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Creating a closet door isn’t that hard as I thought instead of having someone doing it for you. I decided to coat the paneling using it as my door.
In this article, I will show you how to create a closet door more cheaply with less time consumed.
Here are a few steps you need to follow;
- Interpreting the structure of the door.
- Setting your working area and taking measurements.
- Deciding on your working materials.
- Constructing rails and panels.
- Fixing the door together.
- Door handles and hinges.
- Polishing and painting of the doors.
1. What you will Require
In creating a closet door, I used a few requirements that you must have before starting the project.
Some of the requirements include;
- Screws
- Paint
- Wooden panels
- Hinges
- Door handles
- Sandpaper
2. Interpreting the Structure of the Door
There are different varieties of doors, but generally, most doors consist of three main parts. The rails, the stiles, and the panels.
The stiles give the formation of the door. The stiles must be steady. The rails are used as connectors of the stiles and some points of the panels fill in the space.
Rails and stiles are usually made of the same substance, but panels can differ and even include glass. Closet doors vary in different sizes.
3. Setting your Working Area and taking Measurements
The first step in building a door is setting your working space, this helps in finding tools easily when working and saves a lot of time consumed when building your door, then you should take measurements of the closet to know what size of a door you need.
Doors are usually around 1/8” to 3/16 smaller than the mount, if you need to construct a frame you will need to consider measurements of the frame.
4. Deciding on your Working Materials
When creating doors, the materials you choose can have a major impact on the status and functionality of the closet door.
The two major qualities of a material you should look for are strength and stability. For instance, plywood is medium density fiberboard and is very steady, but not as strong as wood and may fall apart over some time. Any hardwood would be a very good decision.
There are a lot of choices to choose for the panels, plywood is a great choice for panels as they are strong and are easy to get.
You must be informed of the wood motion and take preventive measures or the door could break depending on the change of the season.
5. Constructing of Rails and Panels
Once the materials are chosen it is time to construct the parts of the door. I started with the stiles because it is the major part. Your stiles must be according to the measurements as they determine the functionality of your door.
Rails are usually shorter compared to stiles, while all rails must be measured and cut to the same extent, while the broadness varies.
I think this is because the foot of the door is prone to get kicked. Top rails are usually small in size compared to the lower rail, this is due to the top of the door may occasionally being cut off if it does not fit.
The panes can be created out of nearly any substance as I mentioned above, but I preferred an MDF because I had some left from previous work, when cutting a panel, you need to allow additional space for the panel to fit in the gouge.
6. Fixing the Door Together
Putting the door together can be very crucial because poor links can cause a failure of the whole door.
There are many ways which you can use to join the door together, whatever method you choose, your links must be strong. I decided to create mine using hardwood dowels to connect my door
7. Door Handles and Hinges
When the doors have been constructed you need to drill holes for the handles and hinges.it is easy to fix the hinges first to the door before mounting to the frame.
Before installing the door, you need to measure the hinges that you have placed on the door and fix them correctly and according to the frame.
8. Polishing and Painting of the Doors
After the door is fully installed, you now start your polishing before you start painting the doors, I did an overcoat of primer and three coats of paint. Once the paint dries, the door is now fully functional
Conclusion
It is cheaper to construct your door compared to the ready-made doors sold in the hardware since you will spend less money on labor and less time on building your custom door compared to ordering a custom door.