10 Questions to Answer before you Buy or Specify a Door · Interior themes play a significant role in selecting the right type of door for the space. Interior door styles can make

10 Questions to Answer before you Buy or Specify a Door

Choosing a door to perfectly complement the look, feel (and budget) of a space can be more complicated than you might think.

The right door can make a dramatic difference in a home. Doors are critical elements of a room and have a high need for a good marriage of form and function.

We’ve put together a list of ten essential questions you should answer before selecting your final door choice.

Whether you’re choosing one door for a DIY project, or specifying a few dozen doors for a new construction house or home remodel, answering these questions will help you find the perfect door.

It’s considered best practice to set aside 0.5% to 1% of the total project value for doors. We also recommend having some wiggle room in case you need a special order/custom design, or find some to-die-for hardware that would push you intothe red.

What type of budget should you set aside for interior doors?

1

If you’re a designer working with homeowners, it’s crucial to have budget talks, down to how much to allocate for each product in the room, as soon as possible. Knowing where they want to save and where they want to splurge will help you guide them to the perfect look that fits their style and their needs.

Interior themes play a significant role in selecting the right type of door for the space. Interior door styles can make small rooms feel larger and large rooms feel warm and cozy.

Your client may want a country theme with horse paintings dotting the walls, wood paneling, raw-hide furniture and rustic tables. For this type of de-sign theme, a country-style barn door that slides on a track can complete the design and match the space. Whereas a standard solid door in this type of space might miss the opportunity to complete the look of the room.

What is the overall design scheme or feel of the space?

2

When selecting the right type of interior door, think about all the design elements in the space. Then select the door that matches and comple-ments these elements. The design theme could come from anywhere, from the building architec-ture itself such as the walls and woodwork or from a conversation piece in the space such as designs in a rug or furniture, the motifs in a painting, or even the craftsmanship used to create the lighting fixtures.

The main point is, don’t underestimate the im-pactfulness of a beautifully designed door and miss out on the opportunity to carry the look and feel of a room from top to bottom.

Do you want a solid core or hollow door?

3

The construction of the door will make a differ-ence in how it feels when you open it and how well it acts as a sound barrier. Doors are available in a wide variety of materials, each with their own unique look and purpose. For interior doors, most are made from wood and glass. Here are some types of common materials and styles you may use in your interior design project:

Hollow-core

These doors are constructed from a wood frame, plywood or hardwood surface and filled with rigid cardboard, which helps maintain their shape but makes them ineffective as sound barriers. Hollow-core doors are the lightest of the three types of door materials, and the least expensive. If you’re looking to install a barn door, hollow-core doors are not heavy enough for this application and will swing when sliding. These doors are typically used in multi-family buildings as an economic way to have all doors look the same. For a single family home, we’d recommend solid-core or solid wood doors for a more beautiful and high-end look.

Hollow-core Solid Wood Solid-core

Solid Wood

Solid wood interior doors are crafted from a range of hard or soft wood species, including maple, mahogany, cherry, and alder. These doors provide a natural sound barrier, but tend to be the most expensive of the three choices. Their heft provides a substantial quality feeling and are made to last. One thing to keep in mind with solid wood doors is that sudden changes in humidity and temperatures will cause the wood to expand and shrink. So you normally want to avoid placing solid wood doors in wet settings such as laundry rooms, saunas, spas, or bathrooms.

Solid-core

Interior doors that look and feel like solid wood doors, but with a lower price tag. These doors are generally made from wood-veneered plywood or moulded composite exteriors and filled with a wood-fiber interior to offer greater soundproofing than hollow-core doors.

How do you want your door to look?

4

Stile & Rail

A stile and rail door consists of horizontal frames, called rails, connected to vertical frames, known as stiles, that make up the outside of the door. The stiles will connect the hinges to the door frame on the fixed side and have the knob mounted on the swinging side of the door. The rails will have a top rail, bottom rail, and interconnecting rail. There may also be wood or glass panels making up the door surface.

MDF Router Carved

Medium density fiberboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made out of wood fibers combined with resins and glues to make several layers that are joined into panels using high temperatures and pressure. Some interior MDF doors may also have a foam core. Denser than plywood, MDF interior doors normally come with a smooth surface or can have inlaid panel designs that have been carved into the surface of the door using a router.

Deciding on the look or construction of your door is an essential step in choosing a door that will work with the overall look and feel of your room and not just be an afterthought. When selecting your door construction, keep your eyes on both the form and the function as doors are meant to be both admired and used. Use the descriptions and imagery below to help you choose the door that’s best for your needs and style.

Metrie Fashion Forward™ Door

Metrie True Craft™ Door

Door skin/molded panel skin

A door skin/molded panel skin consists of a door that is normally made out of plywood like a flush door. Yet on the surface, high density fiberboard (HDF) or medium density fiberboard (MDF) will be attached as a skin. The skin of the door can consist of various panel designs to add an architectural theme to the interior door.

Raised Panel

These doors are often the go-to standard six panel door you see in most residential spaces; however, raised panel doors are not limited to just the six panel design you’re used to seeing. Raised panel doors can come in a variety of styles with thick and thin panel designs and trim on the door, adding to its beauty and design. They are a great choice for interior doors, but if you’re looking for the right choice for a pocket door, these are not for you. The raised paneling will make these doors too thick and complex for a pocket door application.

