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choosing a bathroom door

Taylor | Posted in General Discussion on April 16, 2005 06:02am

Trying to choose a bathroom door. Existing door is hollow-core MDF flush…..if previous remodellers could do anything cheap, they did. Original doors are oak!

I’ve narrowed it down to Simpson 2-panel door to match existing door, so nothing special here. Since existing doors are painted, that’s the route I’ll be going.

So the question is, paint-grade or some species of wood?

Paint-grade appears to be hardboard panels near as I can tell, don’t know about the rest of it. Kinda worried about using that in high humidity environment. Or would it be less likely to warp than “wood”?

Why even consider wood if painting? Well wood grains do show through paint in existing doors, in a nice way. But oak door would clash with cherry vanity, cherry door would clash with other oak doors, DF would clash with all of them…. And are so-called “wood” doors really just MDF with wood veneer these days? I can see how MDF wears in existing POS door, it isn’t pretty….

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  1. jrnbj | Apr 19, 2005 08:19pm | #1

    I'd go with the paint grade Simpson....since you're going to paint it....my experience lately with real wood doors, unless it's a six panel, it's way expensive...(everyone uses six panels, so lots get made, so they are cheap)...
    I had two panels in my old house, loved the look....now I have a mixture of stained birch flush (I think about the same time vinyl siding appeared, people who couldn't tune up or appreciate wood doors threw out lots of beautiful frame & panel units) and hollow core moulded six panel....can't stand 'em, can't afford to replace 'em....

    1. User avater
      Taylor | Apr 19, 2005 10:28pm | #2

      Thanks for the reply. I looked at a "paint-grade" Simpson this weekend, looks like cheesy pine with I am guessing hardboard panels (I was looking at a French door so HB is just a guess). Waiting for a quote on paint grade and DF just for comparison.Some of the POs of these old houses should be hunted down....

      1. BryanSayer | Apr 20, 2005 12:29am | #3

        >>Some of the POs of these old houses should be hunted down....What is the license fee and when does the season open?We had a church that owned one of the grand old homes right on Broad st. They wanted to tear it down for a parking lot. Never got permission, didn't even let salvage come through, just knocked it down in the middle of the night with a big back hoe.Of course, we don't even HAVE a salvage facility here.

  2. brownbagg | Apr 20, 2005 01:15am | #4

    why not just go get an oak door like the orignals.

    1. User avater
      Taylor | Apr 20, 2005 01:37am | #6

      Where do I "just go get an oak door"? Researching here in particular, Simpson seems to have a decent reputation and carries the basic 2-panel door. Other links I've found to door manufacturers are very high end and don't waste their time with basic 2-panel. Thinking DF instead of oak because I read that oak doors are particularly prone to warping, and I like the look of DF grain even if it may only be visible through a coat of paint.

      1. brownbagg | Apr 20, 2005 03:34am | #8

        I bought all my doors from a local doormaker Barnett Millworks.

  3. DonK | Apr 20, 2005 01:20am | #5

    Taylor - Be careful about what you buy as a wood door. I've bought a few over the last year and I've found that many of them, esp. Reliabilt are veneers. This includes what appear to be 6 panel solid doors. They are advertised as "solid wood", but if you cut more than 1/4" off in any direction, you cut thru the veneer, and what you will see is not pretty. It's a bunch of chunks of laminated junk wood. Performance in humidity is not good either. Swelling, shrinking etc., are all amplified. Look for a warning or a note that says -- Do not cut > 1/4". I just bought 2 new 6 panels, went to the lumber yard and paid a little more for real, solid wood. had to cut 1/2" inch off, and could do so with no fear.

    1. jrnbj | Apr 20, 2005 03:14am | #7

      I have to disagree...a well made lumber core veneer door will be more stable than a solid wood frame & panel one...absolutely true that you can't trim more than the planing edge off, but that shouldn't be a problem in most cases....

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