Replace plexi-glass in door?

[fourgonefishn]

Has anybody replaced the white top half of plexi with anything else? I was thinking of a nice tinted plexi. But I think what is in the door or frame is alot thinner than what the stores sell. True or false. Would like to do this soon.
 Thanks

[austinado16]

Recently had mine all apart because the previous owner's fix for the frame coming apart was to duct tape it to the door frame (nice!).  Yes, that plastic panel is very thin. Basically just sheet plastic.

[wavery]

I think that a thin sheet of fiberglass would do much better than plexi.

If you can't find it, it's easy & cheap to make your own. Just put a piece of Saran Wrap on a flat surface. Put down a piece of fiberglass cloth and coat it with polyester resin. Let it set for a day to cure. The Saran Wrap will peel right off and you can cut your new fiberglass panel to size after about 24 hours.

If you want to add some color to your panel, you can get colored gel-coat tint to put right into the resin that you use.

If you want a little stronger piece, just put a second piece of cloth on top of the first one, while it's still wet. That's a little tricky so you may just want to use an 8 oz. cloth to start with.

I would recommend buying a fiberglass resin roller instead of trying to use a paint brush to spread the resin evenly on the cloth. You will end up with a much nicer piece and you will be able to roll all of the air bubbles out..

[fourgonefishn]

I think that a thin sheet of fiberglass would do much better than plexi.

If you can't find it, it's easy & cheap to make your own. Just put a piece of Saran Wrap on a flat surface. Put down a piece of fiberglass cloth and coat it with polyester resin. Let it set for a day to cure. The Saran Wrap will peel right off and you can cut your new fiberglass panel to size after about 24 hours.

If you want to add some color to your panel, you can get colored gel-coat tint to put right into the resin that you use.

If you want a little stronger piece, just put a second piece of cloth on top of the first one, while it's still wet. That's a little tricky so you may just want to use an 8 oz. cloth to start with.

I would recommend buying a fiberglass resin roller instead of trying to use a paint brush to spread the resin evenly on the cloth. You will end up with a much nicer piece.

 We were thinking more in the ways of a window panel. With air on you can see out the door for the kids or whoever is coming nockin.

[wavery]

We were thinking more in the ways of a window panel. With air on you can see out the door for the kids or whoever is coming nockin.

If you don't add any tint, the panel will be clear. Not like glass but you will certainly be able to identify whoever is there.

BTW.....everyting will clean up with mineral spirits or even vinegar.

It's a lot easier to do than you might imagine. Just like rolling out a pie crust. Once you get the cloth pretty evenly wet, the resin will be self leveling. Just don't use too much resin....just enough to completely wet the cloth.

[austinado16]

One thing that might work nice-n-simple would be to use the existing plastic as a frame.  Cut out whatever size opening you like/want/need, and then have a piece of plexi or lexan cut to just a 1/2" or so bigger all the way around.  Then glue it to the "frame" with something like that ultra clear silicone.  Might turn out real nice looking.