Design suggestion request

[Ba r r y]

Folks,

I have a room which features a red oak floor, doors, craftsman style wide trim, and radiator covers. The floor is clear oil varnished, the rest is stained Minwax Natural, mixed 3:1 with Minwax Golden Oak, then covered with Seal Coat and the same varnish as the floors, for just a slightly darker color than the floors. The walls are a cool, medium soft green.

Then there's the metal entry door, factory painted dove gray... 8^( The door looks good from the outside, and is durable and secure, but what to do with the inside...

Since we all appreciate wood here, does anyone have any suggestions on what to do with the door?

I can gel stain and "grain" it, but I don't know how that would look side by side with real wood. Painting it the wall color wouldn't work, according to my wife (so you know it won't ).

Help! There's lots of different tastes and plenty of good eyes here. Anybody?

Thanks, Barry

[Art Greenberg]

Laminate a red oak veneer on the inside, and stain it to match the trim.

[Ba r r y]

Excellent suggestion, but I forgot to mention that the door has a stamped raised panel design.

Your suggestion has me thinking about a false panel, along the lines of a Sub Zero 'fridge.

Thanks!

[Lowell Holmes]

I would probably make a new front door out of quarter sawn white oak. It is a weather resistant material. It will require periodic maintenance, but so do the metal doors if appearance means anything.

But then, I dislike metal doors and for that matter mdf. I'll take real wood every time. :-)

A faux paint job would be better than what you've got, and if you don't like the results, it is reversible. Doesn't Jewitt or Flexner have a recipe for faux finishes on their website?

[Ba r r y]

This particular door is in a brutal, direct sun location. I was trying to avoid spending tons of my time refinishing the door every year, as I had to do with the old door. We tried storm doors to protect the old door, which literally created an oven. A newspaper stuck between the doors would actually brown in a couple of hours, even in the winter!

Since the house is white with typical dark green trim, a painted door looks fine in this instance. All the nice wood is on the inside, where I don't have to refinish it.

They sure do. Since the door is surrounded by real wood, and is next to a real wood closet door, I figured this won't be the best location for a faux finish.

[Lee Gordon]

How about filling in the depressed area with Bondo and then laminating with oak veneer.

Lee

[Leuf]

Maybe the best use of wood in that case would be inside of a tree screening the entry, if possible.

-Leuf

[Art Greenberg]

If you have access to a vaccum press, and use and soften a commercial veneer, you could get it to follow the contours of the door. It might look a bit odd, though, to have a raised panel door look so uniform in the grain of the wood.

It would be more trouble, but more authentic looking, if you veneered the panels, rails, and stiles separately.

[RicodJour]

Laminating thin plywood to the inside of the door is by far the easiest solution, but there are some caveats. You will need to hide the edges with molding; the molding will stand out from the surface of the door plane and casings, which might look odd - mock it up to be sure you like the look; the areas behind the raised panel recesses is more vulnerable to damage, but in all likelihood you'd need some clumsy gorilla to poke a hole in the door at those exact spots. If that last one has you concerned, you can fill in the recessed areas with expanding foam, let it fill the void and then cut the foam back flush with the face of the door.

R

[Mike O.]

I would look for a good painter and ask if he could wood grain the door to match. This technique is quite common on both metal and fiberglass doors and a skilled painter should be able to make a very good match. While it won't be a real wood door, it should look very close and IMO will likely look as good as any of the alternatives mentioned. I also think you could do this yourself but it might take a few attempts to get good colors and a few more attempts to get the graining technique down. I'd pay the painter.

Mike O.

[Ba r r y]

Great point!

The leading contender is currently a "hanging", as in the kind on a wall, or a faux set of wood blinds,

Barry