Having fun with a recent breeze with out opening the home windows now simply grew to become simpler and extra reasonably priced because of Jen Woodhouse of Home of Wooden. Comply with a step-by-step tutorial of how she added curb enchantment to her conventional entrance door by reworking it right into a Good Lock Dutch Door.
Properly, hey there neighbor! Jen Woodhouse right here and I’m so excited to share my DIY Dutch Door that includes the brand new Schlage Encode Good Door Lock! Isn’t this Dutch door probably the most inviting factor ever? It makes me need to put on an apron and bake pies all day simply so I can allow them to cool on the ledge! I imply, I don’t even personal an apron, however now I’m going to must get one! And guess what… this DIY Dutch Door isn’t a tough undertaking, it’s surprisingly simple to do! Learn on to see how I did it.
What’s a Dutch Door?
A Dutch door is typically known as a half-door or a steady door and principally, it’s a door that’s divided horizontally so that every half operates independently of one another. It may also be latched collectively in order that it really works like a conventional door. Dutch doorways have been round for the reason that 17th century and primarily served to let the recent air and daylight in, whereas conserving the cattle that had been often milling about, out of the home. It’s such an enthralling old-world architectural element. I like with the ability to watch my kiddos play within the yard and have my neighbors cease by to say hey – I simply adore it a lot!
Purchase vs. DIY
We lately constructed my indifferent workshop and I knew I wished a Dutch door for it; nevertheless, store-bought, ready-made Dutch doorways are ridiculously costly. Those I discovered on-line had been round $1,500. No, thanks. I picked up a strong wooden exterior door from The Go forward wholesome for a bit of over $200 – simply one more reason why I like DIY!
A hole core door doesn’t work as nicely for this undertaking as a result of once you reduce it in half, you’ll must fill that hole area in some way. It’s nonetheless potential, however not superb, particularly for an exterior door, so in case you can, attempt to use a strong door.
Customary doorways sometimes have three hinges whole, so in case you’re changing an current door to a Dutch door, you’ll want so as to add yet one more hinge in order that each the highest and backside components of the door are well-supported. Every half ought to have 2 hinges whole.
My door didn’t have any on it in any respect. It was an entire clean slate so I added all 4 hinges, in addition to the doorknob and a barrel bolt. I used a router to rout a mortise for the hinges. I shared a video of this on my Instagram tales and saved it to my highlights, known as “Dutch door” so you possibly can examine that out in case you’d like. And I’d love so that you can observe me on Instagram in case you’re not already! I often share sneak peeks of upcoming tasks and behind the scenes content material.
Decide Hardware Placement
I wished a keyless good lock for this door, so I used to be thrilled to accomplice with Schlage and check out their new Encode Good Door Lock. The very first thing I needed to do was determine the perfect placement for all the . As a result of that is an exterior door, I added a locking mechanism to each components of the door for added safety. I made a decision to place the Schlage good lock deadbolt on the highest half and a locking doorknob on the underside. As soon as I found out the place the would go, I might decide the place to chop the door in half.
Minimize the Door in Half
I laid the door down so I might measure, mark my line, and make the reduce. Then I used a round noticed with a basic function noticed blade to make the reduce, clamping a straight edge as my information. Slicing my stunning, model new door was, by far, probably the most worrying and difficult a part of this undertaking.
I additionally wished so as to add a ledge, so I needed to make a further reduce. The ledge is ¾ of an inch thick, so I measured and made a second reduce to permit area for the ledge. The ledge is a 1×four board reduce to match the width of the door. Then I used a jigsaw to chop a curve on every finish. I additionally needed to notch out an area in order that the ledge would slot in the door jamb.
Okay…The onerous half is finished! Everybody can breathe simple now.
Minimize Holes for the Door Locks
Now it’s time to get the door prepared for . In the event you’re utilizing an current door, in fact, you’ll have already got the door knob put in, so your job will likely be even simpler! I used a door lock set up gap noticed package to chop the holes for the doorknob. This jig was tremendous simple to make use of – the instructions had been very clear. You simply clamp the jig in place, put the opening noticed onto the drill and use the information to bore the holes. Utilizing this jig took the guesswork out of this half.
Connect Ledge
Subsequent, we put the door again on its hinges in order that we might set up the deadbolt and doorknob. However first, let’s connect the ledge. I utilized wooden glue to the door, set the ledge on prime, then pre-drilled the pilot holes. I connected the ledge with glue and screws, ensuring to countersink the screw heads in order that I might conceal them with wooden filler.
Set up the Schlage Good Lock
Now we’re prepared to put in the locks. I inserted the latch, traced the define and used a chisel to carve out a mortise for the latch in order that it’s capable of sit flush with the sting. Then I screwed the latch on.
Now we have now to determine the place the latch strikes on the door jamb so we will put together the jamb to just accept the deadbolt. Right here’s a intelligent little trick: put a bit of glue on the deadbolt, then shut the door, and switch the lock. The glue will create a “stamp” on the door jamb, which is able to let you know precisely the place you could bore the opening within the jamb! Fairly good, proper?
Then I drilled the opening within the door jamb and positioned the strike plate. I traced the define in order that I might chisel out a mortise in order that the strike plate sits flush as nicely.
The Schlage good lock comes with a few longer, further screws for added safety, which I like. I screwed the strike plate onto the door jamb and gave the deadbolt a check run. I needed to make some minor changes till all the pieces matches excellent. Then I simply adopted the instructions on the way to set up and program the good lock – it was fairly easy and the capabilities are actually cool.
Okay, transferring onto the underside … I did the identical factor right here: inserted the latch, mortised out the door and the door jamb, then screwed the doorknob on.
Lastly, we’ve obtained one final piece of to connect. This Dutch door barrel bolt will hold the highest and backside components of the door safe. I found out the location, then simply screwed it on! Tremendous easy. Lastly, we added some climate stripping to the door jamb and known as it finished!
Schlage Encode Good Lock Options
The Schlage Camelot Encode Good Door Lock with Alarm is a keyless deadbolt with built-in Wi-Fi and safe encryption that permits me to handle my good lock remotely by way of the Schlage Dwelling app on my smartphone. I can simply lock and unlock my Dutch door via the app in addition to from the touchscreen. I may also program and retailer as much as 100 entry codes and schedule them to work on the times/instances that I select.
The good lock additionally information a historical past of every operation, so I can shortly see who’s been coming and going at any given time or day. There’s additionally a built-in alarm on the lock that sounds in case of a safety breach.
This good lock makes my life a lot simpler as a result of I don’t must fumble round with keys! I can benefit from the peace of thoughts realizing that my workshop is well-protected.
And that’s it! The toughest half was reducing the door in half, proper?! I’m so joyful about my DIY Dutch Door. Doing it myself saved me over a thousand , and I used to be capable of actually customise the door for my area. I completely love the added flexibility and performance of my workshop!
Now, then. Who needs pie?