Dan Antion

Doors & Doorway – #ThursdayDoors

When was the last time you used one of these doors?

I have been hanging onto a few random doors for a few weeks. Some are leftovers and some were collected between Point-A and Point-B while photographing doors. I figured I’d save these for a week when I had nothing to offer, but the discovery of the random door I featured at the top made me decide to share them today.

Without knowing much about the doors I’m sharing, I thought I’d spend a little (of your) time explaining the details inside the doorways where we find our doors. Of course, this only applies to traditional wood-framed construction.

We understand the door’s job. Open to allow passage and close to seal out weather, prying eyes, bad guys or just to provide some quiet. Of course, those of us who comes to Norm’s place every week also like them to be beautiful. On the other hand, the structure around the door is not always well understood.

Doorways are holes in walls. In a simple, non-load-bearing wall, the sides of this hole need to be plumb (vertically level) side-to-side and back-to-front and level at the top. It also needs to be strong enough to support the weight of the door. Most doors are hinged, meaning that one side of the door must be well-secured into the structure of the building. Sliding doors need that support to be overhead. In that case, they are similar to doors in load-bearing walls.

If you open a hole in a load-bearing wall, you have to establish a pathway for the weight above the hole to be transferred to the solid structure beneath the door.

Ultimately, all the weight of a building, and everything in the building must be carried to the foundation of the building.

The images below are of the doorway I am building in the partition wall in my garage. This wall is not a load-bearing wall, although I am hoping to add some support to a storage area above the garage that runs from the front to the rear. On the other hand, I will be hanging sliding pocket doors in this opening, so I have to provide a means to support those doors and let them travel easily. That requires an opening that is plumb, level and strong.

The shop and garage are both disaster areas. I’m doing the prepwork in the driveway.
In this case, the header is 2 2x8s with a piece of 1/2″ plywood sandwiched in between. The plywood adds strength and makes the header 3 1/2″ wide (the same width as a 2×4).
Header assembled.
Jack studs are in place, I’m ready to install the header.
The header is installed at the height of the door. The gap between the top of the header and the top plate will be filled with cripple studs.
This header is twice as wide as the opening, in order to accommodate the pocket doors when open.

The weight above the doorway would normally be supported by wall studs 16″(41cm) on center. In the absence of those studs, a “header” carries that load. The ends of the header are supported by “jack studs,” each attached to a “king stud” that runs from the bottom plate to the top plate. Above the header, a series of “cripple studs” support the top plate where the original studs would have been. Headers are sized to support the load above them, and in the case of sliding doors, the weight of the doors below.

If you want to see more interesting doors, and less technical gobbledygook, head on up to Norm Frampton’s website where each week lots of people look at the doors Norm is sharing and leave links to their own doors.

In between Mount Holyoke the mountain and Mount Holyoke College, I passed this barn.
I love farms.
Hockanum School 1840 — Neighborhood House 1952
When was the last time you used one of these doors?
Handicapped entrance to the church.
Small door and a bunch of ghost windows.
Chapel and meeting rooms entrance.
First Congregational Church.
These appear to be utility doors.
Center Church Little Library.
Nice door, but the building needs a little TLC.
Odd angle, but still a nice corner door.
Valley Christian School and Stonybook Community Church.
Gaylord Public Library in Holyoke, MA.

80 comments

  3. The barn, library, and the white building that needs some TLC are my favorites this week from this collection.

    It’s so interesting to see the inside of the wall, and door frames and see how they’re made and how they work. It’s not something I would normally think about. I like pocket doors. We had one installed in our remodel at the old house. It was interesting watching them put up that wall, and build the frame for the pocket door. I was thrilled with the finished project.

    I’m looking forward to seeing your garage/workshop project when it’s done through your images.

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    • The barn and the white house are high on my list, too. In fact, I turned around to go back and get the picture of the barn.

      Pocket doors in this space will give me the freedom to move around and use the area on and in front of the wall on both sides. It’s a long way from being finished, but I feel good about the progress.

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  5. Another interesting DIY segment. I really like pocket doors, but I never gave any consideration to what it takes to install one. Or any door for that matter. Nope, you don’t want me putting in a door for you!

    The video drop box is a hoot. Vanished like phone booths and rotary phones.

    I love the Little Library. And the First Congregational Church is a beauty, especially that round window. Also glad there was a barn to share!

    I realize blogging material is hard to come by these days Dan, yet you always manage to keep us entertained and enlightened. Thanks!
    Ginger

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    • The video drop box sent me off on a tangent, Ginger. Since I just put that header up yesterday, I figured I could mix DIY and an odd collection of doors. I’m glad it worked. BTW, we have a working rotary phone 😏

      I hope you’re getting an early start on the weekend.

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  7. Wow, nice flashback to the not-so-distant past Dan. I don’t think I’ve used a video drop box chute in at least 5 or 6 years. I love that barn and both the Little and ‘full-size’ libraries.
    Good post!

