Any door/hinge experts out there?

[Grey Gables]

Hi! I am exploring adding two side by side “screen doors” to the back of my coop so I can leave the main (solid) doors open when it’s hot (more circulation) and keep my chickens safe from predators. Basically two frames with hardware cloth. I know what I want to do for the latches and what not. Struggling to wrap my mind around the hinges though. The doors need to open out, not in. I’m guessing I’ll only be able to open them 90 degrees due to the existing doors/frame. I’ve looked up lift off hinges, piano hinges, offset hinges, pivot hinges.. Hinge overload. Any pros out there have an idea or suggestion?

My current doors are hinged to the outer wall so I have room in the existing framed out opening to add my new screened doors. I keep thinking something like a 3 ‘panel’ accordion style piano hinge makes sense ... not sure what that would be called. But it would allow me to open the doors 90 degrees and then pull them out from the frame and open them even further. Hope that makes sense!!!

Adding pics so you can see what I’m working with.

Thanks in advance!

 

[aart]

Carolina Coops does this...might look them up.
Couple folks have copied these recently and might be able to advise.
@Castlewood @crowber

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-along-thanks-to-carolina-coop-ideas.1375474/

 

[crowber]

Make your existing doors the screen doors by removing the paneling and adding hardware cloth. Then add new frames/panels to the outside of those.

 

[Grey Gables]

Make your existing doors the screen doors by removing the paneling and adding hardware cloth. Then add new frames/panels to the outside of those.

I thought about that. I wasn’t sure if my doors are substantial enough to do that? Not a building expert though! If my existing doors sat *inside* the opening/framing, I think this would be a lot more simple. Maybe I should start from scratch and set the doors inside and do the Carolina Coop style double door/screen door.

 

[crowber]

Yeah, you're right, they might not hold up to that. But if you're willing to redo the doors then that might be the most straightforward way to go about things.

 

[Grey Gables]

Yeah, you're right, they might not hold up to that. But if you're willing to redo the doors then that might be the most straightforward way to go about things.

Thanks! Appreciate your input!

 

[Grey Gables]

Wanted to follow up on this. We ended up deciding to try making the existing doors into windows and so far, it's been great. They seem to be holding up. The coop is at least 4 degrees cooler everyday now. Ended up making them a little smaller than I originally wanted and did a slightly different look, just to make sure nothing got too bulky and put too much weight on the hinges.

If these ever start to seem even the slightest bit unstable, I definitely plan on redoing the entire back door area and making the windows larger.