Boathouse Garage Door

[James Jayko]

Hey all, this is the bottom panel to a garage door on the boathouse. As you can see, it is rotten, so I'm going to rebuild this panel.

I think it is 3/4" plywood, skinned with a layer of 1'4", then framed in cedar. Its got to be the better part of 100 lbs. My question for you is...what if I framed it out of cypress or something, then skinned both sides with 1'4" marine grade ply and trimmed it out? I think I could cut the weight in half. It needs to look the same in the end. Is there any reason that mass is helpful for a garage door? Its on a lake in northern PA, so it isn't like it needs to stand up to hurricaine winds, just constant moisture. I'm going to have the Overhead Door guys come and rework the mechanism, assuming it might need different springs or something given a differential in weight...

Any thoughts?

[Tom M King]

The rest of it looks fine. I would just replace the bad parts with dry treated wood. I don't think it wouldn't change the weight enough to matter.

[Jim Becker]

I'll make a suggestion that takes your idea a little farther...since that's the bottom panel closest to the water (presumed) consider making that panel out of non-wood products, such as PVC. And yes, you would need to adjust the springs if it's an overhead door to maintain proper balance. Be careful with that operation, however...door springs can be dangerous.

[James Jayko]

I'll make a suggestion that takes your idea a little farther...since that's the bottom panel closest to the water (presumed) consider making that panel out of non-wood products, such as PVC. And yes, you would need to adjust the springs if it's an overhead door to maintain proper balance. Be careful with that operation, however...door springs can be dangerous.

1. Can you get PVC in panel form? Or would you have to, like, build it up from decking type material?

2. 100%. I'm going to have professionals come ensure the mechanism is good to go. I do not have a death wish!

[Jim Becker]

Most home centers sell PVC in both sheet and dimensional formats. You will still want to use something like marine ply in the "core" of the door to provide stiffness and where hinges/whees are, but the PVC can otherwise be the cladding and it will not rot.

[Doug Garson]

My first thought is how old is the door? If it's 20 years old I'd replace the rotten parts in kind, if it's 5 years old I'd look for a better material.

[Bob Falk]

You might want to think about the springs on your door. Door springs are sized to the door weight, so changing door weight may change how the door opens/closes.