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  8. And there I thought your only door was the old video slot. Silly me! I think the ghost windows are the saddest things. Like sealed doors or blinded eyes, they make me want to break them open somehow. We certainly used many video slots throughout the years. We were a movie watching family. We rarely could afford to all go out to a movie and it was more fun at home, with the kids sprawled on the floor with their various snacks. Then when they started to sell movies, man, we honestly should have held stock in Blockbuster. We never did the Red Box though. It was just too weird for me. But I’m not keen on vending machines in general. Reminds me of high school days. Another nice project! 👏🏻👏🏻

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    • This was the store we used most often. It’s very close to our house, and we could just run out and get a movie on a rainy Saturday. The owner of the store owned the plaza. He closed the store but continued to use the space as an office. He died two years ago, but I’ve heard that the family is fighting over the property. It’s sad.

      I think I’ve only had one Thursday Doors post with a single door.

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      • We loved the homegrown video stores through the years. We could even rent video recorders for special occasions for cheap. Those days are long gone. Hubs tried to pawn some extensive refrigeration equipment from his business and was told they only accept the new digital versions. 😳

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        • It’s so sad. They make you throw away stuff that still works. I had one digital-equipped power tool. The digital aspects all died within 15 years. Meanwhile, I have tools that were my dad’s that are over 60 years old and still running fine.

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  10. Um Did you notice that the Handicapped entrance to the Church has a step? Maybe they have divine intervention on the pathway to the church. I am so looking forward to your pocket doors!

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  11. So a question about ghost windows–were they windows at one time or were they built bricked-in ‘for decorative purposes only?’ The TLC house….my husband and I like to drive around downtown and find some industrial fixer-upper and talk about buying it and making it work. hahah! Wait–husband isn’t handy!!! It’d cost us a fortune to make it habitable. We had pocket doors back at our house in Jersey. Now the thing is barn doors in houses. I am just not a fan of that design. You carpentry skills are amazing, Dan. I so appreciate your attention to detail.

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    • In most cases, I think they were windows that were removed. Perhaps, in some cases they were part of a planned expansion, but you’d think that would be done by now.

      They make it look so easy on the shows, but restoring an old home correctly is a lot of work.

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  12. Since the wall is going up between the floor joists are you going to add a barrier to keep the dust in the workshop ? And when you add a pocket door does that make the wall a vest wall ? I will stop at two questions. Good doors Thursday Dan.

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  13. I love your header photos and explanation. Currently, the trend is to take out walls, so while watching remodel shows, we see many header installs. Yours looks great. That building that needs the TLC was built right. I noticed there is no sagging anywhere. Great photos of the other buildings too. Thanks, Dan

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  14. What a great post, Dan! I enjoyed your personal door project best, but the gallery is terrific too. That big round window is jaw-dropping. I’d love to look at it from inside the building. I think the white “TLC” building is my favorite. I hope it gets the care it deserves. Hugs on the wing.

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    • When I think back, it seems like it was easier to pick a movie back then. Scrolling and scrolling, endlessly online is a mess. Walking up and down the aisle was kinda fun.

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  18. Nice!  My son did a lot of revamping his home in Chicag, getting ready to sell to move back to NYC.  A friend helped him put in a new door, not good.  He had to redo the whole thing, not an easy task for one person.

    Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

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  20. I like random doors, Dan, and also lots of the buildings you have that go with them. I’ve used doors like that very first one to return library books or movies, but not since we moved, of course. E-books just get returned through the ether evidently. I prefer to go into the library to return items because that allows me to look for more items to take out, a vicious circle I can’t wait to get started again once the libraries are fully open. :-)

    janet

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  22. Great photos, Dan. And I love your step by step explanation of what you’re building in your garage. Hope we get to see the finished project!

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    • I’m glad you liked the DIY stuff, Gwen. I’m going to dribble that in from time to time. I’m getting ready to switch my focus to the garage side of the wall. I need to get those cars inside ;-)

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  23. As the wife of a door installer specialist I appreciate all these technical terms, for it means there is more chance your sill hold up for 10 years. Love your gallery, and especially the free library, so cute with the round table. Sorry, still haven’t made it to your Wednesday posts Dan … one day. The one I thought I did, I discovered later in the day that it was Tuesday, not Wednesday, haha, time to get over that settling thing …

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  25. Great opening description of doors, Dan. I enjoyed it. I must say the Gaylord Public Library is stunning. It has made me think…most public libraries are quite the same way. Hmmm. That’s quite wonderful.

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  28. When was the last time I used a video return door? Hmmm… maybe 15 years ago? Is that possible? I know the store closed a while back…

    Interesting to see another Little Free Library represented on doors – now that I volunteer managing a public trail, I am particularly vigilant about vandalism. Cobalt has one of these libraries, too. I don’t think it has ever been touched. I wonder if there is some code of ethics for the taggers that keeps them away from these marvellous community book boxes.
    If so, I wish it would transfer to other targets that they hit.

    Hm. I’m a bit of a Debbie Downer, aren’t I?

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  29. Once I asked my late father-in-law about a pocket door for our bathroom. I got ‘the look’ so that was the end of that. I think he spent a few too many times fixing them for little old ladies. lol But I’m sure yours will be great :)

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