What types of other finishing products will be needed?

5

It’s important to figure out what types of interior finishing products will be used in the space before deciding on the height of the door. If you use an architrave and crown moulding, it can have an impact on how the door fits into the frame, and you may end up with a door that is too tall for the opening.

Metrie Pretty Simple™ Door

Masonite Expo™ Heritage® Series Logan™ Moulded Panel Door

Interior design best practice says you should have at least 6 inches or more of space between the crown moulding and architraves—but we’ve seen some beautiful examples of breaking this rule, so don’t worry too much if you can’t quite accom-modate the crown moulding and architraves you want with adequate space.

Additionally, the look of your door should match the look of your casing and any other interior fin-ishing products in the room. If you’re looking for doors and finishings that go well together, the Metrie Then & Now Finishing Collections™ offer several different looks of interior finishings each with coordinating doors to fit the style and needs of any space.

Before you choose the height of your door, check our list of possible interior finishings to include

below to see if your door height will need to be adjusted to accommodate them:

Crown moulding: moulding that flares out when reaching up to the ceiling from the walls, creating a softer transition from wall to ceiling.

Casing: a type of trim that goes along the pe-rimeter of the door (and windows) to cover the gap between the drywall and the door frame to give a clean, finished appearance. Casing is generally thicker than the base-boards.

Panel mould: this type of moulding is used to create the raised panel look on walls.

Architraves: a decorative casing along the top edge of the door, also known as a head-er, that extends past the vertical trim (casing) along the sides of the door.

What door height do you need?

6

Does your interior door need to be customized?

7

As we said above, ceiling height and the types of interior finishings being used in the space must be factored in before finalizing door height.

In addition, also keep in mind any changes made to the flooring. Wood flooring, tiles and carpeting

One design nightmare you may experience is to order the perfect set of doors only to discover that none of them fit. Then you are scrambling to come up with a better solution than having the homeowner hack off the bottom part of the door.

Standard door heights for residential applications are 80 inches (6 feet 8 inches). Standard door thicknesses are either 1 3/8 inches or 1 3/4 inches. Yet no house, or interior door space, is the same. So you may have to either special order

can also affect the size of the door opening. With carpeting, you need to account for the height of the “pile” or your door may struggle to open and close properly. Take all these aspects into consid-eration while figuring out the type and height of the interior door you wish to install.

or custom order a door so that it fits properly. In addition, some homeowners want special design customizations, such as full glass inserts, smaller panes, frosted or etched glass.

Some designers and homeowners even choose to customize the door ‘sticking’. This is the design of the profile edge on the stile and rail. The most common options are ‘ovolo’ which is carved and rounded and ‘shaker’ which is straight and squared.

Ovolo Shaker

Should the interior door have glass, and what kind should be used?

8

Adding glass to interior doors is a great way to maintain the design flow in the house, while adding variety in door style.

There are two types of common glass inserts used for interior doors: opaque and clear panes. You can design a space using clear glass interior doors to

make small rooms appear bigger as well as draw in more light into dim spaces. Opaque glass inserts are common on doors where you want to allow the light to still pass through, yet want privacy. Often you will see opaque glass on pantry doors, closet doors, bathrooms and office doors.

All of the questions you’ve answered above will determine the final weight of your door. Hinges are made to hold the weight of standard interior doors

for years. For thick or oversized doors, the added weight can shorten the lifespan of hinges and begin to warp and crack the frame. Heavy duty hinges are

How much does the door weigh?

9

A door will be given a fire rating based on the amount of time the door can withstand fire damage before failing. Ratings can be as low as 20 minutes to up to 180 minutes. Interior doors that may need to have a fire rating could be kitchen doors, garage doors, craft room doors, and basement doors where volatile cleaning

chemicals and flammable items are stored.If you’re just replacing an interior door, you likely don’t need a fire-rated door. However, please check the local fire and safety regulations in the area of the home to ensure the door you purchase complies.

Is a specific fire rating required for interior doors?

10

widely available for oversized doors—just be sure to take this into consideration when purchasing your hardware.

A growing trend in recent years is the use of pocket doors for interior design themes in homes. Instead of hinges, these doors move on tracks mounted on the top of the frame. The doors can be pushed into the wall, providing more room in the space. While pocket doors are available in heavier weights as the track mechanism can support the entire length of the door, these models can still be more complex to design. When working with pocket doors, you want to avoid using raised panel doors as the raised

paneling won’t fit cleanly into the slot. If you’re considering a pocket door, knowing the weight and proper track needed to support it will help ensure a smooth open and close operation, as well as a long door life.

From a function standpoint, think of all the people that will be using this door. The weight of the door and the hinges you purchase for hanging the door will affect how heavy the door feels when it’s being used and what it’s like to open and close. If your interior door will be opened and closed by seniors or small children, the experience and weight of the door when opening and closing will need to match their needs.

Masonite

Standard Inside Door Sizes

Houzz Planning: How to Choose an Interior Door

Strong Housing Market Driving Demand for Interior Wood Coatings

Fire Rated Door and Frame Labels / Ratings

Sources: