Replies

1. 
   DenverKevin | Dec 24, 2003 03:20am | #1

   In my experience, Mahogany holds up the best.  Usually doesn't cost more than Oak

2. 
   goldhiller | Dec 24, 2003 03:37am | #2

   Rich,

   By "three dealers", do you mean 3 big-box stores? Not usually a good place to get reliable information or help.

   Are these doors frame and panel construction or slab/smooth faced?

   Are we talking red oak or white oak? (Red, I suspect)

   Are these doors composition core (particle board) with face veneer, solid wood lamination core with face veneer, or are these doors actually solid wood with no face veneer? It may be that the frames of these doors are veneered and the panels are solid stock.

   Do you have a choice of the above concerning the style of door you're looking at?

   Is your home ACed during the humid summers of Chicago? If so, then the laminated core door would likely be your better choice of the three potentials.

   Is the porch roof of sufficient size as to ensure that no rain will strike the door, even if windblown?

   Have you seen the specs on the fir door that the one dealer claims is only paint-grade and the specs on the fir doors from the other dealers that say they will stain nicely? Those specs should tell you if the door in question is stain or paint grade. From that information you should be able to discern whether the dealers don't have a clue about what they are selling or whether they do. There should be no guess work or assumptions involved in determining stain grade or paint grade.

   Either of the woods you refer to can be colored in the range you describe but the final appearance can be somewhat different due to the difference in grain structure of these types of wood.

   Several coats of a high-grade marine varnish would serve you best IMO. To name a few……. Interlux, Woolsey, Pettit or Epifanes. Sikkens TGL would be a good choice also. The very least I would recommend offering up to the door is McCloskey's Man O' War varnish.

   Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 12/23/2003 7:47:20 PM ET by GOLDHILLER

1. 
   reganva | Dec 24, 2003 05:06am | #3

   No, not a big box, I learned a hard lesson about special orders at HD.  Never again.  One dealer is a large local lumber yard, another is a small millwork shop, third is a local window & door installer.

   The door is frame and panel construction, solid wood, no other option.

   The species is red oak.

   The door is pretty well sheltered by the porch, I have never seen the concrete in front of the door get wet, but I think it is possible for the door to get wet if there was a real nasty storm.

   Thanks for the advice.

1. 
   goldhiller | Dec 24, 2003 05:33am | #4

   The additional info is helpful.

   If either door would be solid stock, I think the fir may well prove to be more stable if you can get it as stain-grade. But the oak could survive alright under your circumstances as long as the varnish is renewed if/when it degrades.

   If the door is well protected from sun and rain, then the major battle you'll be fighting with keeping that door easy operating and well sealing is the differential between the indoor and outdoor humidity levels. Prolonged variations on the two sides of the door will lead to the tendency for cupping of the individual framing members as well as the panels.

   Oil-based varnishes are pretty good vapor exchange retarders. several coats should slow the exchange rate substantially and therefore minimize the tendency to cup when differentials are high.

   Four coats wouldn't hurt. Both sides. This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to use the same exact material on both sides, but could use an oil-based poly on the interior side becasue this would give you the ability for more control of sheen on that side toward the living side where the higher sheens of marine varnishes may not be to your liking. Don't forget to varnish the edges of the door as well.

   Ideal for a true solid stock door would be if you can get a door in which the framing members are made of quarter-sawn stock because it will make for a generally more stable door. That might be a tough bill to fill unless the door is custom made.

   Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

   Edited 12/23/2003 9:35:10 PM ET by GOLDHILLER

1. 
   Piffin | Dec 24, 2003 06:15am | #5

   Since the comparison is to red oak, I'll take the fir.

   If white oak, the decision would be harder.

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   goldhiller | Dec 24, 2003 06:36am | #7

   Agreed.

   But....I have had good success under the right circumstances using a red oak exterior door and a particle board veneered one at that, which is probably why it worked.

   Under duress of sorts, I agreed and mounted one of those outrageously heavy red oak veneered PB doors from the big box as an exterior door about 15 years ago. Marine varnished (4 coats), protected by a quality storm door (which we also mounted), protected by a porch roof, facing north. (Used 6- 6" screws thru the hinges to hit the rough studs for bearing the weight)

   ACed in the humid summers and no humidifier in the winter.

   Nary a problem yet. Looks and functions as good today as it did then. This was for an old friend of the family just a half mile down the road from our family farm so I see that door at least several times a year.

   Wouldn't care to do it again and wouldn't advise it, but it worked that time.

   Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket.

   Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.

3. 
   stossel1 | Dec 24, 2003 06:34am | #6

   Fir