[vadim04]

i'm going to make an inside panel rasied door for a bathhouse(sauna) and wonderinng if the high moisture will damage my door .

 

[Steve Neul]

With the high moisture you would have to make sure you use a wood tolerable to those conditions. For example if you used red oak no matter how you finished it water would get to the wood and eventually turn it black. Then you would need to use a water proof glue like titebond III. If the doors you are going to make are wide it would be better to put a center stile in the doors and make the panels more narrow. There will be more expansion on the panel than if the door was in your kitchen and a wider panel may expand enough to push the door apart. Even with smaller panels it would be best to make the panel 1/4" smaller than the space it fits in and use something like space balls to fill the void.

 

[BernieL]

Steve is making good points. Moister will swell that wood no mater what. If my memory serves me right, most saunas I've seen are made of cedar and I think the panels are not one solid piece of wood. If I were to attempt your project, I would cut tongue and groves into the sides of 1X4 cedar boards and assemble the panel into the frame without glue... let them ride in the frame. Do leave that 1/4 inch space in the sides and maybe 1/8 inch in the vertical. Of course this is going to make the door loose so do look into space balls to reduce the rattle everytime the door is closed.

I'm not sure how much experience you have with woodworking, but to explain a couple of basics (in case you don't already know), wood will only move across the grain, not lengthwise. The space balls are tiny rubber balls inserted into the door frame groves. You can purchase them at a Rockler store... I would think Woodcraft stores also carry them.

 

[Gary Beasley]

A good choice of wood for that application is cypress, very moisture resistant and less pricey than teak which is also very resistant.

 

[vadim04]

thanks for great suggestions. there are no trees where i live but cedar, fir, pine, poplar, birh, asp and larch. i'm making the door of fir. it's my first door and general purpose is training.

 

[Steve Neul]

thanks for great suggestions. there are no trees where i live but cedar, fir, pine, poplar, birh, asp and larch. i'm making the door of fir. it's my first door and general purpose is training.

If you mean to use green wood then you are only going to make a difficult situation harder. I would recommend using kiln dried lumber for your doors.

 

[cabinetman]

thanks for great suggestions. there are no trees where i live but cedar, fir, pine, poplar, birh, asp and larch. i'm making the door of fir. it's my first door and general purpose is training.

Nothing wrong with using Douglas Fir for a door. Try to get CVG (clear vertical grain). I would use TB III.

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