Any negatives to solid wood doors?

[fifo28]

I am gong to be changing the doors in my house.  Are their any negatives to solid wood doors?  Is warping a real factor?  Is seasonal shrinking and expansion significant?

Thanks

 

[Sparktrician]

Doors made from stock that is properly kiln-dried and accurately machined should pose no problem.  Look at all the doors that were made prior to the hollow-core door evolution that still work well today.  If you want a slab-type door, there are many solid-core doors that you could consider which have laminated cores that resist warping quite well.  Doors that are manufactured these days generally show little signs of warping and significant size changes in most circumstances.  Exterior doors are made to resist more extreme conditions than interior doors. 

 

[peter halle]

If you are going with solid core stain grade doors you will need to allow for expansion and contraction when hanging and making the reveals.  This is just Mother Nature doing her thing.  Don't go the route of making tiny gaps - homes move and wood moves.

If you are going paint grade then many of the doors are made of man made materials like mdf which are more stabile than most natural woods.  Gaps may be smaller because of reduced expansion, but house movement might still come into play over years.

Check to make sure you slabs aren't warped before you buy them and get them into conditioned space as soon as possible and don't lean them against walls and you should be fine.

Peter

 

[AlexThePalex]

Most doors over here are solid wood. No problem whatsoever. I think generally hollow doors give more problems on the long run than solid doors because they break more easily.

 

[mouppe]

Are you referring to internal doors or doors to the outside? My outside doors are solid frame and panel doors made from sapele. They are VERY heavy. I can't think why you would want solid doors inside a house, unless you are planning to run your house Fritzl-style.

My external doors are 8 years old, and I revarnished them over the last couple of days (by coincidence). Earlier this year I had to have one of them sanded slightly as it was sticking. A minor inconvenience compared to the quality they offer day-in, day-out. The frame and panel construction should take care of most of the seasonal movement if they are well-made. My doors show no sign of warping whatsoever.

From my experience, I can recommend solid doors 100% over other doors. My previous home had hollow-core doors and they gave me many more problems as well as being less secure.

I also think the quality of the hardware and door frame makes a huge difference.

 

[Mauri Motti]

We have all our doors solid. They all are made from proper air dried pine. Frames were installed then primed, painted two coats and the doors idem. Then after four seasons I had to take off a little at three doors which I did from underneath the hinges in the door frame (four hinges on one door) Thats all it took. Those are three out of seven doors total (all outdoor doors). @ RL: all our inside doors are solid wood also, I think it makes a huge difference in feel, when opening a solid vs cardboard  [tongue] Only the door to the toilet in my workshop is hollow core and once when I have the time I'll replace it by a solid door too

Kind regards,
Mauri

 

[mouppe]

Mauri,

That makes sense if they are pine. Certainly I wish my children's bedroom doors insulated the sound a little better!

 

[AlexThePalex]

Are you referring to internal doors or doors to the outside? My outside doors are solid frame and panel doors made from sapele. They are VERY heavy. I can't think why you would want solid doors inside a house, unless you are planning to run your house Fritzl-style.

Sorry RL, I didn't see your question back then. As Mauri already said, both internal and external doors are solid. External doors are made of hard woods like Meranti, Merbau or Teak, and internal doors are mostly made of Pine. Because of the pine they are still light weight, and to save even further weight and cost, they are often made of a solid frame with thin panelling in between like in the picture below.

[attachimg=1]

 

[mouppe]

Thanks Alex. Good info.

 

[Akrylikas]

Really depends on what finish you have in mind paint will crack and solid wood doors are made of 5 peices with that being said your middle panel will shift over time and with the tempreture change, i have to say 1 Peice MDF is a better solution to this problem unless your staining your door is to avoid any miter jointed doors.