I just had about 20 doors replaced in connection with a remodel. We wanted miracle doors, but unfortunately didn’t think too much about it other than that. We ended up with a flat single panel door (of course with rails and stiles – which I was expecting) with miracle molding. We were expecting solid wood doors, but it turns out that they are solid core doors – with a core of red oak plywood and a red oak veneer. I’ve been told that single panel doors must be made with plywood and veneers because a single slab of wood for the single panel would warp. Can anyone tell me if this is true?
Also, the veneers show seams. In some doors, you can see a seam fusing two pieces of veneer side by side 2/3 of the way across the door, in some the seam is roughly in the middle and in some its 1/4 or so from the side – in other words, there is generally one seam but its location on the door varies. We had intended to stain the doors, but the different pieces are taking the stain differently, in some cases, dramatically differently giving us a very striped door.
These doors were really pretty expensive. Were my expectations of getting a real solid wood door unreaslistic considering the type of door I asked for?
Is there anything my contractor can do to minimize the variation and minimize the striped effect?
We are using Duraseal dark walnut stain.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!!
Replies
Miracle doors?
Brand name?
As far as the staining, a good painter should be able to apply to mask the change in veneer take. Might need to reformulate the stain to acheive the desired effect. Putting it on and wiping off sometimes doesn't work as planned. A prestain process will help you even out the match.
Veneer doors are usual and does have the advantage of not splitting as some solids do. The downside to many reasonable priced veneered doors is that the veneer is so damn thin, even brushing it with sandpaper removes what suggestion there was of wood.
Single Wood Panel Doors
Everything the company who you bought the doors from is wrong. We make solid wood panel doors all the time for both exterior and interior with raised panel and raised molding and have been for years. We do not use engineering methods such as using veneers or cheap wood in the core such as Oak.
The reason the company did this is because they probably can't get the real wood and it is cheaper to manufacturing doors like they did for you especially if they made them in China, Indonesia or Phillipeans.
If you want to see examples of "real" mahogany solid wood doors, then take a look at our website http://www.DecoDesignCenter.com and you will see the solid wood doors both finished and unfinished.
The stain you want to use "walnut dark" is fine for wood doors however, for exterior with that kind of dark stain, make sure you have plenty of overhang since the sun is drawn to darker stain colors but you should be fine. Hope this help!
Deco Design Center