Building carriage doors for garage.

[John Gulick]

I built similar doors for my shop. Pics are on an old iphone, ill see if I can round them up. I started with 8/4 poplar and painted them bc I wanted something servicable. If you're using rail and stile construction, get the doormaking bits from freud. Using them in different configurations allows you to make a complete door. You just need to chop the mortises. One word of caution; despite meticulously caring for these doors, I did start to get some rot at the bottom after 9 years. If I didnt sell the home this past year, id of had to replace the bottom rail.

Peter, we have found poplar to be unacceptable for exterior use (in the Northeast) and have build several sets with basic select grade Eastern white pine stile/rail, mortise/tenon construction glued with Titebond II. If taken care of should outlast most of us easily.

Home Depot has relatively inexpensive strap hinges with nylon inserts. They hold up great after 6 years with no sign of wearing at all

[Bill Bukovec]

As a former Excelsior, MN resident, I'd go with painted cedar. Any clear finish I have tried outside failed and looked bad after a few years. Looking forward to seeing the finished project. Good luck.

[Mike Ontko]

Will, I've got a similar project that I offered to do for the owner of the barn where my wife keeps her horse. My related post is here: Tips On Barn Door Construction...for an Actual Barn. There's a link to an article in Mother Earth News that outlines three different methods of construction. I live in the Maritime Pacific Northwest, where moisture from rain is more of a concern than snow and ice. Cedar and redwood are my materials of choice, if not marine grade plywood and pressure treated lumber.

[John C Bush]

Hi Will,
I built these doors 18 yrs ago-milled from beams from our 120 y.o. Ill. barn(also used the beams structurally to look like a barn inside--you can take the boy off the farm...)--had local door supplier make the frame with hinges and hung them myself!! Not a carpenter by trade and it was surprisingly not that difficult even with their size-- 9' X 4'. I added a strip of old rubber conveyor belt to seal the bottom but when windy and rainy water can blow thru the top, hence the stained look. Good Luck


OOPS! No techie here. Not sure why is rotated.