Louvered Wooden Doors: Device, Components, Installation And Operation Features

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

Louvered wooden doors: device and installation of structures

Louvered doors are often made of plastic, but wooden models are more environmentally friendly and beautiful. Before choosing ready-made structures or creating a door with your own hands, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of blinds.

Content

• 1 How wooden shutter doors are arranged

  1.1 Photo Gallery: Wood Louver Door Options

• 2 Manufacturing of louvered doors

  • 2.1 Manufacturing steps
  • 2.2 Video: how to make a blind door

• 3 How to install doors

  • 3.1 Repair and restoration of wooden doors

    3.1.1 Video: painting doors from a spray gun

  • 3.2 How to care for louvered doors
• 4 Accessories for wooden doors

How are wooden louvered doors

The design of louvered doors assumes the presence of a frame, inside which thin strips - horizontal slats are fixed at an angle. There are gaps between these elements, due to which ventilation of the room is ensured. The door lock, handle, hinges are located on the frame, which must be of sufficient width and thickness for the installation of such parts.

The design of louvered doors is simple, but most often they are installed for cabinets or partitions.

Louvered doors are most in demand as cabinet facades or lightweight partitions. Installing such a structure instead of a regular door to the living room will not provide sound insulation, and foreign odors will also penetrate into the room. In any case, the canvases can be of such types as:

• swing structures - have doors that open in one direction and are fixed on hinges;
• sliding - arranged according to the principle of compartment doors, that is, they move along special guides along the walls;
• accordion doors - refer to the folding type of structures and consist of several elements.

Hinged louvered doors can be double-leaf

Louvered doors with paneled inserts at the bottom of the leaf are practical. In this case, the web is a blind lower part and an upper area with lamellas. Various combinations are possible, but the door always has a solid frame-frame to which the slats are attached.

Photo Gallery: Options for Wooden Louvered Doors

Louvered doors effectively separate the dressing room from the main room

Slatted doors are suitable for utility rooms and cupboards, as well as for living rooms

Louvered facades provide ventilation for cabinets

Blinds and doors can be easily combined with each other

Louvered shutters often complement doors in a home located in hot climates

Two-leaf folding shutter door - an original and convenient solution

Balcony blinds will be appropriate in countries with warm climates

Louvered doors can be not only hinged, but also have a sliding structure

Manufacturing of blind doors

To create louvered doors, you will need skills in working with carpentry tools, as well as knowledge of manufacturing technology. The dimensions of the future structure are pre-determined. If the doors will function as interior doors, then their height should be less than the height of the opening by about 7-8 cm, and the width - by 5-6 cm. In the case when the blinds are made for a built-in wardrobe or dressing room, it is also necessary to measure the opening and determine the dimensions of the doors, taking into account the box.

Louvered structures are made taking into account the specifics of the installation site

Doors with a lower panel insert and decorated with lamellas can be used as interior doors. In this case, the design assumes the presence of two long vertical posts, three crossbars (upper, middle and lower), panels and louvered slats. The size of the elements is determined individually, but the width of the frame bars must be at least 40 mm, and the thickness from 25 mm. The length of the panels should be approximately 8 mm greater than the distance between the vertical posts of the frame, and the thickness should be from 4 mm.

The lamellas are inserted into the grooves previously created in the frame posts

In the process of work, you will need materials and tools such as:

• high-quality wood without knots and with a moisture content of no more than 12%;
• PVA glue, dowels, varnish or paint for product decoration;
• self-tapping screws, a screwdriver, a hammer and a mallet, a grinder with medium and fine sandpaper;
• building level, plumb line, tape measure, ruler and pencil;
• milling cutter, thicknessing machine.

The wider the lamellae, the less their number in the structure

The production of lamellas requires joinery equipment. Therefore, if there is a need for one door, it is most cost-effective to purchase a ready-made model or order a design from the manufacturer.

Manufacturing steps

Before manufacturing, you need to saw the bars for the frame according to the dimensions indicated in the diagram. Further actions are as follows:

1. The panels are sawn on a thicknessing machine, the corners are removed with a milling cutter.
2. In the side vertical bars of the racks, grooves are cut out with a milling cutter, carefully noting the location of each groove and its angle of inclination.
3. All parts are processed with a grinder, using first medium-grained sandpaper, and then fine-grained paper.
4. Painting is carried out for each element separately, and after the coating has dried, you can continue to work.
5. For assembly, grooves are created along the edge in one of the vertical posts and dowels are inserted into them.
6. The planks are installed in inclined grooves, and the horizontal frame crossbars are fixed on the dowels after all the lamellas have been installed.
7. The second vertical post is mounted on an almost finished structure, along the edges of this post there are also dowels.
8. For a more reliable fastening of the frame, you can grease the dowels with PVA glue, and fix the assembled door between the clamps.

Lamellas are inserted into the grooves and fixed with PVA glue

Painting can be done with a brush or spray gun. In any case, all hard-to-reach places of the structure (if an already assembled door is painted) must be carefully processed. Before staining, experts recommend applying an antiseptic to the wooden elements, which will prevent the material from rotting.

