goal is to make the door look like a build in pool queue rack in order to hide this door and closet from view and to complement the pool table in my basement.

You think I can get by using a standard door jamb?

You can copy and paste the links into a new browser window and they should open no problem.

Jeff
 
Seeing your drawing helps a lot. I don't see why 4 big hinges wouldn't work, You may need to put plywood on the back side to stop it from wraping, maybe that is your plan. I would check out the stud on the hinge side, there should be two on each side and they are likely just toenailed to the floor plate and the floor plate may not be fastened down good enough to handle the weight when it is open. A regular door jam wouldn't work but I would have dressed out the sides with something but now that you have it built I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Sorry for the delay, work has been busy. I have not built the door in any way yet. Only the rough opening for the door is there. It only exists as a CAD drawing.

You think it would be better to place a sheet of 3/4 plywood on the backside of the 2x4 frame and then the "nice" 3/4 veneered plywood out the outside facing side, thus sandwiching the frame between the two.

I can do that of course. Should I add a horizontal crossmember from the top hinge side to the bottom right (opening) side to help with the load?

Is there any way to help secure the bottom of the toeplate to the concrete floor?

I can still "dress out the sides" as the opening is still in the rough form. But forgive me I have no idea what that means.

Thanks for all your input.
 
If you get to the hanger department of your local building supply store you can find something there to help hold the studs in place and use an ancher bolt to bolt down the plate.
When I said dress out the opening, that's anything like drywall' wood trim or anything to give the opening a finish rather than just looking at the side of the studs in the opening, which normally would be the door jam. That won't work with your door but you could just use 3/4x4 1/2 for that.
There are lots of plans for these on the net. http://www.houzz.com/hidden-door-hardware
or http://www.secretdoorways.com/
 
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A 250 lb door 3' wide and 80" high with two hinges 60" apart will have 250x18/60 = 75 lbs trying to pull out the upper hinge (and the same pushing in on the lower hinge) but use long screws anyway because these screws probably see sort of a 'shearing impact load'.
 
So it would be better then, to use a wood plank. 4.5 inches wide x 3/4 inches thick to act as the jamb. I would flush mount this to the exterior wall and then shim it plumb vertically to ensure the door is plumb. Then use 3 inch screws to attach it to the stud to keep it plumb?

I will use 4 hinges to help distribute the weight load across the jamb then for best long term results correct?


Does this sound correct?
 
I forgot safety factor, which is 4 for non-personnel safety so the hinge fasteners should be able to withstand 4x75 lbs. With four hinge screws this would be 75 lbs each for pullout (pullover, pullthrough) force.
But, a door that heavy may introduce personnel safety problems so use fasteners for at least 300 lbs.

With fasteners and other things there is a "working load" and an "ultimate strength" so be sure of which you are using.
 
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