HELP!!! People door.

[squadleader]

Haha, locking yourself in, is a real thing, I did it. Good thing my son was within shouting distance. I use the typical hasp, that folds over a metal stud, that has a hole in it, that I put a pin with a locking ring through. The stud twists, and because of that, there's an indent at the studs base.

I pulled the pin out, opened the door, and went in, I didn't pull the hasp back, I just pulled the pin and opened the door. When the door closed behind me, it didn't align exactly right, and the hasp caught in the indent at the bottom of the stud, locking me in.

I'm very careful now, to actually swing the hasp way back, so when the door closes, the hasp is no longer over the stud at all, like it used to be, until the day it snagged on the bottom of the stud.

With the hasp all the way back, there's no way to accidentally lock myself in.

 

[Hopperkiller]

Haha, locking yourself in, is a real thing, I did it. Good thing my son was within shouting distance. I use the typical hasp, that fikds over a metal stud, that has a hole I put a pin with a locking ring through. The stud twists, and because of that, there's an indent at the studs base.

I pulled the pin out, opened the door, and went in, I didn't pull the hasp back, it just passed over the stud. When the door closed behind me, it didn't align exactly right, and the hasp caught in the indent, locking me in.

I'm very careful now to actually swing the hasp way back, so when the door closes, the hasp is no longer over the stud at all, like it used to be, until the day it snagged on the bottom of the stud.

With the hasp all the way back, there's no way to accidentally lock myself in.

Well, the guy i know had the wind blow shut on those locking gate clasps when his wife was in town. He was too big to fit through the pop door to go that way. The closet help was 10 miles away. If he called his wife or this buddy either would have photograhed and posted it to facebook. A stem of a thistleweed was able to open one but there were two latches. Finally able to get. By the time wife got home a lock release was invented to the inside.

 

[squadleader]

There's nothing wrong with buying a prehung door, it might be easier.

The advantages I can see for building the door the way I did are several.

1. This door is made of pressure treated lumber, so it shouldn't rot, even if it's exposed to weather. Is the pre-hung door weather proof?
2. Do you want or need the light and ventilation of an open wire door?
3. I really like a door that closes over the frame, not in a frame. Like the other poster mentioned, first, fitting a door into a frame can be a nightmare, second, moisture can swell things, making opening and closing the door difficult.

Those reasons are precisely why I want my door to close over the frame. You simply hold the door over the doorway, line it up like you want, put the level on it to make sure it's level, mark it, and install the hinges. There's no fine fitting like when a door is in a frame.

Even if the door swells, it'll work fine because it's closing against the door frame, that's not true of a door IN a frame. If it swells it will stick.
4. A door closing against a frame can't be pushed in, even if the lock fails. Depending on how heavy duty it is, that may not be true of a pre-hung door.

Most anything can be made to work, there's just pros and cons.

But the big issue of installation is solved by the door closing on the door frame, no other setup is as forgiving of misalignment as that, and I believe the other points, put this installation ahead in durability, and light and ventilation.

 

[Counting chickens]

This should give you some ideas to work with.

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JT

Man, JT, I want this when I grow up!!!