Interior french doors

[Jan Williamson]

Hello all,
A friend of mine wants me to build her a set of french doors for a bedroom door opening. The bedroom is at the end of a hallway. She wants decorative screen of some sort to be in the place of wood panels or glass in the doors, so heat can circulate into the bedroom, yet keep her cats out of the bedroom.
When the doors are opened all the way they will sit flush against the bedroom walls.
Any ideas on choice of wood (to be painted) and door style. I am thinking about using pine or alder.

[Frank Drew]

Jan,

For painted work, any stable, mild-working wood without a very pronounced grain or pore structure would do -- white pine, alder, poplar, basswood maybe... or birch or cherry, depending on price and availability. I wouldn't use great-looking stock for a painted door, but if you had some indifferent looking cherry in the correct sizes it would work fine, maybe a bit better than the softer woods I mentioned above since it wouldn't dent so easily.

The wood should be brought to close to an indoor moisture equilibrium before being worked up, of course.

[Randal Stevenson]

I am not sure of the spelling, and it wouldn't be claw proof (are her cats declawed?), but I would be looking at something like Soshi screens. They use something like a tissue paper, it is porous, and would allow ventilation, yet provide some privacy. I don't know where you would find it as I believe it is a rice paper, but I am sure other fabrics and such have been used, in its place.

[Peter Quinn]

Pine, poplar, soft maple. alder are all good choices for paint grade work. If your friends cat is anything like mine I suggest putting in triple insulated glass to keep it from waking her with cries and meows in the wee hour of the morning, and using stainless steel rodent screening in any screen panels. My cat hasn't met a screen he wouldn't enjoy destroying.

Perhaps a solid panel, or two narrow panels on each door for the first 24 inches might deter the cat from using it as a scratching post and insure greater longevity, with the screening above? Fire retardant fabric stretched like a canvas over a frame might provide good air flow and decent privacy when required and can also contribute a dramatic visual effect.

[Jason Roehl]

I'll go a little different route and say MDF. Poplar is typically the choice for paint-grade wood, but you'll get more bang for your buck with MDF--with no flaws. The only downside is that cut edges of MDF require a little more attention when priming for paint, but that's not really a big deal.

[Chris Padilla]

I've had great success painting birch so look for that as well. Poplar is probably the best choice as it'll be the cheapest and is "good enough" for paint grade. You want a closed-pore wood so skip ash and oak. My front door is made from straight-grained fir so that could be another excellent choice. The key is to get clear, properly dried wood so that the doors stay straight, flat, and plumb over time. Mahogany is also another great choice for doors due to its stability but it could be quite pricey.

I would think MDF to be a bad choice because it can be easily damaged UNLESS you wrap the edges in a hardwood. Also, it is quite heavy and the correct screws must be used (confirmat) for them to hold well. However, it paints up beautifully and will be quite soundproof due to its density and it ought to stay flat.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Find the hardware first.
I mean absolutely first.

I was looking at doing my F doors for my exterior egress and all the hard ware I could find was monstrously expensive. I'm talking like $3-Gees each door.

[Frank Drew]

Find the hardware first.
I mean absolutely first.

I was looking at doing my F doors for my exterior egress and all the hard ware I could find was monstrously expensive. I'm talking like $3-Gees each door.


$3,000 in hardware per door? What did you spec, solid gold???

I must be missing something; how is the hardware for french doors any different than the hardware for any other door (hinges, handles and/or locksets?)

[Neal Clayton]

exterior mortise locks are vastly more expensive for whatever reason. exterior moritse locks for a single door easily surpass 1000 dollars from what i've seen.

however there are places that still sell interior mortise lock sets at a reasonable price.

rejuvenation
houseofantiquehardware

..are a couple i've ordered from.

[John Downey]

I would go with poplar or pine, depending on what is available locally. I'm not a big fan of alder, though it would work ok for an interior door, its growing popularity in the last 10 years or so has caused it to be vastly overpriced for the quality of the wood.

[Jan Williamson]

I think I'll look around for some poplar. I like the idea of the first 24" being solid panel. As for the screen part though, I also like the idea of installing the screened section in it's own frame. That way it can be changed out easily
Thanks for all the great input. :)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

$3,000 in hardware per door? What did you spec, solid gold???

I must be missing something; how is the hardware for french doors any different than the hardware for any other door (hinges, handles and/or locksets?)

It was the best I was able to do. And yah it was pricey.

The hardware is substantially different. Most manufacturers like Anderson make their own hardware. The stuff I found was the type you left exposed .

The doors have to lock very differently and the latches are unique.
So if you are able to design, cast, and machine your own french door hardware I rather suspect that you can set your own price point 'cause any one who wants the stuff is going to find that you may be the only game in town.

Mind you I wasn't looking for independently operated little shoot bolts which would require the operator to bend down and reach up to throw the bolts to secure the door. I wanted multi-point latching and locking all operated from the handles.

[Charles McCracken]

Hello all,
A friend of mine wants me to build her a set of french doors for a bedroom door opening. The bedroom is at the end of a hallway. She wants decorative screen of some sort to be in the place of wood panels or glass in the doors, so heat can circulate into the bedroom, yet keep her cats out of the bedroom.
When the doors are opened all the way they will sit flush against the bedroom walls.
Any ideas on choice of wood (to be painted) and door style. I am thinking about using pine or alder.

Sounds like a good project to enter in the Interior Door Making Contest:

http://www.woodmagazine.com/door