Given my increasingly large collection of tools and the family's concern about thieves, I bit the bullet and invested in some garage doors.
Rather than have a totally incongruous roller shutter, or hideously expensive, bespoke oak doors, I decided to let Colin, our tame builder and neighbour loose on the project.
We had a chin-wag and came up with a general idea that he fleshed out. I trust Colin implicitly and know I can give him a general strategy and he will deliver exactly the right tactical response within a budget.
The doors Colin made are of plywood, with an internal frame and clad in tongue and groove pine. The pine will grey to the same colour as the external oak and be nearly indistinguishable, except for the plethora of knotholes. The exterior of the ply is painted in epoxy garage floor paint I had left over and the inside was painted fist with a waterproof solution we use on our oak floors, and then white vinyl emulsion to reflect the internal lighting. I may apply some tung oil to the pine, as it protects from moisture, while allowing the wood to age in UV.
Total cost? 3 days of labour at £200 a day, plus £493 in supplies. £1093 in total, whereas bespoke oak doors would have been well over £1,000 each, plus fitting.
Colin is an absolute gem - and he loves working for us because we trust him to come up with the goods and he doesn't have to keep referring to us for permissions.
