Rebuilding doors and door frames

[Cpd]

I am at some point wanting to replace the 2 existing outside doors on my cottage. They are not well sealed and as i get things done inside its becoming more obvious that they will need to be replaced to meet my airtightness aspirations. Budget is always a problem so i want to re build the frames myself and reuse or get hold of some second hand doors and then upgrade them with insulation and finish paneling. I am handy with the tools and have spent a lifetime building everything from landrovers so to bridges so feel its within my ability... however 

 

My question is. 

 

1. Is this a sensible thing to do.

2. What would be the best way of creating an air tight seal, i.e  is there a “best way” to create the seal and what type of sealing system do you recommend. 

3. Other hints and tips appreciated 

4. Material choices especially for frame work. 

 

I would like to start to at-least get my head around this and then start to track down materials. 

Thanks people of build-hub 

[Russell griffiths]

I don’t see why not if your a handy bloke, I think you biggest help will be a router as most of the seals have to be re-baited in to the frame or door. 

Have a look on ironmongery direct they have various designs. 

[Cpd]

Decided to start by replacing the three doors on my shed, i hope by the time they are done i will be competentat  at door and door frame building and be ready to build the cottage doors. I had some donated  hardwood  that i have decided to cut and join to make the cills. I need to research a really bomb proof paint system for the cills as they will get a lot of wear. I could  cover them in aluminium as i have a whole bunch old velux flashings free from the hardware but think i want to save that stuff for the cottage.  Any ideas on the paint system ? Have got all the various seals and hinges so just a matter of working slowly through it all. Next are three frames and then three stable doors.....

[Cpd]

Three door frames all made from wood on its third tour of duty, will need to cut a few blocks to fill the holes from its previous lives. Next doors..... 

[Tennentslager]

Very tidy old fruit...gumtree next is it? to find some quality old doors

[Cpd]

56 minutes ago, Tennentslager said:

Very tidy old fruit...gumtree next is it? to find some quality old doors

I have too many old door..... always getten given new blanks for free from the builders merchants as when people buy a good door it comes with a new blank on top to protect it...... go figure. The openings are all quite wide 870mm so i will have to have a dig round the shed to see what ive got but am pretty set on the idea if making the doors myself from scrap materials. I have all new seels and latches  so no compromise there. Have various old brass door nobs. Its just a bit of fun and a way of learning a few new tricks.  

[Cpd]

The beggings of three stable doors, tenons cut and window frames made now time to cut all the mortises and then see how well it all fits together, no major problems so far except when i was cleaning the tenons i got distracted my my young boy and then slamed a very shart chisel into my finger.... luckily no tendon damage but a deep cut to the bone. Rest it they said...... the windows are all slightly different sizes as they are all free bees from one of my benefactors ! 

[Temp]

Looking good.

 

Not sure if this is relevant to you and you may know already but... We had some doors made for an outbuilding. The panels were T&G boarded. When they were assembled the boards were fitted tight together. Some time later the wood swelled and the whole doors bowed/looked pregnant. I ended up having to run a circular saw between each plank to cut the tongues and provide room for expansion. This solved the problem at the expense of some extra "ventilation". The moral of the story is not to fully hammer the boards together but leave about 3mm at the bottom of the groove and at the shoulders like this. Use temporary spacers to get the gaps uniform...

 

 

[Cpd]

Thanks @Temp always good to learn from others. I have been reading and researching this little project for a while and could not find the perfect solution, the shed faces south west, is less than 300 meters away from the sea and this is the west coast of Scotland where it rains a lot ! To overcome this i have decided to face the doors in 12mm marine ply, i will then router some sudo tongue  and groove lines  in to get it looking correct and fit in with other doors on adjacent buildings. When they are painted i expect a blind man on a galloping horse would not know the difference..... but seriously i am confident that it will work and will give me the weather protection and easy maintenance that i am after. The doors will be inward opening and will close up against the weather seals   There will be some  additional seals inside the frame as well... its all over the top but i am aiming to learn on these doors and then build the new ones for the cottage that need to be bomb proof for the mvhr to work to maximum efficiency. Spent the better part of 5 hours today setting up the second hand mortiser i got, its a solid piece of kit that came out of a school and had never been maintained properly, i re shimmed it and made a bunch of micro adjustments and now its running about 95% perfect. Will try and upload a clip. 

[Cpd]

Well the mortising machine made light work of what could have been a very tedious job, everything is well within tolerance <2mm but mostly bang on the mark. Was worth spending a lot of time setting up the jigs. Everything fitted together realy well with no upsetting surprises. I will add in some additional bracing  in the lower section of the doors on Monday. Seal recesses will need to be cut before gluing and clamping. Then it will be time to fit the marine ply, door furniture and then mounting in the frames. So far so good.