My client has asked if we could build his interior and exterior doors out of redwood. I have built several screen doors out of redwood but not full interior or exterior.
I am really not worried about the interior doors but I am concerned about the durability for an exterior door. The supply of redwood I have available (CVG) is somewhat brittle and I am concerned about cracking at the hinge connections and at the door knob.
The doors will be 3 panel shaker style rails and styles. I have thought about veneering with redwood over laminated pine or poplar rails and stiles. My concern there is that after you cut the mortises, your back down to redwood.
Has anybody had experience with redwood as a door material? Would love your feedback,
thanks
Bruce
Replies
I'll bump it - use to make doors in Austria - but not out of redwood
I would think that a a seven quarter exterior door would not crack at the hinge/lock stress points. Pre-drilling screw holes is a must and you may want to use use screw sleeves that are more forgiving. There are some custom hinge makers that can set you up with a very strong hinge and a set of screws that will set well in red wood.
Dudley's point about thicker material is a good one. I made my front door from that holy of holies, quarter-sawn white oak. It's laminated from three layers of 4/4 material, with the center layer alternately recessed to form dados for the panels, and projecting to form full depth tenons.
I'd be a little worried about the full depth tenons in flat sawn material because of wood movement, but cvg redwood isn't going to move much, just like qswo. The door is thick - 2 1/4 in. - but that works well in an Arts and Crafts house. I glued it up with Weldwood Plastic Resin glue, which has a good open time, doesn't creep when dry, and is waterproof.
I finished the panels before glue up for durability and ease. To prevent them being accidentally glued in place, I wrapped them in Saran Wrap, which I razored off after the glue set.
Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
Andy,
It sounds like you set up the laminations so that you did not have to do any mortising, rather you just fit the tenons in the "gap" and continued laminating. Is that the case?
Bruce
Exactly so. It was easy - mortises cut with a chopsaw, in effect. So far, the door's been there for about 7 years with no problems. Well, some water spots where my idiot offspring sprayed it down with a SuperSoaker, but nothing structural <G>Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
Have your client show you a good example of one. You may find more examples made from exotic hardwood that are "red" in color.
Redwood is lightweight and the wood is very soft. The color of exterior redwood always turns a dirty gray. A lot of the commonly available Redwood is not all heartwood, the non red part is usually eaten by termites.
I was in Northern Calif. where redwood country is, I was looking at their stacks, they were all premium. Apparently, they sort out all the stuff with white wood in it and ship out to all of us.
I think it was in FHB where the one page ad shows a large redwood deck. The lumber yards I know do not have that much premium redwood and its certainly not as beautiful now as when the picture was taken.
I am no expert on redwood doors, but I always recommend against using redwood for decking.
Since you have experience in building redwood screen doors, take a look at your old jobs. Your old screen doors will tell you more than I can.
I'll chime in too....bad choice for doors....if it's durability your clients want, Mahogany is the way to go (or perhaps Teak)....
Go for it. It works. It's soft and will definitely wear, but if that is OK, go for it.
Thanks for the opinions and insights
Bruce
When I finished trade school I worked for a short time for a company that built colonial wooden joinery in NZ. Our premium line of exterior doors and windows were redwood. Nice and stable in a humid enviroment.