09-27-2024, 10:24 AM
I have been a lurker on this forum for a long time, and really enjoy reading the Q&A, seeing pics of other shops and beautiful projects. In the spirit of Derek's post a few weeks back about the lessening of activity, I thought it would be good to share my latest project with you all. Lately, I have been more interested in adding technical/technology into projects. Some simple, like an led light strip in the armrest of a gaming table. Others a bit more complex, like a recent door project.
This client has an early 1900's bungalow that has been very well looked after. The front door situation, however, was behind the times. It had two side windows, not glass, but plexiglass, so no insulation whatsoever. As we are in Houston, this is not ideal. The door was a solid painted rectangle. For the homeowner, way too boring.
After some consultation, he decided on a modern look with 5 horizontal windows evenly spaced on the door. He opted to go with black paint outside, and white inside to match the interior trim. I prefer to build exterior doors with mahogany to deal with the fairly extreme heat and humidity we have here, so painting over it was a little heartbreaking, but we know the beauty that lies underneath.
The glass has a film applied that switches from transparent to opaque using a remote. This could also be wired to a smart switch to set it on a schedule, but he wanted to do it manually. There are 5 separate panels for the door glass, all wired together through a channel on the hinge side with the wires concealed with trim. The wiring passes through a hinge, into the framing, and connects with the side window panels to make it all switchable with the remote.
Below is a link to a little video of the end result. Happy to dig into the build details if anyone out there is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yZW2PqZv1Lg
This client has an early 1900's bungalow that has been very well looked after. The front door situation, however, was behind the times. It had two side windows, not glass, but plexiglass, so no insulation whatsoever. As we are in Houston, this is not ideal. The door was a solid painted rectangle. For the homeowner, way too boring.
After some consultation, he decided on a modern look with 5 horizontal windows evenly spaced on the door. He opted to go with black paint outside, and white inside to match the interior trim. I prefer to build exterior doors with mahogany to deal with the fairly extreme heat and humidity we have here, so painting over it was a little heartbreaking, but we know the beauty that lies underneath.
The glass has a film applied that switches from transparent to opaque using a remote. This could also be wired to a smart switch to set it on a schedule, but he wanted to do it manually. There are 5 separate panels for the door glass, all wired together through a channel on the hinge side with the wires concealed with trim. The wiring passes through a hinge, into the framing, and connects with the side window panels to make it all switchable with the remote.
Below is a link to a little video of the end result. Happy to dig into the build details if anyone out there is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yZW2PqZv1Lg
