exterior doors

[dan petroski]

the boss just asked me if i can build an exterior door with cherry on one side and ash on the other. she liked my ceder storm door . has anyone laminated wood to make an exterior door? it seem a laminated door would tend to warp less?

[David Kumm]

Dan, I built a set of entry doors with oak on one side and walnut on the other. Flies in the face of concensus. I tried to minimize the movement issue by using rift oak on rails and stiles. The raised panels were kept separate and just glued in the center to keep each side from shifting. The doors are to my offices so they are banged all day long and have held up for 12 years now. They do bow a little seasonally but are not exterior so both sides face the same temp and moisture. If I had it to do over I would glue wood edges to separate BB ply and veneer each side. More work but safer. Whether exterior ply whould be used is your call. Dave

[Mike Goetzke]

I built a white oak door using laminated stiles - the rest was 8/4 oak. I received tons of help from a professional door builder I believe "JGrout" at Woodnet. Here is my stile:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/Projects/Entrance Door/LVL Beam/IMG_0278.jpg

...and my door:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/mbg/Projects/Entrance Door/Finished/IMG_0391.jpg


You can see I have an LVL beam laminated. The door has been up for 2-1/2 years now w/o a problem.

(edited - I forgot to mention that the raised panels are in two pieces)

Mike

[Jimmy Horrocks]

Mike...That is the proper way to make a door. Nicely done. I just built five two and a half inch thick QSWO using the same technique. And yse, they are VEY heavy. Jimmy

[Peter Quinn]

Mike's door is the right way to do it. Face laminating two species using 4/4 is a problem for interior work and a nightmare for entry doors. Either use a timber strand core as in Mike's pics or a stave core, then you have rock solid stability and two different face species. You just have to laminate the strips that form the molded portion of the inside edge of stiles and rails, and pick a species for the outside edge. Make two panels and silicone them together back to back, so they float in two different temperature ranges, or if the door is thick laminate with a layer of 1/4" foam insulation between them for an air break.

[Larry Edgerton]

Mikes way is one way to build a door, but I would not go so far as to say it is the "Right Way". There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

I have one roundtop raised panel commercial door that is painted on outside side, wood on the inside, in one of the worst locations imaginable, on Mackinaw Island in the Straits of Mackinaw. It has been opened millions of times over the past 14 years and stood up to all the weather the straits can dish out. I used the method that David mentioned.

I built two doors basically, or half doors I guess, and laminated them to a sheet of 3/4" Appleply hidden inside the two with West System used liberally. You can not tell the ply is inside, the west system does not let the wood move, and the door has stood the test of time. I have built several other high use commercial doors with this method, and they are all still working with no warpage. This was my solution to different finish, different species doors, and it has worked for me.

I do not like callbacks, and after the roundtop mentioned above warped useing laminated construction with a LVL core, I switched to this method. I have had no callbacks.

Larry

[dan petroski]

david....thanks for the response. i get about 50,000 lbs of fire wood for the season. all hardwood. i have a small sawmill so when i see a good log i mill it. i think i'lll go ahead and bite the bullet and build one. if it warps too much it is still firewood.

thank the rest of you for the veneer type hints.sounds a little above my skill level. do you use a vacuum press for the glue ups? that method will shurly cut the warping down.