How did you do the doors? Assuming you were on a budget and did not do a hydraulic/electric door - did you do a roll out or swing type door and how did you accomplish it?

I have all of my drawings done and supposedly concrete pouring in less than two weeks but as I started looking at the doors and hanging tracks there is really no good way that I can see to do it. I did some looking and the designs with roll out doors have an extra purlin at the top to anchor the tracks to from what I can tell. Building is not currently designed that way and my company revoked the program I was using to do my drawings so I'm kind of back of the envelope so to speak at this point.

Any thoughts?

Everybody has different priorities and budgets but I honestly would never dream of building a hangar without a powered door. As you get older you will regret the day you built that hangar with out one. Go in debt, rob a bank, do whatever you must, just don't build a hangar with a door you have to muscle open...

Greg

gregwyatt wrote:Everybody has different priorities and budgets but I honestly would never dream of building a hangar without a powered door. As you get older you will regret the day you built that hangar with out one. Go in debt, rob a bank, do whatever you must, just don't build a hangar with a door you have to muscle open...

Greg

Yep, absolutely. N v r met a sliding door I didn't hate.

MTV

The problem is that most of the doors cost as much as the hangar !! I'm kind of in that spot too but I have an neighbor engineer who says we can build some doors like an accordion that are easy to fold away, don't weigh a ton, don't take up lots of space, and are way cheaper than what's out there. She's away on business for now but when she gets back I'll ask her. We're planning on having both our hangars up next month.

EastTexasPilot wrote:The problem is that most of the doors cost as much as the hangar !! I'm kind of in that spot too but I have an neighbor engineer who says we can build some doors like an accordion that are easy to fold away, don't weigh a ton, don't take up lots of space, and are way cheaper than what's out there. She's away on business for now but when she gets back I'll ask her. We're planning on having both our hangars up next month.

Thanks, that would be great. I am trying to do this on a budget, and I am building it myself. The doors will not be very heavy and will be on rollers top and bottom as I have it drawn up currently. I may just have to weld the hanging door tracks to my truss and then to my outfeed supports and not worry about it.

For my 60'X40' hangar I use the accordion doors. Very light weight, opaque lets outside light in, but most important can open and close with one finger but I do use my hand.

EastTexasPilot wrote:The problem is that most of the doors cost as much as the hangar !! I'm kind of in that spot too but I have an neighbor engineer who says we can build some doors like an accordion that are easy to fold away, don't weigh a ton, don't take up lots of space, and are way cheaper than what's out there. She's away on business for now but when she gets back I'll ask her. We're planning on having both our hangars up next month.

Look into the Horton Stack Door, http://www.hortonstackdoor.com

It's made by the same people that make the STOL kit.

Very low maintenance, easy to open. There's about 20 or 30 of them down my hangar row and I don't know anyone who doesn't like their door.

In my case, my hangar opening is 63' x 16', and the door worked out to about $12,000 (the price was built into the complete hangar, but when I called Horton directly to ask some tech questions, they said that was the approximate price).

Chris

airChris wrote:In my case, my hangar opening is 63' x 16', and the door worked out to about $12,000 (the price was built into the complete hangar, but when I called Horton directly to ask some tech questions, they said that was the approximate price).

Chris

WOW, that's what I'm talking about. My entire 40x40 hangar (without concrete slab) costs about a 1/4 of what that door alone costs !! We're also doing soil-cement which is about 1/10th of the cost of concrete. At least that's the plan, subject to modifications but I think it will all work out, as per my neighbor who's done them before.

Check this site, I have seen a couple of these that were built several years ago and still work well. They are an overhead powered home built door. Kits were available not sure if they still are. http://ultimatedoor.homestead.com/ultimate.html

Build your own hydraulic door. Surplus Center has the rams and pump. That's what we did. A neighbor copied us and has built 6 of them. You won't have $2000 in the whole mess if you do the work yourself.

sburg58 wrote:Check this site, I have seen a couple of these that were built several years ago and still work well. They are an overhead powered home built door. Kits were available not sure if they still are. http://ultimatedoor.homestead.com/ultimate.html

That's more like it. I'm going to email them to see if they have any built close enough to go see one. The design my neighbor is going to do looks like the Horton door, like an accordion.

EastTexasPilot wrote:WOW, that's what I'm talking about. My entire 40x40 hangar (without concrete slab) costs about a 1/4 of what that door alone costs !! We're also doing soil-cement which is about 1/10th of the cost of concrete. At least that's the plan, subject to modifications but I think it will all work out, as per my neighbor who's done them before.

