Hi everyone
The doors in my 50-year-old house range from cheap to completely disgusting, and I’m thinking of rebuilding them.
The entry doors are fine (metal) except for one which leads out of the garage. I could build that one as a test and practice for the needed skills.
The rest are just regular room doors.
There seems to be endless material on FineWoodworking about cabinet doors (naturally), but very little about big doors. I found the following:
“Entry Doors” from issue #9! 🙂 https://www.finewoodworking.com/1977/12/01/entry-doors
“How to Build Your Own Front Door” https://www.finewoodworking.com/2012/04/05/how-to-build-your-own-front-door
“Build a Houseful of Doors” https://www.finewoodworking.com/1998/06/01/build-a-houseful-of-doors
I read all those, but I still have so many questions, perhaps someone here can help answer them?
Types of doors
Frame-and-panel seems to be the default choice, but I’m not excluding the idea of making a hollow-core door if it can be made to look good. What types of a door are reasonable options? Photos would be appreciated, I don’t know much of the appropriate jargon.
Interior vs exterior
If security is not an issue – is there any difference between an interior and exterior door? Or is it just the finish and glue used? Though on that point I loved this from FW 1977: “In order to be classified “waterproof,” a glue joint must withstand boiling water for some hours without losing strength. If you plan to boil your doors, phenolresorcinol glue is what you want.” 🙂
Door frames and trim
I wouldn’t be surprised if both the door frames and the trim were made of the cheapest softwood available at construction time. I do think it’s wood rather than the MDF they use these days.
I worry that these materials will not hold once I remove the hinge screws, or hold a heavier wood door at all, and the trim has been (badly) painted so many times it might make more sense to replace it instead of trying to make it look good.
What do you think?
Type of wood
It may be just a personal bias, but I don’t like using softwoods for things that take a beating. What’s a reasonable other choice in Ontario? Poplar seems to be popular for this sort of thing (because it’s cheap I think), but are there other options? Especially if we decide to clear-coat them instead of painting? (that’s not likely but it’s possible) I’m not planning to spend thousands of dollars on this.
Panel thickness
I can’t quite tell if it’s common or good in any way to have the panels be the same thickness as the frame. It would surely make the door very heavy, but other than that – are there reasons for thicker or thinner panels?
Haunched tenons
“A tenon with blind dowels need not be haunched because the  dowel pins not only make the tenon effectively longer, but also transform a stub tenon into a haunched tenon.”
I can see the hounched tenon on the plans but I’m missing something, I don’t understand what the purpose of it is. Why the complication?
Sound insulation
One thing I would really like is to have more sound insulation for the rooms. I’m thinking that the biggest problem in that regard currently is the crappy doors. How do different types of doors compare in this regard? If it’s panel doors – does the thickness of the panels make any difference whatsoever? How does a solid panel door compare with a hollow core door when it comes to blocking sound?
Distance from the floor
Several of these doors will go into rooms which have carpet currently, but not for long. I’ll be replacing all of it with hardwood at some point. What should I measure from? The top of the carpet pile? The bottom of the carpet minus 3/4″ for the hardwood I’m adding?
And what’s a good space to have there for an interior door? As little as I can, while still being able to swing the door open?
Again, for sound insulation, that crack under the door is a very big deal. Are there ways to minimise it without installing a sill?
I’m attaching a photo of one of the doors, so you can better appreciate why leaving them alone is not a good option 🙂 That’s right, it’s not even cut straight on the bottom.
Thanks in advance for sharing any suggestions or experiences!
Replies
Oh, one thing I forgot: am I correct in assuming that the wood for the door needs to be 100% straight, seing how the door is hanging in mid-air and doesn't have any sort of walls that could straighten almost-straight boards?
That alone is going to be a challenge on my short-bed 8" General jointer, though I'm willing to give it a shot (planning for a lot of waste I guess).
I can answer some of your questions. I built all the doors in my house, interior and exterior. I also built all the door frames. They are flat panel doors to go with the style of our house and this did make it easier. These are all quarter sawn white oak. I purchased 8/4 stock and planed it to within 1/4 of my final thickness. I let it sit for a week to move and then flattened every on my jointer. I would finally bring it to final thickness. I used the same process for the width. The joinery is m&t. These were 3” deep. No extra dowels. They have stayed fairly flat over the years. No racking. As for height. I would trim them about 1/2” above the floor.
