Garage door issue....

[baldblueman]

Hi, I’m looking to help out my elderly mother by sorting out a problem with her garage without it costing her a fortune. It’s a pretty old garage & no point in her paying for a brand new one as she doesn’t drive & it’s too narrow for most modern cars. It has 2 wooden doors, one side of which has dropped to the extent they no longer meet & she’s had to secure them by way of a padlock from the inside & can no longer open them.

My suggestion is that I remove one door completely & build a panel/frame in its place & have just the one opening door. This is perfectly sufficient for her to get a few things in & out & anyone buying the house in the future would demolish the garage anyway.

I’m ok with DIY jobs once I know the best way to do something & have enough decent woodworking tools.

My concern however is what I do in terms of supporting the main central post as to a degree I’m trying to do a quick fix here. I’m guessing a bit of 3x3 will be strong enough, but logically I need to avoid it touching the ground to avoid possible damp problems in the future. I appreciate it may not look too pretty, but could I use a bolt down fence post support as this would stop it touching? And secondly, are there any absolute do’s & don’ts regarding how & what to use to panel the front? I can run 2-3 horizontal supports from the post into the door frame to then affix a front to. Obviously the front needs to be done in such a way that someone can’t pull a few panels off in a few seconds & wander in – presumably a case of screwing them in rather than nailing. Or am I better off getting one huge bit of wood instead? Won’t look great but can paint it all black when finished, same as current doors/frame.

Thanks for any advice

 

[big-all]

my solution as its shot
remove the door or prop it up where you need it to be
clamp/strap/ hammer with protecting block to close up any gaps accross the door
cut a sheet off 12mm ply to fit inside the door
you can cover or leave open any glazed areas but add ply to the top rail if its top 1/3 glazed

1 3/4" 8 or 10s [metric 4.5 or 5mm 30mm] screw every 8" 200mm or so anywhere theres solid timber

if you have mortice and tennons or half lap joins you can put a couple off screws through diagonal corners of each joint before applying the ply