I'm planning on building a 12x14 storage shed in our backyard.

I want to have a set of steel doors and am not able to find any pre-hung sets

The building supplies place sells regular steel doors... 1 3/4 x 32/34/46 x 79". My question is if I buy a righty and a leftie, can they be installed as a set of double entry doors?

 

If you don't mind mortising your hinges in, yes, you can buy the doors. There's no such thing as a righty and lefty on steel doors, as the hinge mortise usually goes all the way across, so they are adaptable. You will need to apply T Astragal on one of the doors to seal from the weather and assist in closing. You will have to figure out how you will be fastening them to each other and to the building, as one will be semi fixed and the other will be movable.

 

I figure the door I use the least, I can lock with two sliding clasps on the back of the door, one going up into the header, and another down into the floor.

Then door #1 can lock in the lock cylinder of door #2.

Also how big should I rough in the opening. We just poured the slab the other day, so the shed will have a concrete floor, but with an aluminum mud sill in teh doorway.

 

The guy at the store showed me how to make an astragal from two strips of 1x2" pine (actually 3/4" by 1 3/4"), forming them into a T with glue and finishing nails, and then nailing that to the side of one of the doors, in my case the right hand side door.

For the door jamb I want to use 1" x 5" pine boards. The pre-fab door jamb kits they sell are only for inside doors and a little flimsy. The hardware store can cut hinges on the jamb to match the hinges on the doors. They have a guy there that does that sort of thing and he's always done a fantastic job.

So if both doors are 30" across, if my door jamb is 3/4" thick, and I need to leave 3/4" for the astragal between them, how wide do I need to frame the rough opening? I read somewhere doors need what's called a "reveal" so that the door is not too tight to open and close? Some say it should be a 1/4" all around the door, others say 1/8" to 1/16". Which is the way to go, mind these are steel exterior doors 30" wide.

 

Your rough opening would be 63". Figure 30+30+.75+.75+.75+.25+.25+ a feel good .25 that you can shim.

 

Personally...I think I'd build the double doors..then frame it..if at all possible. Then you'll know exactly how much room to leave. Don't forget to take into account the threshold when figuring the height of the frame.

Remember...easy to build down a too large RO...not so easy to widen/raise it.

 

What about the door jamb itself? The guy at the store said I should give myself an extra 1/4" for each door, inside the jamb, so the doors don't stick. I don't want the doors to stick but leaving a 1/2" gap seems a little much.


Looking closely at the hinges, it appears that even if the hinge mounts flush with the door and jamb, it leaves about 1/16" offset, between the two sides of the hinge as its folded shut.

The doors I got, I ended up getting 34" doors on sale, I measured them and they're actually 34 3/8" wide in the middle of the door where the wooden frame is..

And instead of 3/4" pine for the astragal, I'm going to use a strip of aluminum angle, 1.5" x 1.5" and 1/8" thick. So the astragal would be 1/8" instead of 3/4".
Aluminum Angle Type 6063-T5 ASTM-B221 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/8" Thick - SmallParts.com

So by my calculation, the inside of the door jamb should measure 34 3/8 + 34 3/8" + 1/8 (astragal) + 1/16 + 1/16 (two hinges), for a total of 69"

how much should I add to that to ensure the doors will open and close properly?

 

btw...for this amount of work..you should check into recycled building materials store..if you have them..you might find something really cheap.

 

I have a similar question. I am trying to build my doors from scratch. Each door is made with 2x4's to make a square frame and I will use a piece of siding to place on the back of each door. The 2x4's are going to be attached on edge of each other. I am trying to nail these together before attaching the siding, but I am not sure how to nail them. I thought of using staples, but I don't have a staple gun and I can't find any staples large enough.

Any ideas would be helpful.

Thanks,

 

Welcome to the forums prtyofv!

Not sure I completely understand

If you cut the 2x4s on a 45 degree angle you can nail them together. If you just butt them up, your relying on the panel to hold them together.

If the siding is going on the backside with the 2x4s exposed to the elements, you need to cut an angle on the bottom 2x4 so water can run off of it.

 

The 2x4's would be at 90 degree angles.
I was looking for something to hold the 2x4's together, in addition to the siding, to make it more sturdy. The 2x4's are treated and are a bit heavy, so I didn't want to rely on the siding / panel alone for the support. Maybe it's not required.

 

You can cut the ends of the 2x4's into lap joints and screw them together for strength. Don't forget to install an angle brace from the hinge side bottom to the latch side top to keep it square. Better yet, look into getting a gate corner kit from one of the big boxes. It will allow you to butt joint your 2x4's and keep them in perfect alignment since they are made of angle iron. You will still need the angle brace, but it will make the job go much easier and faster.

 

That is great idea. Thanks.

Any tips on how to make these with just a hand saw and a circular saw?

 

You can make a series of cuts with your skil saw and then chisel it out.

 

I skimmed though this email so I may be butting in where it doesnt belong but a few suggestions...

I wouldnt use nails at all in my opinion. Screws all the way. I built a big sliding door for my shed out of two 4x8's side by side (cut to fit opening, 50% on each panel) and then sandwiched together with 1x8 in the middle joint and 1x4on the outside. glue and screw!

Got a steel rail and door hangers from lowes

Works like a champ - dont have to open and deal with sagging doors - just slide the door open and have a nice big 7.5 foot opening.

Cheers!!

JD

 

Butt in, that's ok. We're easy. I still advocate lap joints as opposed to butting the lumber together. Much stronger. The hardware I mentioned bolsters the corners and accurately aligns the lumber at 90 degrees so it doesn't tend to sag. A cross member is always a plus on a wider door. I have sliders in my shop )2 6' wide ones) 12' opening is nice on a fall day.