KillingTime

Hi,New to the forum and looking for some advice on wood selection for the front door of my house.

I'm having a garage door made out of Cedar. I think this will look much better than the plastic stuff you find on most houses these days.

My front door is very close in proximity to the garage door, so it makes sense that this door is made out of the same wood so that it will match.

I was originally going to have the front door made from Iroko or sapele due to their hardy resistance to the weather, but these are darker in colour. I've looked for (UK) door manufacturers that use cedar as a wood choice for external doors and can find very few (lots of garage doors, but no house doors). Why is this?

Is it becuase cedar is a poor choice for a house door? Or that there are better woods on the market at a more attractive price point?

If cedar moves too much in service (compared to iroko or sapele), then I'll go with an oily hardwood and stain the cedar door to match.

Thanks.

Boardman

One of the most stable woods to use on a door would be Mahogany. And with something like a door you need minimal thermal expansion/contraction. Don't know how it would match with the ecdar but it's in the same general color area.

Tweegs

Gotta agree with Boardman.
The pics are of a mailbox I made about 3 years ago. The rather unsightly gap opens and closes throughout the seasons. The cedar is 5/4 decking surrounding a treated 4x4 post. Sorry for the poor quality...camera phones../shrug

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Kingfisher

It can be a very brittle wood too. I could see the stiles spliting easily if not built right. A straight tight grain fir would come close with a light red stain.

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Never measure what you can scribe

Nancy Laird

Alder, if you can find it where you are. We had one made about 5 years ago, and it has been stable all this time. Ours is actually knotty alder, faces east so it doesn't get a lot of sunshine or wind.

Nancy (60 days)

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Nancy and Dave Laird
D&N Specialties
Rio Rancho, NM
David works in the Pro Sales Divison at Woodworker's Supply.