Hi

We want hardwood doors for our new build.

The builder has told us the only door we can afford is an Oak
"engineered door". Seems to me this is just a fancy name for a cheap
door with an bery thin Oak veneer on it. The builders claim not to like
the solid doors because they warp. Is this true or is it just builders
ramming cheap stuff down the neck of helpless clients.

C

Chad
Its difficult to answer your question without knowing your budget.
There are good engineered doors on the market, they are not usually
cheap, but are very stable. There are also excellent hardwood doors on
the market including oak doors, sometimes not too expensive (but this
is only my opinion). Another alternative is to go for a real oak door
which is hollow in the middle (is better than it sounds), these are
usually very affordible but more difficult to source (contact me if you
need help).
As to your other question re wooden floors, this too is possible. The
moisture content of the wood needs to be low. Again there are good
alternative options which use real wood on an engineered base- but they
usually come in set lengths and can look a bit uniform, but the wood is
real. Again if you need help sourcing excellent oak timber for this
purpose then contact me. You then also need to have your heating system
up and running and store the timber in your house for a while to allow
it to acclimatise. Also you need to give the floor plenty time to rid
itself of all its moisture.
Hope this helps
Regards
Calum Sabey
(NewArk Traditional Kitchens 01556 690544)

Chad wrote:
Hi

We want hardwood doors for our new build.

The builder has told us the only door we can afford is an Oak
"engineered door". Seems to me this is just a fancy name for a cheap
door with an bery thin Oak veneer on it. The builders claim not to like
the solid doors because they warp. Is this true or is it just builders
ramming cheap stuff down the neck of helpless clients.

Like
http://www.blackettsdoors.co.uk/ecom...?idproduct=742
?
Just found wandering through froogle.

Chad wrote:
Hi

We want hardwood doors for our new build.

The builder has told us the only door we can afford is an Oak
"engineered door". Seems to me this is just a fancy name for a cheap
door with an bery thin Oak veneer on it. The builders claim not to
like the solid doors because they warp. Is this true or is it just
builders ramming cheap stuff down the neck of helpless clients.

C

More likely to be pushy customers wanting more than they've agreed to pay
for

Fully seasoned and dimensioned oak should not move. I've bought
excellent oak from these people and saw reasonably priced solid oak
doors on offer:

http://www.atkinsandcripps.co.uk/

On 2006-11-14 20:21:34 +0000, "Chad" said:

Hi

We want hardwood doors for our new build.

The builder has told us the only door we can afford is an Oak
"engineered door". Seems to me this is just a fancy name for a cheap
door with an bery thin Oak veneer on it. The builders claim not to like
the solid doors because they warp. Is this true or is it just builders
ramming cheap stuff down the neck of helpless clients.

C

In short, it's ********.

I have solid oak doors and frames throughout the house including front
door. They have been there for 5 years and have not warped.

They were hand made from carefully selected and properly seasoned material.

Like all things, one gets what one pays for and these were in the £350
to £400 range for internal doors.

I am sure that it is possible to find lower priced doors and certainly
veneered ones are less.

If you want to have properly made traditional doors then they can be
found, but not cheaply. It could be that the builders, through
incompetence, greed or a trip to the merchants have heard of problems
with cheap doors.

If they don't want responsibility, that's OK as well. Simply give that
part of the project to a specialist who will take responsibility for
supply and fit of hardwood joinery.

I used this firm

http://www.oakdoors.co.uk/

and can recommend them.

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2006-11-14 20:21:34 +0000, "Chad" said:

Hi

We want hardwood doors for our new build.

The builder has told us the only door we can afford is an Oak
"engineered door". Seems to me this is just a fancy name for a cheap
door with an bery thin Oak veneer on it. The builders claim not to
like the solid doors because they warp. Is this true or is it just
builders ramming cheap stuff down the neck of helpless clients.

C

In short, it's ********.

You have to read the post carefully, especially the bit about 'The builder
has told us the only door we can afford..'

I have solid oak doors and frames throughout the house including front
door. They have been there for 5 years and have not warped.

They were hand made from carefully selected and properly seasoned
material.
Like all things, one gets what one pays for and these were in the £350
to £400 range for internal doors.

