SketchUp Tutorial: How to Model a Simple Door Component

In this SketchUp tutorial, we will learn how to create a simple 3D door for our house model step by step. The techniques discussed will also include:

• How to adjust dimensions of an opening in a group.
• How to use the Follow Me tool to create a simple door knob.
• How to model a simple recessed panel door.
• How to add simple trim to a door opening.

Let’s Get Started

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[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_itwWS75Tk[/embedyt]

Adjust the Door Opening

Before we model the door, we need to increase the opening by 1″ on each side to accommodate the frame. We’ll use the Move and Push/Pull tool to shift the sides and top of the opening. Double click on the exterior walls group to open it. You know it’s open when you can click on a wall face and see the blue dots.

Use the Move tool to move the top face of the door opening up by 1″. Make sure all of the edges and face are selected. You can use the selection (arrow) tool and drag a box around the face from left to right.

Use the Push/Pull tool to push the right side over 1″.

Select the face and edges of the left side of the opening and use the Move tool to shift it left by 1″.

Click outside the walls group to close it.

Create the Door Frame

Draw a rectangle over the opening from top left to bottom right.

Offset the face by 1″ towards the interior.

Delete the interior face. Use the Push/Pull tool to extrude the frame back 6″.

Use the Push/Pull tool to push the bottom of the frame down 1″.

Then erase the two edges on the bottom face.

Triple click on a face of the frame. Make the frame into a group.

Create the Door

Draw a rectangle inside the frame from top left to bottom right.

Use the Push/Pull tool to extrude the rectangle back 1″.

Offset the face by 6″ to create the edges for the recessed panel.

Then move the bottom edge of the new rectangle up by 6″ to create a larger reveal at the bottom of the door. Make sure you are snapped to the blue axis by holding down the up key as you move the edge.

Use the Push/Pull tool to push the interior face back .5″ to create the recessed panel.

Triple-click on the door and make it into a group. Alternatively, you can make it into a component called Door-3068-sub.

Create the Door Knob

Next, we’re going to create a doorknob component that we can reuse on the rest of our doors. The first thing we need to do is set guides to indicate the center of the doorknob. Set a guide 36″ from the bottom of the wall edge and 3″ right of the left side of the door panel.

It will also help to set a third guide that is parallel to the green axis. Click on the wall edge of the closet that is perpendicular to the wall with the door. Then drag the guide up to the intersection of the other two guides and click to set the guide.

Activate the Circle tool. Click one on the intersection of the guides. Drag to the right, type 1″ for the radius of the backplate and hit enter to finish the circle.

Now we’re going to draw a cross-section of the doorknob that we can revolve to create the 3D knob. The measurements below are estimates to create a very simple knob. Starting at the top of the circle, draw a line out .25″, making sure the line is green as you draw. Then draw a line segment down .5″, over .25″ and over again 1″. Click on the Arc tool in the toolbar. Make sure you can see the icon for the 3 point arc.

To create the arc, click once on the left endpoint of the 1″ segment, then again on the right endpoint. Then drag your mouse up, type .5″ and hit enter. As you drag up, make sure you’re aligned to the blue axis by holding down the up arrow.

You should now have a face that you can revolve to create the doorknob.

Let’s smooth out the circle that indicates the back plate of the knob. Click on the edge of the circle. In the Entity Info window, change the number of segments in the circle to 50.

With the edge of the circle selected, click on the Follow Me tool in the large tool pallet. Then click on the doorknob face. The tool will automatically revolve the face around the perimeter of the circle.

Triple-click on the doorknob and make it into a component called Door-Knob-Simple.

Select the frame, door panel and knob and make them into a component called Door-3068.

Make a new layer called Doors and move the door component to it.

Create the Door Trim

Finally, we’ll model the simple 3.5″ trim around the door to match the windows. Start by setting guides .25″ from each of the inside edges of the door frame. Then add a second guide next to each of those guides that is 3.5″ away. It should look like the image below:

Then, use the Line tool (pencil) to trace around the guides to create the back face of the trim.

Use the Push/Pull tool to extrude the trim out .5″. Then triple click on the trim and make it into a group.

Use the Entity Info window to move the door trim to the Trim layer.

In the image above, you can see the basic recessed panel door with simple 3.5″ trim as it looks from the living room. In the next segment of this tutorial, we’ll learn how to modify our door component to create the appropriately sized doors for the bedrooms and how to model the bi-fold doors. In the final segment, we will model the pocket door.

If you have any questions about this tutorial or any suggestions for improving it, please comment below.