Wood for screen door?

[Phisherman]

White oak, cypress, teak. Poplar is often used and takes paint well but you got to be sure to seal all end grain, poplar will rot.

[Jimbo]

I'd go with poplar and consider the possibility of laminated construction if that is possible.

[SonomaProducts.com]

Pine is not Pine you might say.

If it was SYP or some old growth type p> cm wrote:

[Jack Stein]

The pine screen door on the house I grew up in is over 100 years old far as I know. My brother still lives in the house and the screen door is exactly as it was when I was born 63 years ago. It always made the "whack" you speak of, the result of a long spring closer. If the wood is not getting wet and not in the sun, about any wood will last forever.

I could take a picture of it if you like, it is a rather nice, old fashion screen door.

The door was green but I noticed my brother painted it white, probably

20 - 30 years ago...

Pine is an excellent wood for weather as well, much better than oak. It is less durable though, so it should "wear" quite nicely:-)

I'd suggest sturdy building methods if you want it to "whack" and last. Half lap joints or deep tongue mortise joints would be my choice. I think this one has mortise and tenon joints if I had to guess.

[Bill]

I like northern Michigan too, especially in the summer time! I must have been about 12 when my dad fixed our patio door so it wouldn't close like that anymore (with a standard "air pressure stabilizer"--I'm not sure of the right terminology). I am reliving the relief as I sit here (how many loud "WHAK's" do you need to hear?) We were instructed to close it gently, but you know how other kids are. Good luck with your door!

Bill

[Pat Barber]

I live in N.C. and I can tell you that you don't want a SYP screen door. I have seen it tried and it won't work for very long.

Douglas Fir remains the king of screen doors in my opinion.

After many years of screwing around with screen doors, my next one is probably gonna be a nice aluminum model.

Wood is fine but fiberglass is the finest material for exterior doors.

It don't rot,twist,warp,bow or lose it's finish in a very brief period of time.

I haven't seen a fiberglass screen door, but i would jump all over that if available.

S> Pine is not Pine you might say.

[SonomaProducts.com]

[keithw86]

I wouldn't think fiberglass would be rigid enough to resist racking. Maybe fiberglass on a cedar core (e.g. canoe thwarts and keels)?

[dpb]

...

Eastern white pine is the traditional window frame/door material. Ages ago, it wasn't hard at all to find it in large sizes essentially clear; now it is still available but pricey and a very sizable fraction goes to the commercial window people such as Andersen et al. and is never on the market.

SYP is a mixed bag; as someone else noted, early growth in it is probably the most notably different in characteristics from most of what one obtains today as any wood I know. Most now is produced on managed tracts and grows at a much faster rate than did the specimens from the virgin pine woods. Consequently, it tended to have a much more closely spaced growth rings and so the amount of soft wood between the harder rings was much reduced. It works easily enough when fresh but the resins tend to really harden and it is much harder and less amenable to handwork if old. It tends to produce splinters if grain is not parallel to edges similar to fir. A splinter that starts is almost impossible to prevent from continuing to separate.

--

[Pat Barber]

It would need to be some sort of frame surrounded by glass.

I suspect with all that slamming, glass might not be a good choice.

I have seen a composite door made by "Screen Tight" but they are kinda ugly.

just noticed that they also sell a solid wood door.

a pressure treated model.

[e-mail] wrote:

[Gary]

You can still find those "rubber ball thingys" at

khc