I am looking for solid wood doors – exterior and interior – what doors might I look at? By solid wood I mean the same wood through and through, rather than built up with veneer or thin lumber on the outside and a different species inside. Style? Shaker would be nice.
It seems the term solid wood is used differently by different people. To some people solid wood means what it used to (see above). For others, as long as there is some or the other kind of wood inside, it is solid wood.
There are important considerations to keep in mind when building a slab-on-grade home with continuous insulation.
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Replies
you will have to look for custom door mfr;s ,.... all of the big name mfr;s use cores & veneers
the solid wood doors are too prone to splitting because most people cannot control the interior humidity levels in their homes
There is a reason why most solid wood doors today are made up of laminations and veneers - because it is better. That way, you have a way to limit movement of the wood, splits, warping, etc..
Using solid wood as you describe is certainly possible, I have done it, and there are custom door shops that do it, but that means you have a way to control the entire milling process, or take a shot in the dark on the quality of the wood, the curing, the fabrication and glue-up, etc......
meaning, in short, that the kind of doors that you want are going to be more expensive, and in many cases, have a greater chance of failure. One article I read by a door fabricator indicated that the national rate for some form of failure in doors is something akin to 15% when failure includes warping out of plane.
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An exterior wood door is definitely a spot that benefits from the more stable veneer construction. Think about the temperature and humidity differences that can exist between the two sides of an exterior door - that's a lot to subject one solid piece of wood to. Older homes lacked our climate control that create this extreme difference, and older solid wood doors also used older growth lumber that was more stable to start with.
I would think that interior doors would be a more acceptable place to use solid wood, but you're still going to have some seasonal movement that could cause some problems with doors sticking and warping.
If you're still thinking you want to use solid wood, this is one company I have come across when exploring the web:
http://www.etodoors.com/
I don't know anything about them except they claim to use solid wood construction. They are probably more familiar with these issues than any of us (whether they admit to it or not), may be good to talk to them in regards to warranty issues. Maybe someone else here has done business with them before.
Jamie
I haven't bought anything from these guys but the prices aren't too bad. All interior doors, I don't think you would want solid exterior doors anyway.
http://www.door.cc/index.html
I believe these guys may make them solid.
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Google for "Homestead Interior Doors" and you will find their web page. I think it is an Amish outfit. They'll ship to you.
Good luck. I prefer stiles and rails to be laminated faces on a stave core. The best custom door maker here resaws wide stock then planes it to 1/8" for the face "veneers," and edging faces are more like 3/8" thick. Glue up is via vacuum bag press.
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I buy alot of stuff from http://www.bairdbrothers.com
Thanks for the responses. I did find many manufacturers on the web. Just don't know who is good, who is not, hence my original post.I get points about stability and humidity. What I wonder about is that doors were solid wood for a long time and worked fine long before the built up ones came about. I realize that historically mechanical systems were not as much of a concern, and the lumber was old growth.So I wonder if the concerns that are expressed regarding solid doors are an excuse for current manufacturing standards and materials.
I wouldn't use the word 'excuse' there. It is just a simple statement of fact. It is darn hard to go to a hardwood supplier and sort the racks to find enough clear straight tight verticle grain lumber stable and dry that is just right for doors. I have done it. And I work on older homes with old doors that are mostly solid wood. These old doors do not all perform perfectly either, and not all of them are original for having been replaced at one time or another over the past 100-150 years.so -
Selection of lumber today is no what it once was, but glues are better.Methods?
choose between several. A blind wedge mortise is bet. Any tongue and mortise is better than the dowels most use now, but modern glue makes up for a lot there.Your biggest challenge is still the extremes of environment between interior and exterior on that e3xt door.
FWIW, the best old ones I have seen in that situation are all 2-1/4" thick, have had storms over them, and are under a covered porch type entryway where little sun or rain hits them.The succesfull exterior ones we have used have been mahogany, at least 1-3/4" thick with all parts carefully sealed.
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In re-reading your responce, I see your focus may still be on manufacturers. Is there no quality woodworking shop in your area that has experience with doors? That is where I would go. The prices are comparable with 'mail-order' doors
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"What I wonder about is that doors were solid wood for a long time and worked fine long before the built up ones came about."They worked, but they didn't work as fine as you may think. There was always settling of the joints and cracking etc. After many years, maybe 75 to 100, wood will become more stable because it takes time for the resins within to solidify and there's less movement, and you're right, much of it was old growth.I have stripped the paint off dozens of old doors & windows , (that's all I did for 3 years at one point), and have found many many cracks & repairs in just about all of them.Paul is right. The glues are better today than the weaker hide glues of yesteryear, and the best joints are still through wedged or pegged tenons.Solid new is ok and works, and I have installed them before, but a well made built up works better.
I used the term manufacturer casually, and meant any one who makes doors, at a large scale or small.Based on what I am reading here, I may have to revise my take on doors.Next question - who are the better producers of wood doors? You know, the built up ones!