[Metal edging for floor plywood at sliding door opening]

On Fri, 25 May 2007, PB wrote:
> I actually found the L-shaped aluminum, and I think it will work just
> fine.  I'm going to make it slightly longer than the original strip,
> which will involve some cutting and filing.  I'll also have to drill
> holes and find some "unobtrusive" screws, if there is such a thing.

My best guess would be countersink head wood screws, preferably in
aluminum, brass, or stainless steel.  Aluminum and stainless may be
harder to find; brass should be available at your local hardware store
or big-box home center.  The two concerns are 1) rain/mud/gunk getting
tracked in the doorway and corroding the screws and 2) galvanic
corrosion between dissimilar metals.  1 is probably the biggie.  2 is
best solved by aluminum screws, but they aren't very strong and are hard
to find.  Brass is probably the best combination of liking aluminum and
being easy to find.

You can get an official drill bit to make the countersink, or you can
fake it with a big regular drill bit.  If the screw head (not the shank)
is 1/4" (6.3 mm) diameter, try something like a 1/2" (12-13 mm) drill
bit, and just "kiss" it to the metal - don't go all the way through.
Then use a smaller bit, that will clear the shank of the screw, to drill
the rest of the way through the metal.  With any type of bit, have the
aluminum sitting on a block of scrap wood so it won't dimple/bend
underneath the drill bit.  Since you had to cut it to length, you should
probably have a scrap piece of aluminum that you can practice on.

You probably know this already, but also drill the plywood subfloor
and/or the new wood flooring you installed with a pilot hole for the
shank of the wood screw.  Sometimes the screw package will have the
drill bit size on it, or there are plenty of charts online.  Holding up
drill bits to the screw until you find one that is visibly smaller than
the small diameter of the threads also works just fine.  :)

Matt Roberds