The door took much more work than I had thought. A common occurrence during this build. Everything seems so simple and easy, until I start doing it. Then I find all the things I hadn't thought of. Learn that my plan isn't working out. And blow past my expected finish date.
It seemed like a good idea to position the piano hinge on the door and lintel while they were both flat on the floor. Drill the holes in the holes in both. Then they would line up straight. Did that, then glued the lintel to the caravan body. And then I bolted the door on and groaned.
 |
| Notice a problem? |
Look closely at the bottom of the door. The gap on the left compared to the right. Not even close.
I experimented with moving the holes on the lintel, but wasn't happy with how that was working out. Too many holes for the piano hinge would be too close to the edge. The basic problem was that the roof is not 100% level. There is a 5mm difference one side to the other. Unnoticeable looking at the roof, but hanging a metre long door off it and the slight slope is amplified. Gluing the lintel to the roof really wasn't a good idea. I did consider just ignoring it, but I would look at the gap every time I opened the door. And I'm sure I'd quickly grow tired of people telling me it was crooked.
Decided to remove the lintel. Wasn't easy. A lot of cutting glue and foam with a knife.
 |
| Working on a solution |
I had thought to glue a thin triangle wedge on top of the lintel to space up one side down. But as I was setting up to cut the wedge, I realised that I could also cut off a wedge from the lintel.
A test with the door on and holding it all together with clamps to check the door would hang straight this time. Marked out where the lintel would have to go. Undid all the set up. Coated the lintel in glue and clamped it on. |
| Can't have too many clamps |
And after the glue has set, the moment of truth.
 |
| Worth the effort! |
Yes!
