Making a door

[Mike Seals]

I'm down to the last of the hurricane Rita rebuilds, the last thing is a pump house for the Koi pond. It's built to look like a clock tower, tall and thin and inside is the pump/s that keep the water circulating and the one that feeds the water wheel, about five feet tall WW.

Since this thing sits out in the weather, I used treated lumber for everything except the trough that feeds the water wheel, don't want to kill the fish. Then I'm covering the outside with Cedar to give it a kind of lap siding look. The sole window (so far) is stained glass that faces the water wheel, I figured with a light fixed up near the inside peak, the stained glass would give a nice soft glow to the water wheel at night. Any way I have to make a door and all the treated 2x4s around here are so green and wet, that I can't find one that in a few days doesn't bow one way or another.

Does anyone have any good ideas on how to build a good straight door that can take the weather? The door needs to be 28Wx53T to cover the opening.

[Jamie Buxton]

Folks have been building wooden doors for a long time. You probably have one on the front door of your home. It doesn't require treated lumber. Use dry, straight-grained, wood for the frame -- quartersawn if you can find it -- and plywood for the panels. If you're a traditionalist, use mortise and tenon joinery between the rails and stiles, and run dadoes on the inside faces to capture the door panel. Glue the panels into the door, and caulk the corner between the plywood and the lumber; keeping water out of the door's interior is a very good thing. Paint the door; paint fends off weather much better than clear finishes. Put a drip cap on the wall above the door, so that rain doesn't get in and pool on the top edge of the door.

[Ben Grunow]

You could sticker and wieght down some PT for a couple weeks and then joint it to death and probably end up with some decent stuff. Is it paint grade?

Might consider Azek if you havent already. Works like wood and glues up incredibly. No paint required if white is OK.

Ben