We are looking at getting a new front door. We’d like to get an arts and crafts style wooden front door. The salesman who came out recomended against a wooden door because we face south and such a door is likely to fade and split over time. Does anyone have any experience and or advice? Thanks in advance.
At the risk of sounding like the dufus I am, why does which way it faces make a difference? I can kind of understand if it’ll be getting full sunlight, maybe…but why would it split? Rain can come from any direction.
We picked out (and hauled home) our own wooden door that we found at the distributing warehouse we frequented. Like all the interior doors and baseboards that we changed out, we sanded and penchromed it ourselves. The door was pretty massive and with several coats of “varnish” was virtually indestructible. Also, if you go to a distributing company where the doors are actually kept, you can pick out the one you prefer as far as grain and “color” goes. If you’re going to paint it, would that really be any different from painting your house? What kind of door is he suggesting? :dubious:
We have a wood plank door on our house that is between 60 and 75 years old. It’s very slightly warped, but there is no splitting. It’s made from 2" thick (8/4) tongue and groove pine. The cedar logs on the western back of our house are badly sun-burnt and have some cracking, but they weren’t properly maintained in the past. Seems unlikely that a well built door will suffer much from a southern exposure.
Why not a steel door if you don’t mind me asking? When I went door shopping a month ago, the consensus was “why would you buy a wooden door when steel is safer and generally wears better”. So now I ask the same of you 
We have steel front door painted to look like wood.
We have a steel door. Everyone in the family has been burned by it at some point. It gets very hot. I’m not really worried about the marginal difference in safety between metal and a good solid wood door. We’re looking to replace ours with wood.
We have a steel door. In the summertime, it gets hot enough to burn your skin if you touch it. that’s why not a steel door, IMO.
I remember my parents buying a new front door when I was probably 12 or 13. It was wooden, and south facing. It was still in fine condition when my mom sold the house a few years ago, after almost 30 years of wear and tear.
FTR, SuburbanPlankton and I are talking about the same front door. He’s at work, I’m at home…we must be thinking alike.
Could you explain how a steel door is safer than a wood door? And are you aware that steel doors rust?
TriPolar, no need to get snippy! That was just what my research led me to as well as the suggestions of the various people in the door departments at the various big-box stores. The only study I recall seeing said steel vs wood, steel was much more resistant to being kicked in, but I didn’t take it all together seriously since a door manufacturer commissioned it and the study predated 2000.
Suburban Plankton & Rhiannon8404, do you have kids who touch the door a lot? I can’t recall the last time I touched the outside of the door.
Thanks for the replies, Becky2844 the salesman mentioned that we are facing south and it is true that the front of our house does get a lot of sun. I live in DC and June-Aug. can be brutal.
As for why not a steel door, it is simply a matter of aesthetics. We’re slowly, but lovingly trying to restore our rowhouse to all its 1920s glory.
Just a point. A south facing door under a “deep” overhang/porch is quite different than a south facing door under a shallow roof line “ridge”. In the sun some (or not at all) and not in the summer when the sun is high versus in the sun almost year round.
What kind of overhang to you have at the door?
Is there a nice large porch or deep eaves, that will keep rain, snow and the worst of the sun off of the door? Is there affectively no overhang, so the door will get much worse weathering?
If I had to guess, I’d think that the salesperson was referring to the finish on the door fading and cracking. I’ve had windows, with wood frames, where the finish pretty much cracked and flaked off of the frames, on the south and west sides.
Nothing wrong with a well-built solid wood door. With the southern exposure, I probably would not go with a painted door, unless you want to repaint it every couple of years. But stained wood with a tough clear finish like spar varnish or urethane should hold up pretty well.
Thanks all. The door is covered by a roofed porch, about 10’x20’. I think we’re going to go for it, my neighbor up the street has a very similar door and it’s been there as long as I’ve been here and it looks goo.
Oh in that case it would IMO be fine as long as its as quality wood door with a quality painting/coating/varnish. You might want to keep an eye on the coating or vanish and sand/recoat it before it gets in too poor of a shape to protect the wood fully. But even then, thats probably gonna only be every 5 or more years. We recently use Zar Exterior Grade Polyurethane varnish for an outdoor wood project. Its supposed to be some of the best out there. It was pricey and we had special order it at 80 bucks a gallon! But sometimes its worth getting the best in the long run to save you more time and money later.
Southern Wooden Door – I have one. I use the best Spar Urethane I can find. Minwax® Helmsman
The intense sun breaks down the finish after about 5 years. Lightly sand with 180 Grit and recoat with Spar Urethane. Takes about 2 hours total.
If you wait too long and bare wood shows up. you have to sand, stain, and recoat in Spar Urethane. I try very hard to avoid this.
Nah, that’s not it. The Kiddo is 13, so he’s old enough to fend for himself now. it’s not even strictly a matter of touching the door…you can feel the heat coming off it when you reach out to turn the handle.
And I’ll wager you brush up against your door more often than you think (when holding packages, say)…you just don’t notice it because it doesn’t burn you when you do.
Yeah, it’s the accidental touching. Worst burn I got was when I was holding something and it started to slip as I was unlocking the door and w/o thinking I leaned toward the front door so it would not fall to the ground and burned my upper arm. It was red and tender for a couple days.
Of course, it could just be that we have an evil front door and most metal doors aren’t like this. But ours really sucks.
Oh hell, if you’d mentioned that to begin with. . .
A suggestion: if you’re staining it yourself either now or in the future, you might try your local Habitat ReStore to find cheap products. I unloaded a full pallet of stains and urethanes last week (mostly Minwax) and the shelves were already groaning with cans of the stuff.