I have no answers on sound control. Poplar would be good if they are painted. Poplar can darken irregularly with a clear finish.
I’ve attached some pictures of my doors. I’ve made 25 in total and this was done with a 12” planar, a 6” jointer and a table saw.
Fumed white oak doors in a red cedar frame.
You can change your doors to any you want. I like how glass panels look like. I have such an entrance door at home. I know it is not the most reliable variant, especially if your area is not safe. But I use an Ajax security system. It includes automated door locks that work perfectly for me. I use them in a combination with motion sensors. I don't know if it can be convenient for you, but I truly recommend you to consider this as well as the variant with a good lock and a metal secured door. At least, it looks more aesthetic.
To each his own, but my question is why????
How much is a 6 panel solid door? vs. the lumber and your time?
I made a set of french doors for my shop is not hard just takes a lot of space.
So to start, hollow core doors are a lot like cardboard in structure. I don't know how someone would make one in a home shop. For sound insulation a heavier door is better, so go frame and panel.
Warping is a issues I had one warp and it is a problem, but I also used framing lumber which was for price. If I did it again I'd probably mill it a little bit at a time over several weeks.
Interior doors are similar in design and construction. The jams are different as a exterior door needs weather striping and a threshold, interior doors do not. The actual door is really not much different than a door for a cabinet, just bigger.
Gary katz has some good videos on doors, hanging them and building some.
Do you have some links to Gart Katz videos?
I just bought a full-length 8" jointer, so I'm less worried now about milling long boards flat.
As for joinery, do you think a dedicated router bit set like the Freud 98-300 would be a worthwhile investment, assuming I'll make about 10 doors?
It's 350CAD on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Freud-98-300-Exterior-Interior-Construction-Roundover/dp/B001ET5UL0/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=rail+stile+freud+exterior&qid=1617694603&sr=8-14
I like that it will allow me to make panels as thick as the door frame. Or is there a cheaper option?
Cope & stick joints aren't known for their inherent strength, basically because the tenons from such a router bit are very short and the glued surface have too much end-grain in them. For heavy doors - especially those used outside and so subject to weather-induced expnsion & contraction greater than inside doors will suffer - traditional M&T joinery would be safer, especially if you reinforced the glued joints by draw-boring them.
But the Freud ad-blurb states:
"The Unique design allows woodworkers to produce tenons of any length for extra-strong joints"
It's not obvious from the illustration of the cope & stick router bit set how that can be achieved but perhaps someone can explain? Cope & stick joints are still going to be less resilient than traditional M&T but perhaps this Freud pair have a means to somehow make the tenon a proper long 'un?
Lataxe
Instead of a coping bit that produces the undercut cope at the same time as the stub tenon. the bit in question has a flat top, with no bearing or extension.
You mage a square edged door, with old fashioned mortises and tenons -- any length, even through tenons. Then you run the quarter round profile the length of the stile, and use the flat bottomed (or flat topped, in a router table) coping bit to undercut the shoulders on the rails. So you can have a fully coped joint on a full size tenon.
Those stud tenons are pretty much useless by themselves.
You can cope by hand. Cut your traditional mortise and tenons. Run the bead on all pieces. Haunch the stile the width of the flat on the rails where they join. Using a guide similar to the 45 degree jig used to cut Komiko, miter the molded ends of the rails with a chisel and cope to the resulting outline with a carving gouge. The pics are a cupboard & clock door so it is only molded on one side. The procedure is the same for full size with both sides profiled.
"miter the molded ends of the rails with a chisel and cope to the resulting outline with a carving gouge"
I guess that's what the router bit set saves me from doing? Sounds a little intimidating for me to be honest. :)
I'd go with the solid frame and panel. Second John about no stub tenons for door this large and heavy.
However, a sound proofing faux hollow interior door might be possible. In one of my older hard copy FWW mags there is an article using thick cardboard core to fill for a veneer table. If I wanted improved sound resistance, a skill building exercise, and had monetary limitations... then this might be something to explore.
Andrew might want to explore this as an option for a room with pressing noise issue situation. For example, make and paint a faux hollow core door now for a loud teenager while you have carpet. Replace it with a "better" door when/after the carpet is replaced.
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