My door is painted and so I have selected a cheaper option (maple), but poplar or another cheap hardwood would do just as fine too. Wood is strong, but depending upon the species and how it is treated it can also warp and cause door problems.Īny furniture grade hardwood would be an excellent choice. For example, plywoods and composite boards like medium density fiberboard (MDF) are very stable, but they are not as strong as wood and can fall apart over time in a way that solid wood will not. The two things that need to be balanced in selecting materials for a door is strength and stability. When making doors yourself the materials you select can have a big difference on the quality and the functionality of the door that you build. The downside to them is that they look cheap, they are not very strong (anyone with a teenager who likes to punch things knows that) and don’t always have the best insulation (as they are generally hollow). The benefit of these doors is that they are cheap, stable and easy to paint.
Most interior doors today are made from a material called Masonite, which is a kind of wood fiberboard that is steam cooked and pressure molded onto a thin wood frame to create a slab door that has an appearance of a door with rails stiles and panels. If you want to know more about my door measurements, check out my website at Step 2: Preparing Your Space and Measuring The door that I am building is in a space that is much smaller (only about 20 inches or 50cm) which is why I decided to build one. Closet doors can be much smaller, but the smallest pre-fabricated door that most stores sell is 24". Standard door widths can vary from 30" to 32" to 36". Interior doors are generally 80 inches tall and 1 3/8 inches thick (exterior doors are generally thicker). Rails and stiles are generally made out of the same materials, but panels can vary and even include glass or screens.
The rails connect the two stiles together at a few points and the panels fill in the gaps. It is very important that the stiles be stable and straight. The stiles provide the main structure of the door and take the brunt of the wear. There are all different types of door ranging from slab doors to barn doors, but the most basic doors generally consist of three major parts.