The shooting house tips thread got me thinking about our houses. It seems the doors are always one of the weakest links, warping, not sealing and sagging. How do you build the doors on your houses?

At our old place we did something that worked pretty well. We would basically cut the door out of the plywood making up that side of the house. Then we would cut a second piece 1” larger on all 4 sides. We would screw the two door panels together, the one that fits inside the door hole and the one with an 1” overhang on all 4 sides. It would create a good seal without any cracks for critters, would resist warping better bc of improved strength, would hold the screws for hinges, door handles, locks better.

I think a nice roof overhang and good coats of paint are also important. That’s something we do well at my current place. They say the shooting houses we have are like 20 years old. I would have never thought. Good plywood, good overhang, good paint (touched up every few years).

I make a door facing for the door to rest against when it's closed (1x2). I've seen people with the door just cut out flopping. Also use 1x2 and trim out the inside of the door. Keeps it from warping. Simple really. Takes a couple 2x4x8's ripped to do or just use scrap lumber.

Just like a fence gate, you need to add a diagonal brace runnning from the upper outermost corner (away from the top hinge) down to the inner bottom corner (adjacent to the bottom hinge corner). If you put in an outer frame with 2x2’s, you can create the diagonal brace with 2x2 cut to fit snuggly in the frame corners.

This places something rigid in compression - instead of something flimsy like thin plywood - therefore you do not create buckling forces which ultimately warp the door.

The other option is put something in tension like a wire cable and turn buckle. This would be oriented exactly the opposite of what I described above. You gotta tighten it every so often though.

Edit : Hey look I actually posted something useful for my 3000th post! Imagine that. Hahah

We used a regular exterior house door on the new one.

The others are porta toilets, so they have a door already. A handicap portatoilet would work great.

Lots of good ideas. Thanks

Get a scratch and dent exterior steel house door.

Habitat Restore. Surplus construction materials at more than reasonable costs. Plus, it's tax free.

My doors are usually 24" wide and 6' tall. I build a "wall" on 12 inch centers (3 vertical studs) I then screw treated plywood outside and osb inside. I put a screw about every 6 inches. They never sag warp. I dont use latches, instead I use screen door springs and I coat them in early august with wd40, when I am checking for wasps and cleaning the windows.

I put a spring at the top and bottom so there is constant pull on door so it doesnt bang or warp. The spring may make a little noise opening but it is less noise that my crunching leaves walking in.