Paintable Interior Passage Doors

[Dave Norris]

Good Morning Everyone!
A project is coming down the road for three interior passage doors for my house. Definitely going to be painting them. What would be a good wood for them? Probably going to be four or six panels with loose tenons.

Thanks for any advice!

[Jim Becker]

Soft maple, yellow poplar, alder, etc...lot's of good choices. The manufactured two panel doors in our addition are made of MDF with wood inserts in the hinge and lock set area. Very solid. Very heavy. Painted up wonderfully.

[Paul Girouard]

Poplar.

Or if money's no object, VG Fir, best paint grade wood from the PNW.

[Peter Quinn]

We use poplar primarily for paint grade doors, soft maple as an upgrade occasionally. For paint grade panels we use Truppan ultra light MDF, it can be ordered in various thicknesses, we use 3/4" and 1 3/4" thicknesses though I believe 1 3/8" is also available. It mills easier and has a less spongy texture than standard MDF. Also much lighter and thus easier to work with. I understand there are other products available regionally with the same qualities. We use birch faced MDF for flat panels.

[Jason Roehl]

I agree with using manufactured product at least for any panels on a paint-grade door. I've re-painted many an all-wood 6-panel door. They always require extra prep because of the poor interaction of paint build-up and joints. Especially bad are 6-panel doors that have been painted several times with oil-based enamels. Many of the panels will have a ridge of paint near the edge of the panel, parallel to the grain, highlighting the bare wood between it and the stile...:rolleyes: