Replacing Bus Door with Wooden Exterior Door

[lornaschinske]

We removed ours (doorless right now). Used a Dremel with a cut-off wheel to slice off part or the remaining piano hinge. I found a (special order) 30" Steel Exterior door with 1/2 glass encased mini-blind panel for $339 at Home Depot. I can't remember if its a pre-hung or a slab. If pre-hung we will just remove the door & build a new frame.

 

[M1031]

Lorna, that's EXACTLY the type of door I want to get, steel with the blinds inside of the glass....but I don't have a lot of money right now to put into the door. I have someone who has 2 used solid wood exterior doors that would fit in our opening (and could be cut to fit better) that I can pick up for $10 each. I have no clue how to use the old hinges which swing inwards or if I need to do something entirely different. I can't wait to see your door once it is on! I am soooooo jealous.

Pura Vida;

All you need to do is remove teh old hinges, dremmel the wood to accept the hinges being reversed, drill new pilot holes for the screws (so you don't slpit the wood or some other crazy event), and re-hang the doors to fit the opening. I'm seriously thinking about doing the same thing if a front door comes available on freecycle.

 

[The_Stuff]

im replacing mine with a 30" lawson screen door. its got a full piano hinge on one side and ill just add a couple extra catches on the other side to secure it while driving.

 

[zim-SKO]

Thanks to anyone who will share their door replacement info and pictures...I love pictures!

I pulled the folding doors out of mine and went to one of the RV shops and paid about $400 for a replacement door, frame and all. I could have gone a cheaper route, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the FL sun making something work and I wanted the screen door. If I drove this bus more, I'd like something with more window, but I can always hang a camera there.

The install was fairly simple. The 2x4's are held into the bus with lag bolts and the door fit perfectly inside and is mounted with 1.5" screws about every 4".

After sealing with caulk, I covered the wood with fiberglass reinforced paneling (shower liner) from the local building supply.

More pics are available on my picasa album.

 

[The_Stuff]

i thought of that but the small, frosted window is a big deterrent for me to go that way. I need to get me some 3/4" aluminum square tubing and im getting that 30" storm door installed!

 

[lornaschinske]

... otherwise I would TOTALLY want the screen...

Have you looked at the retractable screen doors? I'm thinking of one of these for our bus. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=sim&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

 

[lornaschinske]

Tell me about it! While I will EVENTUALLY get the retractable screen door.. it will be at some point down the road. Too many other things I NEED and they take precedence over the WANTS. We have to be moved into the bus as soon as possible... and that means before it is completely finished.

 

[zim-SKO]

Since we are full-timing it for a year or so, we want to put a deadbolt on both the front and back door, otherwise I would TOTALLY want the screen....

I added a hardware store deadbolt a month or so after the pictures were taken. It was no different than doing any other door and the screen closes over it fine.

 

[The_Stuff]

almost what im going for. hope it works

 

[zman18]

Here is what we did. Got a donor door and cut a rectangle to frame in one of the original windows from the old fold out bus door.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w5QingqN_Js/TFlVh7lzckI/AAAAAAAAAGk/rEAH26b0rbk/s1600/IMG_2669.jpg
http://www.shortbusmagic.blogspot.com/

 

[zman18]

Well its a very hard wood, built in solid panels, put together using tongue and groove and ribbed finish nails. It was donated and I believe is quite old. Could have been interior or exterior very solid and heavy, though it lost a little weight when I cut it to fit our doorway.


First I removed the original fold out doors. To remove the doors I had to remove the opening mechanism which is located behind a metal panel directly above the doorway inside the bus. Its a metal arm attaching the very top of the two doors together and it pivots allowing them to open. Once you identify it its easy to see how to take it off. Then I unbolted, from outside the bus, the two hinges that run the entire length of the doors one door at a time. You can unbolt each door from the hinge and take the door off while leaving the hinge attached to the bus body. I left the hinge on the right hand side (if you are outside the bus looking at the door) on and took the left hand side hinge off the bus body. So now I have one original hinge on the right side and both doors are off.

Finally using a circular saw I cut the door down to size so that it would fit into the original doorway, and tried to leave 1/4 inch around the entire door. For the gaps Ill use some type of weather stripping to keep it air and water tight. And used large screws that I kept from the first demolition of the interior to attach the door to its new hinge.

