# framing up doors to my shop



## yrob (May 26, 2008)

Hi,

I have a nice outbuilding I am retrofiting into my new shop. It has a main part and then two side carports that have no doors. They, however have a concrete floor. The main part of the building is a wood floor. I am planning to frame up the front of the carports and make doors for them. One carport will be my machine room, the other one lumber storage and the middle of the building will be where I setup my workbenches for hand tool work and assembly.










I am not very experienced in carpentry framing so I have a couple questions. First, I am planning to use two 2×4 on edge on either side of the opening. The concrete cinderblock on the left is sticking exactly 3" past the 4×4 post. After I do that, I will make a header out of two 2×10 with 1/2 plywood sandwitched in btw yielding a beam thats 3 1/2" wide which will make it perfectly stand on top of the 2×4 king studs.

It will then be connected to the existing structure by pairs of 2×4's every 2 feets (see my rough sketch).

first off, the span that this header will have to cover is about 110 +3*2= 116 ". Is it too long of a span for my beam? or is it ok? After all, its not load bearing ?

Secondly, I will make two doors to close that space. They work out to be 56 " wide by 72 " tall. ( i will leave 1/8" up top and 3/8" at the bottom for clearance).

I am planning to make these doors with 1×6's and 2×4's to reinforce. I suspect they will be heavy.

I do not want these doors to tear up my framing because of their weight. I am putting a 2×6 backed by 2×4's behind it on either side to use that as the door jambs. Is that going to be strong enough to support these doors If I use three strong utility hinges?


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

2 - 2"x10" with plywood sandwich is plenty for that span. Use construction glue as well as nail from both sides.
3 large hinges on each door is okay. Try to bolt into some good solid backing. The 2"x6" against the 2 by 4 sounds good as well, not sure what you have on the other side ? If its the same you will be fine. I would allow more than 1/8" clearance. This is outdoors and things will sag.
Keep us posted how this turns out.


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

*Canadianchips*, Thank you for your tips! This will be very helpful.


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

I recently finished framing that carport with the help of a local contractor and started installing my machines in there. So far, it is working great. Next, I am going to run the electrical there (I have currently only 20 Amps and one outlet from which I run an extension cord..). Probably 100 A service with separate circuits for light, dust collection, and stationary tools.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Looks good, but; did you use T-111 textured plywood? and is the dood facing the sun? I did pretty much the same with my shop. The doors were facing into the hot sun all morning. Now they have warped to the point they need to be replaced. The sun and rain down here in Mississippi does a job on wood structures quickly. Maybe you might not have the same conditions in your neck of the woods. Sorry, I just got to read this thread today.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

You would do well to add a patio roof to keep the sun/ rain off the doors. It would also serve as a place to work when the weather is nice.


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

Hi Ron,
Yes I used T-111 for the facing. I put a U-channel above the door to redirect the rain so that it does not drip on it. This building also has an overhang of about a foot as you can see in my first post. So far, the doors have not warped or sagged. I am going to prime and paint them for further protection. The door to that building has been standing there for 20 years and it still is doing good so I am hoping I should be fine.

The patio is an interesting idea, that would allow me to extend my reach to the outside.


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## yrob (May 26, 2008)

So, I have run the electrical in this part of the shop. So far only 20A service. I used conduit and 12gauge wiring to distribute outlets around the shop and install an overhead shop light. I still have to insulate and close the bare studs wall. Meanwhile, Ive started to build what I need.

I am starting with an outfeed table that I am making rigid enough to double as an assembly table. Next will be some rolling cabinet for my planer and a bunch of wall cabinets to put all the mess that you see on the floor in the proper place.

The first set of legs sit on the table. They are made of milled 2×4's . 
Its so nice to be able to work without having to run extension cords to use my tools.

The major thing that is still missing is running more than 20A to this shop so that I can run one tool and a dust collection at the same time. Right now, I am just using a mask and my dust collection consist of a dust pan and a broom…


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