Flush exterior door – veneered – 2 options
Hi there,
I’m having some difficulty with making a 1-3/4 inch thick flush exterior door (facing west and under a porch).
I think I have two options here:
1. Start with 1.5 inch quarter sawn white oak for the rails and stiles, put it together with a bridle joints and put two 3/4 inch ply wood cores in. From there, put 1/8th inch quarter/rift sawn white oak on each side. I’d have to make the veneer myself here which I’ve never done before. I have a Dewalt planer and a 14bk laguna bandsaw. Should be doable but not sure if I can run 80 inch long veneers through my planer
2. Start with 1- 3/4 inch thick white oak stock and put plywood for the core. Then buy veneer sheets online that are about 1/18th thick. This would be the easier option in that I won’t need to make the veneers myself. Issue is will the 1/18 veneers last and be good enough for this type of door? Also, 1/18 is adding thickness.
I would appreciate your thoughts on both options and would be open to suggestions.
Replies
Let me get this straight - you are using 1 1/2" white oak to make a 1 3/4" flush door by veneering the oak over a plywood core? I'm perplexed!
Your still going to need full dimension oak for the styles and rails or at least wood of some kind. Good waterproof glue and pressure (veneer press ,bag)should work on the veneer. Wood is reactive to humidity or wet conditions and oak more than most. I would most definitely seal the door with a penetrating epoxy under your finished coat. Wouldn't it be easier to just make an oak door? I don't personally see any advantage to using plywood as a core. Your going to need a quality plywood ,smooth both sides ,no voids for the veneer, and maybe even something like a lumbercore. Your not saving much money and adding risk! You already have 1 1/2" oak? But if your buying 8/4 would solve your problem. If this is into an existing jamb a new jamb ,which is never a bad idea on a new door anyway, solves the thinner stock problem as well.
Maybe my description wasn't clear. So with option 1, I'd buy qtr sawn white oak (8/4) and make it 1.5 inches, from there I'd make rails and stiles with the white oak. After that, I'd add plywood/core, filling all voids with bondo, and add 1/8th veneers on each side. With the veneer, the total thickness would be 1-3/4 inch. What I'm describing is not much different from the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI96NYIbQVE&t=4s
I FFW'd the video to see the door construction with the plywood cores. What you describe could work, but I would go M&T over bridle joints to reduce end grain exposure. Long parts through a planer are not a problem, long AND thin can get sporty if your planer is hungry that day.
I agree with Pantalones that the veneer job needs a vac bag setup. Make extra veneer and practice everything, this is a pretty big bite for a first try.
How about using white oak plywood sold in stores ?
If you go with thin veneer, I think to avoid future problems, you will need to have a unitary skin under the veneer, rather than oak around the edges and plywood in the interiors. Probably 1/4" MDF or such. You could veneer the edges to hide the MDF.
If the goal is DIY then ignore the rest of this.
A commercial AA GRADE door is going to give you the best long term results. Remember the words "structural composite lumber core". That core is much more stable than any other option. Hardwood edges are a must. All veneered options are available plain, quartered, rift, with book or flitch matches.
Doors, frames and hardware is my day job and we get to see 1st hand how they last, if they don't and why.
Seal everything and seal it again. If you cut in a lock, seal the exposed wood. Hinge screw a holes.... seal em. Drip edges above and off the sweep.
By they way FWIW commercial buildings virtually never use wood doors on the exterior. Sun/heat cycle through days and temp/humidity cycles through seasons just wreaks havoc on veneers.