[wanart]

I have an old adobe house with nonstandard exterior door sizes and I need to replace the storm door. I tried cutting down a solid core door from Larson but that exposed the particleboard core & it wicked moisture & decomposed. I want to reuse the screened window from the Larson door and build a new door from composition decking.

The problem is the joinery. Stile and rail bits for entry doors seem to start at 1 3/8". The thickness of the Trex composit decking available to me is 1 3/32". I haven't bought the decking or the bit(s) yet so I'm wide open to ideas. What can I build a door out of and how do I join it together?

Thanks for your help.

 

[wanart]

My intent is to reconstruct the storm door that is falling apart. The existing door is about 7/8" thick. It's a 3/4" particleboard core with thin laminates on both sides. What I want to do is rebuild it of some material that is as waterproof as I can get. That is why I'm looking at the Trex composition decking material.

I didn't realize glue would be a problem. I thought that composition, like particle board and MDF, had a lot of glue in it.

I thought about tongue and groove, but the stile & rail configurations look like they would be more stable. I'm also wondering about biscuits. I haven't tried them yet so I don't know if they would be viable in this situation. Anyone have any comments?

Gilbear, what is a bridal joint? I'm not overly concerned with a traditional look, what works is more important, but the Trex decking is made to look like a wood plank so it would be in keeping with the adobe.

 

[wanart]

Bobj3

I didn't really follow that, but I don't have a planer anyway. What would be the advantage of making the material thinner?

 

[wanart]

I have another idea for consideration. Lowe's is now marketing Arauco AC sanded plywood. It is 23/32" thick with 7 plys, exterior glue, and the face side is nicely finished. If I fill in the knot holes in the back side and glue a fibreglass wall liner to the back side (which would become the outside of the door), the resulting thickness is the same as the Larson door I'm replacing. That would allow me to reuse more than just the window/screen unit. I could use the door edging as well.

What would be the best glue to use to bond the fibreglass liner to the plywood? Liquid Nail has been suggested but I don't have much faith in it.

Would edge banding the plywood with strips of Trex be a good idea to make it more weather resistant?

Will this exterior grade plywood stay flat or is this just a bad idea to begin with?

Art