Closet door advice needed

[Chris Dennis]

Still new here and in woodworking. I need to build a pair of simple closet doors for an odd opening. Doors will be painted. Each door is approximately 2ft wide and 7 ft tall.

My plan is to make stiles and rails from 2x4. I’ll cut a 1/2 inch channel in each and 1/2 inch thick tenons on the rails for basic assembly. My main question is what to use for the panels in the doors. MDF or plywood? If plywood, what type should I use? Other option?

Thanks for any advice!

[Robert Engel]

MDF will add a lot of weight compared to plywood.

[Bruce King]

I would probably get the 7/32 ply from the big box store and laminate two pieces together. Before gluing together look at the bow, all plywood has a little bit, glue them together where concave faces concave and weight it down on a flat surface. This will give you a very stable panel about 7/16 thick. Make the pieces oversized and trim to size after they cure.

[Doug Garson]

When you say you will make the rails and stiles from 2x4's, what do you mean? Typically 2x4's mean construction lumber usually SPF.

[Jamie Buxton]

When you say the door frame will be 2x4, I'm concerned. 2x4 is construction lumber. It may or may not be straight -- house framing doesn't much care. And, at least in my area, construction lumber is sold green -- that is, not dried at all. It will dry out in your house. As it dries, it is quite likely to bow or twist. The result will be a door which is not flat. If you're building doors for your garage, maybe that's okay. But if you're building doors for living space, that's probably not okay.

[Bruce King]

All the interior 2x4s I see are kiln dry heat treated. KDHT stamped. Since there is a lot of importing it’s bug control.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Hat is the purpose and location of closet? Is this in the garage or in the interior of the home? If this is a closet in the garage, then materials are more flexible, and plywood panels would be fine. If this is in the house and open to the guests, then 2x4 are not the place to start.

[Jamie Buxton]

All the interior 2x4s I see are kiln dry heat treated. KDHT stamped. Since there is a lot of importing it’s bug control.

That's why I said "at least in my area...." Construction lumber is different in various parts of the US. On the west coast, construction lumber is almost all doug fir, completely green. It is possible to buy "kiln dried" material, but it is kiln dried only to 19% EMC. That's dry enough that bugs and fungus don't eat it, but it is a long way from the 8-9% EMC it will eventually dry to indoors. So both the undried construction lumber and the KD construction lumber here are not dry enough to build furniture from.

[Chris Dennis]

The closet is in a bedroom. This is to be a simple fix to hold over until a full remodel can be completed. I’m open to any material suggestions as I really have very little knowledge on subject. The 2x4 idea was for kiln dried, but maybe not best idea. Just trying to avoid special order doors and not spend a fortune on material.

[Robert Engel]

Why not just use a couple 2' luan doors?

[Mark Bolton]

If its paint grade and its just temporary I wouldnt even bother with the rail and stile construction. Just buy 1/2" MDF, rip a piece the size of your door, and face glue/pin nail 1/2" x whatever with rail and stile buildups that will look like rails and stiles to bothe sides. Sand and size the edges with heavily thinned wood glue, prime and paint and go on. You'd be out of the two doors for perhaps 2 sheets of 1/2" MDF, it'd be way faster, no joinery, and stable. Less of a heart break when you toss them in the trash or the burn pile.

As to the framing lumber I agree that even with careful sorting who knows what the material is going to do and its all dried to 19% HT or not. A lot of people build a lot of stuff out of framing lumber but there is always a chance involved. Your original plan would be find with MDF panel its just a matter of will they behave when the heat and AC do what they will do.

[Jim Becker]

The closet is in a bedroom. This is to be a simple fix to hold over until a full remodel can be completed. I’m open to any material suggestions as I really have very little knowledge on subject. The 2x4 idea was for kiln dried, but maybe not best idea. Just trying to avoid special order doors and not spend a fortune on material.
KD construction lumber is most often not dried to the same extent as hardwood (and softwood) intended for things like woodworking. The KDHT stuff that Bruce mentions "may" be better...I don't know. But I will tell you that you want absolutely stable material for something like a door. For your purpose, if it's truly temporary and you have a good flat surface available to glue up laminations, you could consider using strips of quality 12mm / 1/2" plywood to make up your rails and stiles with lap joints and make the recess for the panels as part of the lamination process. A little solid molding to frame the panels cleans it up. (The same technique can actually be used with solid wood, too...I've built doors like that multiple times to avoid cutting deep mortises, etc)

[Jim Dwight]

Two houses and over 20 years ago I built interior doors for our house out of construction lumber frames with shelving board raised panels. They were stained and clear finished. It's been a long time but I am pretty sure I used dowels in the corners along with little stub tenons that went into the grooves for the panels. The doors worked fine but small joints, like less than 1/8th, at the center where the 4 panels came together. A few small gaps at other joints. This happened because, while kiln dried, construction lumber is not as dry as we would typically buy hardwood at. I just recently used 2x4s and 2x12s to make the base of my dining room table. I measured the moisture content at about 20 percent. I didn't measure the cherry boards for the top but I expect they are closer to 8%. The base of the table was completed in January so not long ago. The base has curved supports joining the upright at the center where I used 12mm dominos. At least one of those joints opened slightly but I did not put any glue on the braces or upright except in the mortises. Some probably came out of the mortises but I did not deliberately glue there. It is one of these unintended glue joints I noticed a little gap in. I expected this based upon prior experience and they do not bother me. I stained the base with black ink and I can fix any gaps that develop which do bother me.

So the short version is I think what you describe will work but you will probably get some gaps at the joints, especially in the winter when the air is drier. I would put some dowels through the stiles into the rails, probably 1/2 inch, to strengthen that joint. I would use use 1/2 MDF for the panel. It is not terribly strong but I built a shop door for my previous shop this way and it held up fine. I created a molding I used at the panel to frame joint to dress it up so it even looked pretty good. I did not see any gaps develop in the joints in that door. By using 1/2 MDF you will avoid the weight issue you would have to a greater degree with a thicker panel.

I would also measure the moisture content of the framing lumber. I recently purchased a tester on Amazon for less than $50. I saw some variation in the wood I used. The 2x12 I used for the curved pieces was several percent higher but it was also almost totally clear so I used it. My experience is that construction lumber works for furniture but not without some consequences that may or may not bother you due to the higher moisture content. I don't think it is necessarily less straight than the hardwood I buy around here but it does have more moisture.

[William Hodge]

I suggest you buy some tongue and groove pine and make batten doors, screwed together. After you are done using them, they can be dis-assembled, and the wood used for something else. The pine boards would work well for utility wood in the shop. Nothing would go into a dumpster. It's a good idea to paint this stuff with shellac.

No plastic would be used or thrown out in the construction of these doors.

[Doug Garson]

Here's how I suggest you make them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px3D7wqycUc

[Mark Bolton]

Here's how I suggest you make them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px3D7wqycUc

Works but on an 84" door 3/4" can be a bit floppy

[Doug Garson]

Works but on an 84" door 3/4" can be a bit floppy
Hard to say if it would be too floppy, only 24" wide, fully glued in panel. Maybe add a third hinge, a center rail and bump the panel thickness to 1/2"? It's only a closet door.

[Mark Bolton]

Hard to say if it would be too floppy, only 24" wide, fully glued in panel. Maybe add a third hinge, a center rail and bump the panel thickness to 1/2"? It's only a closet door.

And only temporary so agreed. Anything goes. Maybe just a tension rod and shower curtain would work ;-)