Floor Hatch - Gas Struts + Piano Hinges

Рет қаралды 99,225

8 жыл бұрын

Hi, I don’t often visit KZfaq to respond to your questions.
This project was done many years ago, so my memory is fuzzy at best. I could tell you the struts was bought from an auto parts online shop. The specification of the struts was a guess based on the following:
1) Door weight. The struts are based on lb per strut. Assuming your door is 100lbs. I assumed if I go with a strut that could handle 200 lbs+ I should be fine.
2) Gas Strut length. Keep in mind the length is based on the strut in its compressed position.I based the strut length on how long my door was, which was roughly 5’-0”. I assumed a 36” length was sufficient, when extended it gave me a larger opening. The logic is that the struts are similar to what you would use for your car trunk door. Self open and closing.
3) The door is hinge with a continuous heavy duty piano hinge.
4) My floor door construction is super heavy, allowing me to stand on it without worrying about falling through. So be careful when opening and closing!

Пікірлер: 38

@GardengalAAA 5 жыл бұрын

Here's an easy formula I found on a boating site to determine the strut force required, I'm hoping this helps someone else. First, you should know the actual weight of the door itself, and it's best to not guess. Record this weight. My door is 76 lbs. Next, take a measurement in inches of the distance between the hinged bottom to the top of the door (the part closest to the ceiling when it's open) and record that number and divide it in half. In other words, your door height divided in half. You aren't going to install the strut beyond the halfway mark. It will be installed somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the way up from the hinged bottom. Our door was 44" high, the 1/2 measurement from the hinged end was 22", and the 1/3 measurement from the hinge was 14.6 inches, so we opted to install the strut at the 15" mark. For the height of our door, anywhere between 14.6" and 22" from the hinge was ideal to install the strut. Stand your door up in the open position and mark with a pencil where you plan to install the strut on the underside of your door. Now with your door still in the open position, open it as vertical as you are going to want it to open when the struts are installed. With the door still in this position, take a tape measure, and measure from your mark (our 15" mark) down to where you are going to install the other end of your strut on the frame below your floor boards. This is how you can determine the best length of your strut in an open position. It doesn't matter whether your strut is installed vertical or angled. We could have easily used a 19" strut, but decided to go with a 21". Now that you have determined the length of strut you need, you can use this calculation to determine the required STRUT FORCE: Take the weight of the door (for us it was 76 lbs) and multiply that times the distance from your hinge to the center of the door in inches. Our door was 44" high, so the hinge to door center line was 22". So using this formula of weight x "distance from hinge to center", 76 (lbs) x 22 (inches to door center) = 1672. Now, you divide THAT number by the distance (in inches) from the hinge to the strut. We decided to place our strut at the 15" mark (remember I said install your strut anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 way up the door from the hinge). So 1672 divided by 15 = 111. This tells you we need a strut OR multiple struts with 111 pounds of combined force to support this trap door when open.

@BoydsCoveEst 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the detailed explanation!

@GregSribhud Жыл бұрын

Thank you. Take my money and install please.

@cliffBMRC 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome, will use on my crawl space floor door

@anishamm685 Жыл бұрын

Nice

@ericson2637 6 жыл бұрын

Please advice, I have a plan to install the gas struts on floor hatch so could you let me know a what is correct size or fit ?

@nancygrigor3164 6 жыл бұрын

How do you measure the gas struts, not sure what size to buy or where? I have a wood door hatch to crawl space....

@BenderAlexandre 6 жыл бұрын

Hello I just bought 2 suspa gas strusts. They don't seem to retract. How do you adjust them? Thanks!

@craigslistrro709 7 жыл бұрын

I really need this to help me open my 100 plus lb cellar door.. can you tell me what struts you purchased? and did you install them with the door open or closed to get the right fitment?

@dktrchang 7 жыл бұрын

craigslistrr O - sorry late response. This is what I used. SUSPA® 100 LB Gas Spring/Prop/Strut/Shock - with the appropriate ball stud brackets. They handle 100lb of weight per strut. You want to install this with the door down.

@kyaragray9211 7 жыл бұрын

do you have a video showing how you used the piano hinges and what kind of piano hinge you used?