I didnt have to flip the hinge or anything, but I did predrill my holes before screwing the new door on. And its sturdy. Here are the only other two pictures I have. But you can ask anything else if you need to.

 

[lornaschinske]

Put a casing up so that you can attach weatherstripping to keep wind, water and creepy crawly critters out.

 

[The_Stuff]

Lulu, you don't sound stupid. I had to look it up to see if it was something I am interested in. Here is a link to one of the manufacturers. Enjoy!

Another alternative showed up after I watched the video that was interesting

not quite the same as a real screen door- but it looks cheap- and heck you could probably make it yourself using your own magnates if you wanted to.

neat video but they never explain how it mounts and i can see bugs getting through that no problem.. also doesnt seal at the bottom.

 

[MountainPreacher]

I still need to get a window or 2 placed in the door, but it works. Will look much better with calk, trim and paint.

 

[chev49]

One can easily use 1x1 square tubing and 18 ga sheet steel and make a door for a scoolie. Just cut the tubing and weld the sheet steel to it. Hinges can either be the piano hinge from the existing bus, or steel door hinges for houses, or even from the hardware store.

A window with safety glass in a rubber frame should be used and low enough to see traffic, esp if you drive in the fast lane like i do. If you notice, semi's even have a small window at bottom front of pass door (usually blocked, but shouldn't be). You can frame in the window with box tubing for strength if you do it right.

I have built doors for all my previous busses. Yesterday, I got out some tubing, and steel, and angle with the holes in it, to build a two piece door. The bottom door i believe is 32x53 1/2, which will be the generator door, and go a bit in height above the 10 inch raised living room floor, and i haven't measured the top for a door with a window yet, but it will be something like 32x 36 or so. I have been scrounging around on my property, and my neighbors machine shop acerage, to find a 24x24 or better window from a rig or rv that has safety glass. Think there is one about that size on a monico rv at his place...

Of course i will only be able to insulate them the depth of the doors...

Nice pictures of the RV door instillation.

 

[lornaschinske]

David says having the glass in the bottom of the door is wonderful. We ended up rebuilding the original bifold door onto a one piece door.David built a spacer and we used a regular exterior keyed door knob. We do have to come up with another locking system because the bus flexs enough while traveling that the door comes unlatched (we had to chain it shut on our last trip which was our first with the door). It was a concern when we installed the door knob since they are designed to use only 1/4" overlap to latch (that little extra spring pin is not supposed to be pushed in fully... just slightly to engage). But we only got the bus to the point we could live in it. It's not finished. I still have work to do on the door as well as most of the other stuff. Like adding a pull handle to the door because the knob is hard to hold onto when the stupid wind is blowing so hard (we have a local wind advisory right now "Sustained speeds of 30 to 40 mph will be common with gusts to around 60 mph"). I'm thinking of using the short entrance hand rail from the Eagle. It's under the bed with other "stuff" we thought we might need.

 

[headin2MT]

I welded a small frame together and added a new rv door to the frame it fit right in

 

[capricamperoh]

My opinion: The entrance door's main purpose is to make sure the occupants of the bus remain the occupants of the bus.

 

[bansil]

My opinion: The entrance door's main purpose is to make sure the occupants of the bus remain the occupants of the bus.

Piss on that :shock:
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That is what seat belts are for
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Front doors are like the "BOOBS" of the bus.....first thing you see when invited in :mrgreen:

 

[Hex]

Lulu, you don't sound stupid. I had to look it up to see if it was something I am interested in. Here is a link to one of the manufacturers. Enjoy!

Another alternative showed up after I watched the video that was interesting

not quite the same as a real screen door- but it looks cheap- and heck you could probably make it yourself using your own magnates if you wanted to.

neat video but they never explain how it mounts and i can see bugs getting through that no problem.. also doesnt seal at the bottom.

It mounts like one of those pull-up bars or extendable closet rods. The top is basically two pieces of pipe, with one fitting inside the other and some threads in it so that as you 'unscrew' the pipes, they extend.

My in-laws had one of these for their cabin, and it worked okay the short time they had it up. The bottom is somewhat weighted, which helps, and the magnets do reclose after you pretty well.

So, it's better than leaving your door wide open without a screen, but it isn't foolproof, and it will kick about a bit in a strong wind.