# Design help, access door to move equipment



## Investigator (Jan 28, 2017)

The good and the bad........

the good is that I have a plan/permission/funding for a 'remodel' of my shop.  What I have is a 30 x 24 open space shop.  What I mean is I have 4 walls and wood working and metal working tools inside it.  I am planning on dividing within that space so that I have a separate area for my soon to be picked up lathes (a 12" Logan and a 16" Southbend). The plan is to keep the metalworking machines in an enclosed area within the overall shop in order to keep them away from the wood dust.

So I will be building walls soon.  My problem is that I want to build a 'door' big enough to bring in the lathes in one piece, I'm thinking 8' wide.  I hope to add a mill to the shop at some point and will need access to move it in.

The bad is that I have no idea how to design such a door.  Let me clarify...I built my house (a barndominium).  What I mean is I designed the metal trusses, welded them together, welded the frame of the building, built the wooden walls, drove the nails, hung the joists, wired it, plumbed it....I built it.  building is not an issue, I have the tools and the ability.  

So, I have a 20' wall that I need to put in an 8' door/opening and be able to seal it enough to heat or cool the space.  I will have to make the door.  Anybody have any good ideas on how?  anybody seen anything like that?


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## jim18655 (Jan 28, 2017)

How about an insulated roll-up garage door? How important is the 8' width? You could use double 36" doors and get close to the 8' you want.


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## rrjohnso2000 (Jan 28, 2017)

You could look at steel doors. Think schools, they have a middle section that is usually fixed. That can be made to come out on occasion. This could be done with any doors really. Best of luck


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## f350ca (Jan 28, 2017)

I made two 5 foot wide swinging doors to fill the 10x10 opening in my shop. I don't bring vehicles in often so a conventional garage door wasn't needed. I used stress skin panels meant to frame walls, they're basically two layers of chip board glued to a solid foam core 3 1/2 thick. Being hinged its easy to gasket the edges and between them, There is virtually no air leaks and the panels show the same surface temperature as the 8 inch thickness fibreglass filled walls.

Greg


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## jim18655 (Jan 28, 2017)

It's a removable mullion. You can also hinge the doors and use flush bolts to secure the inactive door without the mullion.


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## pineyfolks (Jan 29, 2017)

You could hang the door on barn door track and make it any width you like.


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## DaveInMi (Jan 29, 2017)

In my last shop, I made a 3' and 5' doors (sheet goods sandwiched over rigid insulation).  I used barrel latches at ceiling and floor to hold the 5' in place and the 3' sealed against it.  I have sliding patio doors in the partition in my current shop.  I built the shop right after a remodel job on the house that left the sliders needing a new home.


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## Uglydog (Jan 29, 2017)

If I had her to do overagain....
Wide enough to back my trailer in with a mill loaded.
Vertical clearance tall enough for machines and projects.
Wide enough to clear fenders.
Back in under a suitable gantry and onload onto pipes or machine dollies.
Like the electrical panel, my interest, learning, and abilities have exceed my infrastructure.

Daryl
MN


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## Groundhog (Jan 29, 2017)

Just for comparison, I had a set of new double exterior doors (2 x 3ft.) installed in my (already built) shop. A contractor friend did it so I got a good deal but it still cost just a little over $1,000. Wish I had the time and talent to do it myself, but a carpenter I am not.


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## Cobra (Jan 29, 2017)

If you are not likely to be needing the large door on a regular time frame, I would build a removable section of the wall.
Wall can be completly finished as any other with openings in the drywall to access the attachment bolts.
If it is the correct place the man door could be in that wall section.


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## silence dogood (Jan 29, 2017)

I once saw a shop that had a smaller people size door built in the large door.   A wheel was mounted on opposite of the hinge end of the big door with a concrete raceway to carry the extra weight. A neat way to give one extra wall space. Just an idea.


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## Investigator (Jan 30, 2017)

Thanks to all for the suggestions.  My thoughts were to build in the access but not use it often.  I think I am down to using either a removable mullion post between double doors, or a removable section of wall.


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## Cobra (Jan 30, 2017)

You will need a serious header to be able to span the double garage doors.


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## Investigator (Jan 30, 2017)

Cobra said:


> You will need a serious header to be able to span the double garage doors.



The opening would only be 8 feet or so, not that big a deal.  Since the wall I'm building will only hold up the ceiling itself and not a roof structure, a double 2x8 header should be fine.


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## Cobra (Jan 30, 2017)

Investigator said:


> The opening would only be 8 feet or so, not that big a deal.  Since the wall I'm building will only hold up the ceiling itself and not a roof structure, a double 2x8 header should be fine.



Sorry, misunderstanding.  I thought you were spanning two garage doors.


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## kwoodhands (Feb 2, 2017)

Investigator said:


> Thanks to all for the suggestions.  My thoughts were to build in the access but not use it often.  I think I am down to using either a removable mullion post between double doors, or a removable section of wall.



My shop has double doors.3-0 x6-8 .No need for a removable or any partition stud. I nailed an astragal on the active door and installed two slide bolts, one on top and another at the bottom of the inactive door. Slide bolts keep the inactive door shut when only one door is needed. I bought two doors at HD ,lock for active door and  push plate for inactive door. Dummy knob on inside of inactive door.
Astragal was a piece of wood 3/8" thick 2-1/2" wide,6'-8" long. If I recall the doors and hardware ran about $280.00 total. Doors were pre-fitted with jambs. I removed the head jamb and the lock side jamb. One of the lock side jambs was made into a new 6'-0" head jamb. I am a retired carpenter so this was an easy job for me.

mike


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## Highsider (Feb 4, 2017)

Do you have a concrete slab floor in your shop, investigater?


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## BFHammer (Feb 5, 2017)

+1 on the barn doors

I have a 75x40 basement that I divided into three sections.  The interior is my fully enclosed woodworking shop which has a roll up door in addition to the walk in door for equipment. The center is a rec room for the kids with ping pong etc (anything big is on wheels). This part is divided from the exterior portion by a wall with barn doors in the center. I built the door so I could get what I wanted without going broke. The doors open to 10' wide so I can actually back my pickup in should I need to.  The final third on the exterior end is my metal shop with a garage door to the outside. 

Probably clear as mud - I'll add some pictures after while. But the setup works great for me.


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## BFHammer (Feb 5, 2017)

Hopefully the pics will load in the right order.  The first two are looking into the interior toward my wood shop and you can see the roll up door. The walkin door to the wood shop is in the hallway.  The next is 180 degrees and you see the barn doors. Finally with doors open you can see the metal shop mess and the exterior garage door.  

Hope this helps.


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## Investigator (Feb 12, 2017)

Highsider said:


> Do you have a concrete slab floor in your shop, investigater?



Sorry for the delay in responding.  Yes, the shop has a concrete slab foundation.


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## Highsider (Feb 13, 2017)

You'll be bringing a lot heavier loads thru this door (both machinery and workpieces) so it would be nice to have a 10' door for more maneuvering room as you're backing in with loads.  Both a concrete apron outside the door and a min. 10' wide rolling gantry are something to think about also. 

I used the Harbor Freight gantry, which wasn't too expensive, but I had to replace 2 of the caster type wheels with straight ones to make it roll in a straighter line.  ( It wandered all over the shop at first). It's great now tho, next best thing to abridge crane.


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