That's great, provided you didn't accept a price for hardboard flush doors,
then insist on solid oak.


I am sure that it is possible to find lower priced doors and certainly
veneered ones are less.

If you want to have properly made traditional doors then they can be
found, but not cheaply. It could be that the builders, through
incompetence, greed or a trip to the merchants have heard of problems
with cheap doors.


Or maybe they don't like working for free?

If they don't want responsibility, that's OK as well. Simply give
that part of the project to a specialist who will take responsibility
for supply and fit of hardwood joinery.

I used this firm

http://www.oakdoors.co.uk/

and can recommend them.

On 2006-11-14 21:21:08 +0000, "Phil L" said:

Andy Hall wrote:
On 2006-11-14 20:21:34 +0000, "Chad" said:

Hi

We want hardwood doors for our new build.

The builder has told us the only door we can afford is an Oak
"engineered door". Seems to me this is just a fancy name for a cheap
door with an bery thin Oak veneer on it. The builders claim not to
like the solid doors because they warp. Is this true or is it just
builders ramming cheap stuff down the neck of helpless clients.

C

In short, it's ********.

You have to read the post carefully, especially the bit about 'The
builder has told us the only door we can afford..'

So why is the builder an authority on that?

The customer is the decision maker on what he can afford.

Of course, if the customer has signed up for a complete package of
labour and materials, it would be very tempting for the builder to say
this because every pound that goes towards quality materials doesn't go
in his pocket.



I have solid oak doors and frames throughout the house including front
door. They have been there for 5 years and have not warped.

They were hand made from carefully selected and properly seasoned
material.
Like all things, one gets what one pays for and these were in the £350
to £400 range for internal doors.

That's great, provided you didn't accept a price for hardboard flush
doors, then insist on solid oak.

Of course.

If that were the case it would be a prime example of why going for
bundled deals is not advantageous to the customer.




I am sure that it is possible to find lower priced doors and certainly
veneered ones are less.

If you want to have properly made traditional doors then they can be
found, but not cheaply. It could be that the builders, through
incompetence, greed or a trip to the merchants have heard of problems
with cheap doors.


Or maybe they don't like working for free?


Possibly.. This should have all been agreed up front.




If they don't want responsibility, that's OK as well. Simply give
that part of the project to a specialist who will take responsibility
for supply and fit of hardwood joinery.

I used this firm

http://www.oakdoors.co.uk/

and can recommend them.

On 14 Nov 2006 12:21:34 -0800, "Chad" wrote:


We want hardwood doors for our new build.

Internal or external (or both)? If external what is the orientation
of the house? Do any of the doors face south?
--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

Chad wrote:
Hi

We want hardwood doors for our new build.

The builder has told us the only door we can afford is an Oak
"engineered door". Seems to me this is just a fancy name for a cheap
door with an bery thin Oak veneer on it. The builders claim not to like
the solid doors because they warp. Is this true or is it just builders
ramming cheap stuff down the neck of helpless clients.

C

How much can you afford?

I installed old fashioned 'ledge and brace' doors here for about £160 a
unit,with frames, and outer doors are massive wooden affairs that cots
about £900.


Got them from Acorn doors in wiltshire or hampshire..somewhere like that.

wrote:
Fully seasoned and dimensioned oak should not move. I've bought
excellent oak from these people and saw reasonably priced solid oak
doors on offer:

http://www.atkinsandcripps.co.uk/

Oh, it does move..but not enough to ultimately be a problem.

The summer is the worst for interior doores..they need a plane up aftre
a hot humid one.

Conversely exterior doors generally wedg up in wet winters..

Summer to winter range is about +- 0.5% on e.g. oak, across the grain.

Thanks for the replies.
Actually the build hasn't started yet.
The builder has said up font that his price covers "engineered doors".
However the spec which the builder was given to price and compete on
stipulated "first quality hardwood" doors. Theres not much hardwood in
a veneered engneered door is there? I've seen a cross section of one.

On the other hand I'm not sure I can afford the solid oak

Regards
C

Chad
For about £400 you can get a solid oak external door with a 6x9 glazed
window. Contact me if you need details.
Calum Sabey (details in above postings)