Ever build a screen/storm door?

[Bill VanderLaan]

I have a 90 year old bungalow that is in dire need of new storm doors. So I went to the local Borg last week and found out that they are quite proud of them. Unwilling to pay $250 for a storm door (need three) I have determined that I want to try and build them.

I am thinking something along the lines of white oak or cedar (may have to laminate) and using half lap construction with rabbetts for the glass and screen frames. Thinking of using either Gorilla glue or epoxy as an adhesive and a Spar varnish as an exterior finish.

Any tips, advice, concerns or pics that you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Best-

BVL

[Harley Lewis]

Bill, I am in the middle of building a storm door right now out of white oak. I used 5/8 material, laminated two with the growth rings opposing one another to get 1.25 inch material. I have 4 styles and two raised panels. The rails are 4.75 inches wide, bottom style is 8 inches wide, the two panels 12 inches wide, and the remaining styles are 4.75 inches wide. I am using a half inch rabit to hold the glass or screen. This is not yet put together, all cut but not assembled. I am doing a carving on one of the raised panels and that is taking some time.

Harley

[Harley Lewis]

Opps, got the rails and styles backwords in the above post -- sorry. Bottom rail is 8 inches, other 3 rails are the same width as the styles.

[Steve Sharp]

Workbench magazine (October 2004) has a good article on building an All-Seson Storm Door. It is also done w/White Oak. Web address for magazine is WorkbenchMagazine.com On the site, click on Resources, then look under Home Improvement for the storm door cutting diagram

[Lee Schierer]

I built a sreen door for the door that goes out to our back deck. It is made of pine. It is going on 8 years old and is in great shpae. However it is also inside the house as the regular door swings out. I used mortice and tenon joints for the corners.

[Ben Grunow]

Try for M&T joints and include a panel at tthe bottom if possible to help avoid sagging over time. The hydraulic closers are great to limit the banging when closing.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Last summer, I built a screen door using 5/4 SYP from Lowes. I used mortise and tennion joinery to connect frame parts. Customer was well pleased. Once I worked in the maintanance section of local school system. New head of carpentry shop threw out a chain mortiser. Come summer time and it is time to replace screen doors on lunchrooms. Guy who usually makes them had to purchase a new chain mortiser using school funds- they don't come cheap! Bet this one won't get kicked to the curb!