It appears that in your case a production door will certainly cost more than your hangar, but to be fair, I think most people pay a lot more than $3000 to build a hangar (or was that a typo in your message!?)

A self engineered option may be more palatable to the budget.....but just remember that thread about "hangar door disasters" that was floating around. Make sure you take the time to get it right!

Chris

airChris wrote:

EastTexasPilot wrote:WOW, that's what I'm talking about. My entire 40x40 hangar (without concrete slab) costs about a 1/4 of what that door alone costs !! We're also doing soil-cement which is about 1/10th of the cost of concrete. At least that's the plan, subject to modifications but I think it will all work out, as per my neighbor who's done them before.

It appears that in your case a production door will certainly cost more than your hangar, but to be fair, I think most people pay a lot more than $3000 to build a hangar (or was that a typo in your message!?)

A self engineered option may be more palatable to the budget.....but just remember that thread about "hangar door disasters" that was floating around. Make sure you take the time to get it right!

Chris

Will do !

The math I have is about $12,000 to build myself - it's going to be 36' square.

Before all the naysayers about it being too small - I know! But, it is all that I need.

I just completed my hangar (48x50) and I've been researching doors since I started construction (3 years ago...don't judge [emoji23]) The route I'm going and the most inexpensive, most bang for your buck I've found is http://cool-airinc.com
I haven't decided between their foldtite Stacker or their horizontal bifold, but I was quoted right at $4k for either for a 40x10. I've seen both, and like both. They really try to steer you from their horizontal bifold because of wind and snow...but I don't have to worry much about either in TN. You can get their foldtite Stacker pretty much prebuilt also, saving you time.

TxAgfisher wrote:The math I have is about $12,000 to build myself - it's going to be 36' square.

Before all the naysayers about it being too small - I know! But, it is all that I need.

40x40 is the smallest I want because my wings are 36' long. Anyway are you building it our of red iron? I'm building it out of wood and it's WAAAAY less than $12k including the floor.

Wow wood us cheap down there. I'm looking at going 60x60 and a package is going to run me at least 50k. Trusses are a big portion of that. Made me think a 10k door isn't a bad price. I'm torn between a 60x16 bifold and a hydraulic. One is twice the cost of the other, but is installed and is warranted for the life of the building...

I recently (a month ago) ordered a stack door from Horton. Fits a 42x12 hole in the hangar, and is just under 40 feet wide when opened. Cost delivered to western CO is about $6500. I'm happier with a non-powered door that will work even if the electricity goes off. Everyone I've ever known that has one of these is very happy with them. They are very easy to open and run on a ground track, so no weight on a header.

My two cents.

A1Skinner wrote:Wow wood us cheap down there. I'm looking at going 60x60 and a package is going to run me at least 50k. Trusses are a big portion of that. Made me think a 10k door isn't a bad price. I'm torn between a 60x16 bifold and a hydraulic. One is twice the cost of the other, but is installed and is warranted for the life of the building...

I actually have built 4 buildings in the last 2 years and made them all with red iron however I was convinced to try wood framing when I was shown that 98% of all houses in my state are made of wood framing and most of them are way bigger and more elaborate than a simple 40x40 hangar. The frame will be treated wood (it's stamped "Made in Texas") and the walls and roof will be galvalume metal. What are the houses in your area made of?

EastTexasPilot wrote:

A1Skinner wrote:Wow wood us cheap down there. I'm looking at going 60x60 and a package is going to run me at least 50k. Trusses are a big portion of that. Made me think a 10k door isn't a bad price. I'm torn between a 60x16 bifold and a hydraulic. One is twice the cost of the other, but is installed and is warranted for the life of the building...

I actually have built 4 buildings in the last 2 years and made them all with red iron however I was convinced to try wood framing when I was shown that 98% of all houses in my state are made of wood framing and most of them are way bigger and more elaborate than a simple 40x40 hangar. The frame will be treated wood (it's stamped "Made in Texas") and the walls and roof will be galvalume metal. What are the houses in your area made of?

Everything is made of wood around here. Trusses that are a 60' span aren't cheap though. 40 is not wide enough for me because then I can't get wing extensions in, and I'd like to be able to have 3 planes in at a time to work on. So I'm thinking 60x60 and 16 high won't be any too big.