pop up door help needed

[1keegan]

Hi, DH is working on a coop similar to the Wichita, and has a door question for those of you with sliding pop-up doors. He built the sliding door out of 1/2 inch plywood.

How much 'play' do you leave in depth between the door and frame?
DH left 3/16" for depth, and is concerned that it may be too much; that wind will whistle through in winter. We have seen a few of the doors on BYC show some sort of nylon glides.

Advice needed !

 

[1keegan]

Anyone??
How loose is your door in the frame??

 

[PorkChop]

I have a motorized pop door with a timer and I love it. I used a 15 x 20 inch cutting board because the plastic slides nicely against the wood frame. The cutting board is about 3/8 thick and spaced the guide about 7/16 away making the play 1/16 inch. Might be a strong 1/16 but less than 1/8.

Hope that helps

 

[N4HHM]

Forgot the pic

 

[2Old2Crow]

Mine rattles a little. I would say the gap is 1/8 inch on each side, but I have about 1 1/2 inch overlap on all sides between the coop and the door. I left the gap because I was going to put slides in there for smoother operation. However, If I can get the electricity run to the coup sometime soon, I will forego all that and put in the electric pop door opener system. I think yours might be a little tight if you're gonna put slides on the door. Keep in mind, I sanded down the door and the guides 'til they were extrememly smooth, then put semi-gloss on them so they slide pretty well as is.

 

[chfite]

My pop door slides up and down. Made of wood with wood guides. I made it so it moves easily in the tracks. It is not airtight, but the overall ventilation of the coop would make any air leakage trivial. I have at least 6 square feet of ventilation.

I wanted to be sure that it worked well enough that the pine shavings would not jam the tracks to keep it from working.

Chris