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Suggested wood choice for building a porch screen door ?

776 Views 19 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Knockonit
We have a screened porch that a previous owner had built. The structure and roof were done well but their choice for the screen door was a cheapo PVC thing with plastic spring hinges that can be found at the orange and blue big box stores. We want to replace this door with a screen door hung from barn door hardware so that we have more usable floor space inside the porch or outside on the deck. I can't find any place that stocks a door wide enough for this, so I'm going to build one. My problem at this point is figuring out which wood to use (that I can get).

It's going to be painted. I figured douglas fir would be a good choice, but I can't find anyone around that sells it (central Virginia). I need a wood that will hold up in hot sun, rain, humidity, and occaisional snow. Will clear pine hold up if primed and painted? Any other suggestions suited for outdoors that will sand and take paint easily?

Being hung as a barn door, I don't expect to worry about it sagging. I figure I will just use pocket hole joinery, plug the holes, sand, and paint. I'll also be installing a doggie door in a lower panel.
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i'm presently building a knotty alder screen ext door to match material of ext door i built 10 years ago, its 42''x 7ft, top, bottom and center divider with two screen panels, not sure if gonna groove frame or mortise frame to receive a screen panel or spline it,
my knotty alder door has stood the test of time for over a decade, but it is under cover and only gets sun 40% of time, stained and poly so far about every four years i give it a bath,
hope it works out for you, remember, seal every thing, and seal again, good luck with design and material.
rj in az
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