Thursday Doors – The Other D-I-Y Doors

One of my Facebook friends has been asking about the cabinet-style garden shed I’ve been building for my wife, so I figured I better feature it, now that it’s done. Well, “done for now” would be a better expression, but let’s call it done, because it’s hanging on the wall and soon it will be filled with, as Arlo Guthrie would say, “implements of destruction” and other such stuff.

I mentioned earlier how the shed was being built, but in case you’re not in a link-clicking mood, I’ll refresh that with an overview.

The door frames are 5/4 (five-quarter) pine, which is to say a little less than 1 ¹/₈” because nothing in the world of lumber is anything close to what the nominal measurement implies. For you non-English-measurement folks, that’s about 2.84 CM. The frames are joined with “Biscuits” – which are small oval tennons set into precisely cut semi-circular slots and are glued in place. To secure them even further, the joints are held closed with “Pocket Screws.” The frame is then faced with ½” exterior plywood, secured by construction adhesive and staples. Then the whole thing was faced with PVC trim boards and panels, cut to look like boards.

The hinges are the second set of hinges I tried. The first set was too small. I confirmed that by showing them to the editor…”yes, too small.” The doors follow the pattern of the garage attic access doors, with a larger main door. The ratio between the two is roughly governed by the Golden Ratio, as is the relative heights of the upper and lower panels. You will find the Golden Ratio in woodworking and construction throughout history, it just works.

The reason I say that the shed is “done for now” is because it will have to come off the wall, when we change the siding so the T-111 siding can be removed and ½” exterior plywood installed. At that point, the wood shingles on the sides of the shed will be removed and the vinyl siding on the garage will be wrapped around the sides of the shed. That is, unless the editor decides that she likes those shingles.

The interior of the shed is pegboard, and I was happy to find pre-painted pegboard available for a few dollars more per sheet. Don’t tell Home Depot, but they could charge an enormous amount more for anything that is pre-painted, if they are selling it to me.

People have asked whether shelves wouldn’t be better for some things. They might be, but it’s very easy to make shelves that hang from pegboard. So, if the editor wants a shelf, no problemo, shelf she shall have. Since the previous shed was also pegboard, most everything in the shed can sit on the bottom or hang from a hook. That’s not my department. I would hang everything as high as I could, and then my poor wife would have to jump to get stuff down.

This might be the first time I actually let her define the height of the door handle. I am a foot taller than she is, and our marriage is marked by numerous location faux pas, including a peephole in the entry door that required her to pull a stepstool out to use. She can’t reach the upper lock on the left door, but I was able to make an extended bolt for that mechanism to make her life easy. These are the things you learn…eventually.

The shed had a brush with disaster during installation. It was a windy day and a wind gust blew it off its perch. One (non-structural) corner was broken. I repaired the corner and I will cover the seam with a decorative element that will be installed on all four corners, just like it was planned all along.

I’ll stop here, because the captions also tell some of the story. Click on any photo to start a slide show. These doors/this project is part of Thursday Doors, a wonderful weekly series of door art brought to us by Norm Frampton. Norm plants his garden in Montreal, but it grows in abundance all around the world. If you want to add to the crop, or join the weekly harvest, start with Norm’s plot. Look at his doors and then look for the blue frog – he might be in the low corner, feasting on flies. Click that little tadpole and enter a world of doors.

Assembling the door frames. the clamps are only temporary.

Fitting the door frames to the shed.

Adding the PVC trim to the outside of the doors.

The trim boards are joined with a simple lap joint. these boards are adhered with construction cement and brads.

Looking down, I think we’re going to need a floor.

My visitor. This guy shows up every time I’m working in the garage.

Ok, you can have a peanut.

Doors are hung, getting ready to add the latches and locks.

I know, I know, I need a picture of Maddie.

Tapping the new bolt for the upper lock on the left door.

Removing the old shed required cutting all the old screws, which had rusted.

This shed has been in place for almost 20 years. It’s tired.

Old shed removed.

Installing the pegboard requires a standoff from the wall for the hooks to work.

“Third Hands” are holding the pegboard in at the bottom. I held and screwed the pegboard from the bottom, working my way up.

Adding the sidewall shingles

New Shed – Installed

Ready for clean-up and loading.

Adding the roof shingles. It looks like a beautiful day, but it was only 24°f (-4°c)