new member with questions

[bchap56]

I'm new here so I thought that I would introduce myself and ask a question.

I have a 12x20 workshop that I'm trying to make useable. I would like to cut one end out and add two wooden doors so I can pull cars in. I would like the opening to be about 10 feet across. Any tips before I start cuting? What would be a good door height? What would be the best design for the doors?

Thanks

Bryan

 

[SteveL]

Sorry I can't answer your question, but welcome to a great forum. I'm sure the "experts" will come up with the info that you need. Make sure and post some pics!!!

 

[kenfath]

My first house had an attached garage with dimensions similar to yours. There wasn't any access to the backyard so we added a 9' wide x 7' hi overhead door. This is a good sized door for what you are trying to do. Would suggest using an insulated overhead door. They are affordable and can be easily installed. Double doors are never satisfactory and should be avoid -- of course that's only my viewpoint. Give lots of thought to how you are going to support whatever is on top of the wall you will open. Have a good plan to support everything which bears on the wall. We installed a 3"x10" double header supported with three 2x4s on each end. The roof rafters were supported with a temporary 2x4 frame arrangement while the load bearing wall was removed and the header installed.

We no longer live there and most of the house has been rebuilt. However our door arrangement continues to be used forty years later. We used a fiberglass door, not my first choice today but then it was state of the art. It is still in place and didn't look bad when we last visited the old neighborhood. Hope this helps!

 

[Itzkwik]

Is this attached to the house or a shed out back? If its a shed, is it on a slab or does it have wooden floors? If it has wooden floors, I wouldn't suggest putting a car in there unless you pull up the floor and add a lot of support underneath.

 

[bchap56]

Its detached from the house and it has a slab floor. At first I was looking at a roll up door, but I don't think I want to spend that much.

 

[jimvannoy]

When I bought my property about 10 years ago it had a carriage house out back that was built in the late 1800's. It still had dirt floors with wagon wheel ruts and the doors were long gone. I built some with 4 or 5 2x4's and a couple sheets of plywood. Here is a picture:

 

[bchap56]

Thanks. Would you happen to have any close ups of the doors? Thats what I was thinking of doing. This may be a stupid question, but has anyone ever used the anti sag gate kits that Home Depot sells to build doors? I used these for a 5 foot gate and it was way easier that the first 2 times I tried to make it myself.

 

[jimvannoy]

Not really much to it. Cut some plywood half the size of the opening, screw/glue some 2x4's on for support, frame the opening, and screw on some hinges. Here are some more pics and one of a much larger sliding door I did for my barn:

 

[sharpshooter]

I have a 12x20 and I opted to go with the double doors 4ft wide each. The problem with the overhead door is when you roll it up (if you have ceiling lights) your door blocks out alot of the light. That was a major downside for me because in the summer time the doors stay open.

 

[screwTheMan]

Careful with wooden gates/doors. Those things get heavy really quick and can sag. You may want to consider putting casters on the ends to hold them up and make opening them easier. If you don't want a 4+ inch gap on the bottom, you can put them on the backside of the door.

 

[bchap56]

Here are a few pictures of my work in progress workshop. I had to pull the paneling to redo the elictrical and to kill all the cricket that the prior owner left for me. The before pictures are still after several weekends removing several truck loads of stuff.