How to Build the Door of a Cabin
A backwoods cabin can be a great place for people to escape from the every day hustle and bustle of life. Even today, some people are building log cabins from scratch. Basic homemade rustic plank doors can be made from lumber to fit the door openings to suit the needs of your cabin. A 36 inch wide by 78 inch tall door should be installed into the door jamb with minimal clearance, about 1/8 of an inch, to weather proof the cabin as much as possible.
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Measure and cut the two 2-by-6 boards down to 6 feet 5 inches of length with the saw to make the frame for the door. These lengths fit vertically inside your door frame and jamb. The top of the door has 1/8 of an inch clearance to swing into the door jamb while the bottom will be raised by 7/8 of an inch off the floor.
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Measure and cut 14 sections of the 1-by-6 boards with the saw into equal lengths of 2 feet 11 3/4 inches for the door planks. These planks will attach to the two vertical frames on each side of the door and allow 1/8 of an inch of clearance on each side in the door jamb.
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Align the two 2-by-6 board sections cut in step 1 on the floor horizontally with the outside edges of each exactly 35 3/4 inches apart to form the outside frame of the door. Place the 14 sections of 1-by-6 boards lengthwise across the frame, butted against each other tightly with their ends on the outside edges of the 2-by-6 boards. Start from the top and attach theses door planks to the frame with two wood screws on each end of the planks, screwing it into the frame and squaring the edges as you go. The door is now assembled and ready to be hung.
References
Tips
- Old log cabins sometimes used thick pieces of leather or hide for hinges on the doors.
- Modern factory cut lumber is smaller that the stated size. A two-by-six board will actually only be 1 1/2 inches deep and 5 1/2 inches wide.
- This design can be customized to fit your door frame.
Writer Bio
Billy Ray has been writing since 1994. He writes a popular featured column on the sports Web site Bleacher Report and has been licensed in loan origination and real estate. He is an EPA-certified Lead-based-paint renovator. Billy has taken courses in real estate, commercial lending and home renovation in addition to college courses in writing at Southern Oregon State University.
Photo Credits
- log cabin image by robert mobley from Fotolia.com
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