Video: how to make a blind door

How to install doors

The installation method for louvered doors is determined depending on where you want to install them. For example, cabinet doors are simply fixed with hinges to the walls, observing evenness. If the canvas is mounted as an interroom, then you must first assemble the box, fix the hinges on the vertical post of the door and box. Further, the following activities are carried out:

1. The box is installed in a flat opening, fixing with wedges, which are fixed between the wall and the rack of the box. By adjusting the wedges, the structure is leveled, and then the cracks are sealed with polyurethane foam. After this composition has dried, the wedges are removed.
2. The canvas is hung on the hinges, the evenness is checked with a building level. If necessary, the self-tapping screws of the hinges are tightened or loosened.
3. Holes for a lock or a handle are made in the canvas in advance, and after hanging the mechanisms are installed.
4. Check the quality of the installation. If the door touches the box when closing, you need to adjust it by fixing the screws.

Installation of a blind door is carried out in the same way as an interior door

At any stage of installation, it is important to control the evenness of fixation of each element. This way you can prevent the box web from touching the floor and the appearance of abrasions.

Repair and restoration of wooden doors

Louvered wooden doors have a lower level of strength than other options. Therefore, even minor malfunctions should be eliminated in a timely manner, which will prevent more serious damage. In the most common options, the following actions are taken:

1. Deformation of planks and cracks in the wood. Such damage to the strips requires replacement. If they are not fixed with glue during manufacture, then the structure can be disassembled and elements can be replaced. Otherwise, the door is completely changed, since the panels bonded with glue cannot be removed accurately.
2. Broken lock or handle. If the lock or handle is broken, you need to carefully remove the old mechanisms and replace them with new ones that have the same dimensions.
3. Cracking of varnish or paint. If the paint is cracked, then you will need to disassemble the structure, remove the old paint and apply a new coating.
4. Scratching. Minor scratches on easily accessible door surfaces are repaired with furniture wax or wood-colored putty.
5. Appearance update. An unpainted but assembled door can be coated with a colored compound using a spray gun, but it is important to carefully handle all hard-to-reach places.

If the lamellas are located freely, then staining is possible already assembled.

Repair and restoration of canvases with lamellas require careful attention, because such structures are not integral and consist of thin strips. Therefore, when removing a door, for example, for repairing and replacing hinges, everything must be done carefully.

Video: painting doors from a spray gun

How to care for your blinds

Regular maintenance of such doors involves removing dust with a damp cloth, processing furniture polishes and other means for wood products. And you also need to carry out an inspection about once a month to identify malfunctions and timely fix them. It should be noted that the louvered models are unstable to strong shocks, loads and mechanical stress. Therefore, they often serve as lightweight partitions.

Any doors require proper care

During operation, the following measures should be taken:

1. When a squeak occurs, door hinges are lubricated with grease, means for door locks, WD40, which will ensure the elimination of unpleasant sound and easy movement of the blade.
2. Regular treatment with furniture polish will prevent the accumulation of dust and dirt. The product should be wax-based, apply it to a soft napkin and wipe the surface.
3. Stubborn stains cannot be removed with hard sponges, because this will lead to deep scratches and loss of the appearance of the structure. Stubborn stains can be removed by light sanding with fine-grained sandpaper, staining or thorough washing.

Accessories for wooden doors

For the installation and comfortable operation of any door, certain elements are required. For example, the hinges are used to fasten the door to the frame and ensure the movement of the door leaf. If the door is installed in a large cabinet, then four-hinge hinges are often used.

Cabinet hinges are self-tapping to the door and wall

For wooden interior doors, the following hinge options are optimal:

1. Overhead. They do not require the creation of a special groove in the frame and box. Details are simply screwed to structural elements with self-tapping screws.

   

   Overhead hinges are easy to install and have different shapes

2. Mortise. The mortise hinges require a small recess in the door frame and frame. The plates are placed in this cavity and fixed with self-tapping screws. The gaps between the hinge and the edge of the groove can be easily covered with acrylic putty in the color of the wood.

   

   Cut-in plates are fixed in the recess

3. Hidden hinges. Invisible when closing the door. They are universal, that is, they can be installed both on the left and on the right side. Steel parts are reliable and have a long service life.

   

   Hidden hinges require recesses

In addition to the hinges, a handle is required for the full operation of the door. Such an element can be stationary or push. The handles of the first type are a bracket or a piece of a different shape that is simply screwed to the canvas in the right place.

Stationary handles are versatile and easy to install

Lever handles require a hole to be created into which the middle of the mechanism is inserted. On one side and on the other side of the door, handles with decorative strips are attached. There are other options, but the principle of fastening and movement is similar for everyone.

Push handle requires a hole in the door

The door lock is selected depending on personal preference, but often blind doors are equipped with only a simple latch bolt. This option is appropriate if the door is installed in the pantry. In the case when the structure serves as a partition, there is no need for a locking mechanism.

Doors, arranged like blinds, are lightweight and look stylish, but do-it-yourself carpentry equipment is required to make them. Customization and proper door care allow you to avoid complex work and get a striking furnishing element.