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Thinking of putting a new door on my brick out-house. Plywood firedoors seem to fit the bill quite nicely and are cheap. Bikes will be stored in said out-house so I assume they will also be strong enough. On Wicke's they're in the internal listing but I assume that if they're primed and painted thoroughly it should be fine?
I wanted to fit 2 locks (to mitigate warping) but getting 2 locks that use the same key seems tricky, however if I put 3 hinges on the door will this be ok to minimise warping?
Internal fire doors are of a chipboard core, so they wil soak up the wet like a sponge and swell degrade, what you want is a fire door blank, made from strips of timber glued together and covered with p[lywood both sides.
An internal fire door also has only a frame around the outside, and a few well placed hits will make the frame part company from the chipbosrd core, also drilling out for the locks will be a pain as drilling into end core chipboard is like drilling shredded wheat.
Howdens supply door balnks, if you know somebody with an account.
Ah, I'm (well, my builder is) about to do a similar type of thing on my newly bricked up workshop. He reckons that you can get tougher external type plywood faced fire-doors. I think the difference is that the external doors are thicker (38mm versus 25mm??!) so they fit an external frame better, and they're faced with marine ply, so are less likely to be affected by damp.
Good idea with the two locks - wonder if a locksmith would be able to do two on the same key? (guess it might be expensive tho?)
HTH
p.s. just seen other reply that came in while writing this - yep, Howdens is the place for 'em
er...p.p.s. apologies in advance if you got it covered, but don't forget to check that the door frame is [i]really[/i] well secured to the wall - according to my builder, if it's given a good kicking, the frame is likely to give out before the 'external' type door blank does.
I assume that if they're primed and painted thoroughly it should be fine?
For obvious reasons I have only fitted external spec doors as external doors. But I would have thought that if you maintain the seal through regular painting it should last. Presumably the ply will not be of external quality. Be particularly careful with end grain at the top of the door which is liable to be susceptible to water ingress from rain/drips......fixing a water-drip above the door would be helpful. Also if the bottom of the door touches the ground or puddles or any debris, it is likely to be prone to water absorption - regular painting of the bottom edge will require removing the door. So leave a substantial gap at the bottom of the door to stop future damp problems.
if I put 3 hinges on the door will this be ok to minimise warping
3 hinges will reduce the possibility of warping, although a heavy standard fire-check door should be hung on 3 number 4 inch butts anyway.
If you have the dor opening outwards, and fit hige bolts and a length of steel bar over the lock side of the door so it overlaps he frame, then it will be even more secure, also dont forget the roof, and like said before plenty of anchors to hold the frame.