Plywood Garage Door DIY Project
Sometimes making one small change to the appearance of your house can make such a huge difference to the whole facade. Like changing the garage door from a plain black and boring metal door to a beautiful timber feature. Not only does the end result look amazing, but more importantly, is a great DIY project for anyone to complete. The best part about all of this – It can be completed for under $180 and we are going to show you how!
Tools Required:
Tape measure
Power saw
Drill
Straight edge
Iron (yes, the one you iron your clothes with!)
Sander
Pop rivet gun
Screw driver
Materials Required:
Marine Aa grade plywood 244ox1220x6mm sheets x2 – $49 each
Iron on shady oak melamine edging 21x5mm x2 – $9 each
Sikkens 1L cetol HLSE (colour of your choice but we have used mahogany) – $42 each
Zenith aluminium pop rivets – $7 a pack
Zenith 46×6 self tap screws – $3.50 pack
All these materials can be purchased from your local Bunnings.
Before
STEP 1
Prepare plywood surface with electric sander or hand sanding pad.
Step 2
Measure garage door frame height and divide this measurement into equal spaces. In this instance, the garage door measures 1910mm high and the plywood sheets measure 1220mm high. The door was divided into 5 spaces using 2 sheets of plywood measuring 382mm between each panel. Divide the first sheet of plywood into 3 spaces of 382mm and divide your second sheet of ply into 2 spaces of 382mm. It would be a good idea to use a straight edge to mark your lines to ensure your lines are straight. Make one horizontal cut in your second sheet of plywood removing the excess.
Step 3
It is now time to get the iron out! Place your melamine edging over the first line which you marked on your plywood and carefully iron on the melamine strip. Repeat this step another 2 times covering all the lines of your of plywood.
Step 4
It would be a good opportunity to add the first protective coating onto the plywood at this point, alternatively you can wait till the sheets are up to add your coats.
Step 5
Whilst your plywood is drying, remove the existing panels of the garage door. These are usually held in with pop rivets so remove these using a one-eighth drill bit.
Step 6
It is now time to put on your first sheet of plywood. Screw the 6mm self tap screws through the existing holes (made by the old pop rivets) from the inside of the garage door. Insert your new pop rivets around the edge of the frame. Repeat this step for your second sheet of plywood. For added support across the join, it may be a good idea to add a backing piece using your off cuts of plywood to the inside of the garage door.
Step 7
Iron on your final strip of melamine edging across the join of the 2 plywood sheets.
AFTER
Finally add a one last coat of your protective coating, then stand back and enjoy your new garage door!
