Interior door options
vvm
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
What is the most non toxic, eco-friendly option for an interior door in a home? We are looking to update all of our interior doors. I’m assuming a solid wood, but we are having a hard time finding a vendor in North Texas and hesitant to buy online. Also, what would be the next best thing in case it becomes too pricey for us?
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Search and download construction details
Replies
Hi Vvm.
Any lumberyard or big box store has off-the-shelf wood interior doors and can order custom sizes. You should not have any trouble finding a large price range of wood interior doors.
Thanks Brian. I'll look into it.
Make sure you know what you're getting. They're some pretty looking doors that appear to be solid wood, but have an extremely thin veneer over some kind of particle material.
Thank you! How do I know if it's solid wood? Could I tell just by looking?
vvm,
The easiest way is to look at where the door has been prepared for hardware. The routing for hinges, and holes for locks. Just looking at the finished door it can be very difficult to tell.
If you are trying to minimize interior chemicals, you can buy unfinished wood doors as well. Then, you can apply your own finish, or none at all if you wish.
Simpson makes a line of quality interior doors. Like most manufacturers they use veneered construction, and they don't say what thickness the veneer is. If you're looking for a stain-grade door at a reasonable price point, you'll be looking at veneer construction. Simpson sells to wholesalers who will do hardware prep and pre-hang if that's what you want. The wholesaler then sells to lumberyard. One advantage of veneered construction and engineered wood pieces is that there is less chance for warping or other door problems.
If you're looking for paint-grade, there are more choices.
I suspect big box stores will be the cheapest and most convenient options. But for comparison purposes, you also might want to check out sites such as Doors for Builders or Nature's Best Door.