Question:
I have an unusual garage door and need to repair it. Most garage doors
are 7' high, however mine is 8.5' high. Garage door companies want to
sell me a new door, however when I tell them it is an 8.5' high door,
then they get into a "custom built door" and the price doubles or their
stock doesn't have an 8.5' high door. This door has one extra section
than a standard 7' door making it 5 sections high rather than 4 and
there is no other difference on anything else.
My problem is that the door was made with FJ 2x stock and sanded to
1-1/8" thick. The lower section is coming apart where the FJ joints
are. One panel is broken in the corner of this section also and garage
door repair companies want to sell me the new door because they don't
want to handle making a section for this door.
I do believe that I can make the section (16') however I would like to
know what kind of material would be best to make it out of to prevent it
from coming apart like it did with the FJ boards in the weather. The
upper 4 sections are still fine and this will be the only section I want
to replace.
The door is just a simple raised panel door. There are 6 panels on each
section and they are flat with a slight raised area 2" from the edge of
where the panels mount in the styles and rails, More like adding a
piece of 1/8" masonite over flat plywood and the edge is a 45 degree
leaving the 2" area from the styles and rails. Other items included a
few groves to decorate the rails with. The panels are pressed particle
board.
I'm interested in what to make the styles and rails out of and what to
use for the panels. I'd like more of a solid wood. I plan on painting
it.
Answer:
-We had a pair of wood garage doors at a house in St Louis a couple of
decades ago that had bottom panels in tough shape. A careful search of the
door and hardware turned up the name of the company that made it originally.
They were still in business on the South Side and were happy to make us a
replacement panel for a very reasonable price, as I recall.
-I recently made 2 complete new garage doors for my house that were 8' wide
by 7' tall. I used clear white pine for the stiles and rails and 1/4" BCX
plywood for the panels. I used Gorilla glue and biscuits for the joints. I
dipped the biscuits in water before inserting them. I set the panels in with
a bed of non-hardening caulk and stapled them in from the back. I then
covered the staples with 3/8" quarter round mitered at the corners. The
doors look factory made (my neighbors are amazed) and have been in place
about 8 months now. There is nothing particularly difficult about it but you
MUST have a level, flat assembly table. I made mine out of 3/4" MDF and used
a folding ladder for support. I shimmed it level and flat. I ran the stiles
& rails over the jointer to make sure they were straight & true. You can do
it if you get set up properly first. Your material must be straight & true.
