Stupid Door: Inanimate Object Rant

[varmint]

lived here almost five years. it's always been a confusing annoyance. but i've finally come to a point where i have to figure away this around this.

this looks like a double door. but only one side opens. there are no hinges or visible latches on the other. i can't believe someone built a door this way. is there some trick i am missing? have any of you all familiar with this sort of thing? there are no identifying marks on it to look up directions. do any of you have any tricks for shoving a 34' bike through a 28' opening?

i'm a few hours away from completely dismantling it with a screwdriver.

[SergioK]

I used to live in a house that had vinyl storm 'proof' windows. One would slide, the other would not. It 'appeared' fixed. In truth, it took was a bit of 'persuasion' and the non-sliding part would actually pop-out of the frame. I can't tell from the detail/resolution of this photo though.

[kpolito99]

Sorry to learn of your troubles. If the panel on the right has no hinges it is technically not a door but a fixed pane.

For the record I recently replaced a triple pane sliding patio door with open panel french doors and installed one fixed panel with a pair of doors. The door that has no handle is secured with two sliding latches. One latch is up top and drives into the jamb while the other near the floor drives into the sill.

If you see no hinges and no slide latches you will need to make your bike skinnier. Perhaps you can line her up at an angle and rotate the bike towards the leading jug to get through the narrow opening.

[varmint]

would be great if it worked that way. have already tried a little bit shy of breaking it persuasion. want a plan before i go any further.

[kpolito99]

I helped the framer that installed my doors and let me tell you there are some serious 3-1/2" - 4" screws that we drove through the solid pane and into the frame of the house, jamb and footer. The solid pane that we installed is not going anywhere easily anytime soon.

I sure hope that your setup is different otherwise it will be a huge pita to take that thing down. If you do end up removing the panel I would definitely hang it on a set of hinges and make it a functional door.

[SeabeckS]

Sorry to say, but that second door isn't a door. It's a fixed, full-sized "sidelight". Sort of a cheaper option than a double opening French door...but not very damn useful.

I used to pretty handy with a fire axe, that's the only way to open it...

[lkchris]

There's a professional in your town that can fix this. Call door company, check Home Depot, etc.

[varmint]

Took some weather stripping off. There is a mass of caulk and in accessible screws visible.

Calling in a contractor may be necessary.

[J.Rose]

Originally Posted by varmint

do any of you have any tricks for shoving a 34' bike through a 28' opening?

remove the heads?

[Bob Hancock]

Originally Posted by varmint

Calling in a contractor may be necessary.

Yeah....that's what I'd do. Point and pay. Life's too short to get yer blood pressure up over something like this. I've got a similar rant brewing over a moto-project I volunteered to do on someone else's bike but it won't change anything to feed it, so I think I'll go to dinner. That usually helps.

[twodear]

I' like to know how you got your bike up on the deck...

[onekiwi]

Swivel the mirrors and handlebars!if I was closer I would have a look at the door for you.

[bradzdotcom]

cover glass with duct tape.

agatt...plus maybe a little more.
back bike up. warm bike up. put in first gear.
aim for that vertical white board in the center.
drop clutch.

brings a whole new meaning to the term "demo bike", doesn't it?

might want to move those dead plants out of the way first.
looks like they've had enough already.

[tm1100s]

Remove the fixed panel, clean out the jamb. With just a little know-how you can hinge the currently fixed panel, install sliding locks top and bottom and re-weatherstrip the entire opening. You'll have one regular door and the other can be opened by pulling the top and bottom sliding locks open. Easy.

[Martin Glasser]

Its probably an Atrium Door.... They went out of business...interesting idea a bit impractical..

[Martin Glasser]

Originally Posted by varmint

Took some weather stripping off. There is a mass of caulk and in accessible screws visible.

Calling in a contractor may be necessary.

I could retro this, where you at?

Also could describe what steps I'd take..

[GDM]

Perhaps in the house is not optimum.

However, when I brought my Triumph into the living room, I removed the handlebars, swung them down and to one side and pushed it through the front door (32" wide).

Coincidentally, it was about that time that my wife stopped talking to me. Never did figure out what the heck happened there - women eh.

[bmoore5002]

Build a man cave and leave the bike in it . Not real smart putting your wheels in the house to begin with. This will be a handy place to drink beer and work on your bike. The doors come in all kinds of sizes from 4' to 16'.

[nail24fac]

Take that door out and install a door that has to bolt lever locks on the other door so you can roll the bike inside.

[varmint]

turns out the neighbor used to do window and door installation. still had to remove the glass and dig out twenty screws from the frame before we could pop out the door. will have to go through the whole process again next spring.

his wife came over to see what we were doing. she rolled her eyes and left without saying anything.