@dktrchang 7 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately I dont, but I'm sure you could find a video on a continuous piano hinge install. Essentially the hinge is mounted to the framing of your door opening and the hatch door framing. You don't see the hinge in my video because of the thickness of my finished wood floor; you just see a gap. I used a 2" wide continuous piano hinge, heavy duty. The gas struts will end up holding all the weight and not the hinge.

@marlainamoran444 3 жыл бұрын

Do you have any drawings of the construction of the door and placement of the hinges and gas struts?

@dktrchang 3 жыл бұрын

Hi sorry for the delay response. I do not have drawings.

@MicksMetaMassage Жыл бұрын

If you don't mind me asking, what's the length of the door? Is it long enough to walk down relatively comfortably without hitting your head?

@sonnyedgerton8623 8 жыл бұрын

k thanks

@kennethpaxton6223 Жыл бұрын

I need the strut and attachment info plz

@williamstegall9241 4 жыл бұрын

What length strut did you use? 20 inch 24 36?

@dktrchang 4 жыл бұрын

William Stegall I dont recall, but I probably went with the longest length as I want it to open as much as possible. I was more concern about the weight capacity.

@HypergaugeDIY 7 жыл бұрын

Nice video. How heavy is your door? How do you figure out what size of gas spring to use? Thanks.

@dktrchang 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks! To be honest here, I didn't have use any mechanism or method to figure out the weight of the door. I figured if I could lift the door then there is not way it exceeds 200 lbs. which lead me to purchase struts that can handle 100lb of weigh per.

@HypergaugeDIY 7 жыл бұрын

Louis Chang Thanks for the reply. I am in process to out fit gas spring to my design and trying to figure out what size I should use. I am just surprised that you used two 100lbs springs on your door which I think it should be less than 100lbs weight. Anyway, you have a nice design and thanks for the inspiration.

@dktrchang 7 жыл бұрын

Yes, you are correct. I could've gone less than 100lbs per strut. I maxed it out just to be on the safe side as I needed the door to open and close effortless. I'm glad I could help! Good luck with your project!

@jasoncase62 6 жыл бұрын

You say you needed it to closes effortlessly. It looks like you are holding it at the bottom to keep it from hitting the floor hard. My wife has arthritis and back problems. Would she be able to easily lift and lower your door?

@sonnyedgerton8623 8 жыл бұрын

can you explain better on the placement of the struts please and thanks

@dktrchang 8 жыл бұрын

Look for the gas struts' dimension in its extended position. The same extended position measurement is used to determine where your top and side brackets will end up when your door is in its open position. Think of it as a triangle, the angled side is the extended position measurement while the right angle is the door. In general, it's also a trial and error install as you can see my door doesn't open up to 90 degrees as the struts I bought was a bit long. Keep in mind the struts I used handles 150# per strut. This is important as the door gets heavy.

@daveubinger7015 8 жыл бұрын

Can you give the measurements for the locations of the strut brackets? Thanks.

@dktrchang 8 жыл бұрын

Sorry, I have tenants in the house at the moment, so I will not be able to get in there to measure the distance from you. However, the distance is determined by the length of the extension of the strut. Sorry I can't help you beyond that.

@davte931 4 жыл бұрын

Any chance you figured it out I am looking for the same dimensions🤣

@williamjorgensen8121 3 жыл бұрын

Where did you buy the gas struts?

@dktrchang 3 жыл бұрын

auto parts online store

@Jason52597 3 жыл бұрын

How does the hinge work though?

@dktrchang 3 жыл бұрын

Sorry, i lost the original specs, but its a continuous piano hinge, similar to this ... shorturl.at/dqD19 definitely check on weight capacity

@magapefarmshomestead6453 3 жыл бұрын

What are the stze struts you used?

@dktrchang 3 жыл бұрын

Sorry, it’s been a while I’ve checked comments. If you’re still looking for the answer, it’s base on the weight required. I general I guessed on what I needed. For example if you think your door is 100 lbs, I suggest a strut that could handle 100+ lbs per strut. I went above an beyond and ordered strut that could handle 250-300lbs per strut. The length was also a guess, I went with 36”(I think) when it is in its compressed position. Sorry this was many years ago, so my memory is vague.

@magapefarmshomestead6453 3 жыл бұрын

@@dktrchang ty for responding. Thank you for all the additional information that helped with figuring this out.