Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Question for Carpenters and others skilled in the building arts....

Question...

Due to water damage, rot and years of neglect, I've got to replace an exterior door on the pump-house at my Grandparents place.

The door opening measures 44" x 80, the door measures 42" wide. I've never dealt with one larger than the standard 32" or 36"

I'm not finding anything on any of the websites (Lowes & HDpt) that corresponds to what I need.

Knowing my Gpa, this door could very well be a Bastard that he picked up somewhere cheap, wouldn't surprise me...

Do they make a door for my application without it being special order.?

Are you just looking for the slab or an entire pre-hung?

Pre-hung.., sorry.

Steel door, no glass, primed, with or without Brick moulding...

I would get a 36" steel, pre-hung and frame out the opening. The new opening should be 37 1/2- 38" for a 36" door, for adjustment.

Would a 36" door work?

Does it have to bigger?

Nah, it doesn't have to be bigger.

Will probably end up going with a 36" since those are readily available.

Only headache will be running the trim out to cover the gap, but that shouldn't be much of a problem..

Measure the opening and tell a building supply place what you want, and they should (probably) be able to order it for you. Won't be as cheap as the off-the-shelf stuff, but that's the way it is.

Edited to gripe about trim: To me, the extra cost of ordering the right size is far, far, far better than the cost/time/headache of filling/trimming the opening. I hate doing that.

You are not going to find a non-residential door at HD or Los.
Your easiest and cheapest is to go ahead and get a 36 unit and frame to a rough opening of 37-1/2. Get two nice packs of shims while your at it, and use greentreat for the lower sill. AND corrosion resistant screws.

So it's definitely a non-residential door.? I was wondering if it had a name, like wheelchair accessible/handicapped door or something.?



I hear ya, PITA..!

But, I'm just playing handyman for my mom and aunts. Grandparents have passed and I'm repairing stuff to get their house ready for the auction block.

Will go with a 36" door since it's cheap and I can "trim" it up with what I have available.

Trying to put the least amount of $$$ into it, while still keeping everything practical and in working order.

That's what I was going to ask - is there or was there at some time a need for a door that size?

Another thing to consider is this. Once when we had problem with our water system I mentioned to the pump man who was doing the repair that I was going to replace the outswing door on the pump house with an inswing so the door wouldn't flop around in the breeze when we had it open. He said doors on small pump houses such as ours should have an outswing door in case of a main waterline break. If the main line broke the pump would be supplying 70 gallons of water a minute until the pump house filled up with enough water to push the door open, push the weakest wall out or flood the electrical controls to the point where a breaker tripped. An outswing door would act as a pressure relief valve in that situation.

I never heard of that happening and don't know how much of a chance there is that it could, but I guess it's at least a theoretical possibility.

Price wise, how about a sheet of metalclad plywood and cut it to fit the opening?

^This. Shouldn't be as expensive as you might think. Make sure you specify the handed ness of the door as well.

The Rough opening for a 36" door is 38.5"
If you frame to 37.5" you will not have room the plumb the frame.
Most prehung metal doors require 83" in height if supplied with a bottom sill.
I have cut flush metal doors to shorten and added a piece of PT 2x inside the door at the bottom and secured with SS screws
I think you will find it much cheaper to add framing than to custom order a 42" door unit.

I would just put in a 36" pre-hung door like others stated.

I'd also center it in the current opening framed at 38" width, then trim with 1x6 or 1x8 as appropriate. It's well house!

For a pump house door, this could work fine - especially with some 2x4 edge and cross bracing.

This is good info - door shortening method has worked fine - and downsizing the opening should only take about two 2x4s (one maybe shaved a bit) on each side of the to make up the gap. I have gotten 36" flush metal clad doors with frame at Lowe's. Hope this helps.

You can order a 42" door at Lowes just ask at the desk. I got one last year to put in a shed as my 3wheeler will go thru it. Clint

I would double-check whats on the inside before reducing the rough opening. Do you need the access for pump, tank and or repairs in the future? If the door doesn't have to be steel, a good cabinet shop can build you a basic pre-hung wood door.

You know, making your own door is not all that hard

It would work if you can get the things out if you need to.