Sliding doors over nav station

[Lance Jones]

I've been replacing the black plastic sliding doors with teak and have done all except the pair over the nav station. However, they don't lift out like the ones I've done before. Anyone else do this and what are your suggestions?

Happy New Year!

[Clay Greene]

Yes, we have, and we feel your pain.  As you've figured out, the space has shrunk over time so the doors are very difficult to get out.  We ended up using our v-belt jack to give us just enough room to get them out.  We managed to get them out without breaking them but that could be an option of last resort for you.  We also made the mistake of using the old doors as a template for the new ones so we ended up having to sand them down quite a bit to get them into the tracks.  The teak plywood was even more difficult to get in than getting the old doors out because they had no bend in them at all.  It is all worth it though - we've now replaced all the sliding doors in the boat with teak plywood and they look like they were made as an original part of the boat.  Good luck! 

[Lance Jones]

Thanks! I agree, the process is very well worth the effort. I'll post more pictures when I'm done. How much shorter did you make them over the Nav Station?

[Clay Greene]

We probably sanded down 1/8 of an inch at the top and the bottom so 1/4 inch overall.  It was one of those "sand a little bit and see if it fits, try again" sort of projects, so it is hard to say exactly.  If I had it to do over again, I would measure the opening and then add an additional height for the depth of the track plus an additional one-half of that dimension.  That would probably guarantee that I could slide the top of the door into the top track, slide the bottom of the door into the bottom track, and cover the opening when the door slides down into the bottom track.  As I remember, we did 1/4 inch teak plywood with 1/8 inch rabbets cut one inch high into the back of the door at the top and the bottom.  We could have gone with 1/8 inch plywood but I wanted the extra thickness. 

I have most of a 4x4 sheet of the teak plywood left if you are interested.  Free if you pay for shipping.  Fortunately, we are all done with this project.  With some teak oil and about a year's worth of aging, you can't tell the difference between the doors and the surrounding frame.