SketchUp Door Tutorial – Modify the Dimensions of a Door Component

In our last tutorial, we created a simple recessed panel door with basic doorknob for the front door of our house. In this SketchUp door tutorial, we’ll modify that component so that it can be used as an interior door and adjust the dimensions.

The techniques discussed will also include:

• Modifying nested components.
• Creating new components from existing components.
• Mirroring an element using the Flip Along command.
• Rotating around a point.

I think that the main lessons in this tutorial are not necessarily around working with the doors themselves but the concept that you can work with components to reduce the amount of work it takes to build your model.

Let’s Get Started

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[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U710zgJHUYA[/embedyt]

Adjust the Door Openings

Orbit your model and zoom in on the three doors in the hallway that lead to the bedrooms and hall bathrooms. As discussed in the last tutorial, increase the openings by 1″ in each direction to accommodate the door frame. Repeat this step for all three of the door openings.

The opening should be 32″ x 81″.

Modify the Existing Door

Pan your model (Hand) to one side so that you are outside the house. Open the Components window (Window – Components) if it’s not already visible and click on the Door-3068 component that we created in the last tutorial. Click somewhere in the white space to place the component.

Orbit your model and zoom in on the back side of the door (no panel or knob). Double click on the component once to open the main component and again on the door panel to open the sub-component. Use the Push/Pull tool to increase the thickness of the panel to 2″.

Then use guides to indicate the boundaries of the recessed panel (6″ from the top, left and right and 12″ from the bottom). Draw the panel using the rectangle tool and push the panel back .5″. Close the door panel sub-component by clicking outside it. Delete the guides.

Set two new guides to indicate the placement of the doorknob (36″ from the bottom and 3″ in from the edge of the panel). Click on the doorknob component in the components list and place it on your door panel. You will probably need to flip the knob along the green axis so that it is facing the right direction (Right click – Flip Along – Green Axis).

Position the knob using the move tool. Delete the guides and close the component. If you struggle with this step, please see the video for more detailed instructions.

If you orbit around to the front door in the model, you will see that the component updated with the changes we just made. When you edit a component, you edit all instances of that component. If you edit a group, you will only edit that group and not any copies that you made of it.

Orbit back to the door component we just edited. Right-click on the component and select Make Unique from the menu. This creates a new instance of the component and any modifications will not apply to the previous instances. So, when we change the dimensions to fit the interior doors, it won’t change the front door.

Resize the Component

Next, we’ll resize this 36″ door component to 30″.

Double click on the component to edit it. Then double-click on the door sub-component to open it. Use the Selection tool (arrow) to draw a selection window around the right side of the door, including the side of the recessed panel, from left to right. It should look like the image below. Then use the Move tool to shift the side to the left 6″.

Close the sub-component. Then double-click on the frame. Using the same technique, shift the right side of the frame left 6″. Click outside the component to close it.

In the Components window, find the new component Door-3068#1. Rename it to Door-2668. You can also add a description. Then, delete the component.

Place the Interior Doors

Orbit your model so that you again looking down at the three doors in the hallway. Click on the new door component in the Components window and place it on the floor in the hallway.

We’ll position the door on the left first. Click on the Rotate tool in either toolbar. Then click on the bottom endpoint of the door frame on the right. Click a second time on the bottom endpoint on the left. Drag your cursor to start the rotation. Without clicking again, type 90 and hit enter.

Use the Move tool to position the door in the opening. I used the top corner of the frame as my snap point since I can easily see that point in the opening.

Use the same techniques to position the remaining two doors. Move all three doors to the Door layer using the Entity Info window.

Rotate the Doors to an Open Position

Let’s say we’d prefer our doors to be shown in an open position. We can double-click on any of the door components to open it. Then we can use the Rotate tool to pivot the door 45 degrees. Make sure you select the right pivot point. You will need to turn on X-Ray mode so that you can see the interior of the frame.

You can see that the panel rotated but the doorknobs stayed in position. Go to Edit-Undo or CMD-Z to undo the last step.

Select the door panel and both sides of the doorknob. Then make them into a component. You can call it something like Door-2668-sub2.

Now, try rotating the door panel again. This time, you will see that the knob follows.

By rotating one of the doors, you can see that all three of the doors are now open by 45 degrees. If you only wanted to show one door open, then you would first need to make that component unique. The downside of this would be that you would have to individually update that component separately if you wanted to make any changes later on.

Add the Trim

Use the Tape Measure to set guides .25″ in from the door frame and 3.5″ wide. In the corners, the trim will be narrower. Use the Pencil to trace the outline of each trim piece. Push/Pull each face out by .5″ and group them individually. Move each group to the Trim layer using the Entity Info window (see below).

Now we have three 30″ drawers with trim on one side.

In each room, orbit around to the back side and add the trim. Don’t forget to move each one to the Trim layer.

If you have any questions or comments on this tutorial, please comment below. In the next installment of this series, I will show you how to build the pocket door and bi-fold doors.

Full video tutorial coming soon.