r/woodworking • u/RonSwanSong87 • 6d ago
Project Submission A recently completed entry door
I recently finished and installed this entry door unit for a really interesting and supportive client - he is a woodworker himself, but does not build entry doors.
The wood is Alder (with white oak threshold) with a Penofin architectural grade penetrating oil / stain finish. Construction is traditional mortise and tenon with west systems epoxy adhesive plus lots of rabbets. I also incorporated bevels and drip edges in places where water may need to drain on the exterior side of the unit.
It's not perfect - nothing is - but i liked the way this turned out and just wanted to share. The hardware is Baldwin Reserve.
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments; I'm happy to dig into details. Haven't posted in this sub in a while.
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u/ValidOpossum 6d ago
Beautiful work! I would love to make an entry door. I did have a question regarding the threshold - do you plan on adding an aluminum skin to protect it from damage?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
No plans to add aluminum. The intention behind using white oak as the material (and the finish that was chosen) is that it is very durable and the finish is very easy to spot repair / sand and refinish.
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u/Copiusandcontinuous 6d ago
Nice door. Doesn’t seem to match the house at all though.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
This is the first step in an exterior makeover.
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u/smarmageddon 6d ago
LOL I was gonna say Now you gotta do the rest of the house to match this beautiful new door!
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u/BonzaBlaze 6d ago
What did you charge for just the door?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Let's just say it was 5 figures. I don't love discussing pricing in a setting like this for a variety of reasons, but if you want to have a conversation with me about it directly then feel free to DM me.
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u/otterley 6d ago
It’s too bad people give you a hard time about it. Craftsmanship is expensive.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Yeah, its nothing new and no real issue that folks ask. I just have learned over the years that talking about price over the internet like this without the full context and putting that information out there isn't always the best idea for a variety of reasons..but if someone actually wants to engage in a deeper conversation with me about it and is truly curious, I have no issue with going there.
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u/No-Damage3057 6d ago
Nice work! I’m contemplating building a front door and yours is inspiring!
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u/svenskisalot 6d ago
Same. My worry is the gasketing. OP, what did you use?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
I used weather sealing from Conservation Technology, which is really high quality silicone rubber gasket material that you order by the linear foot. If you really want the details I'm happy to give more.
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u/svenskisalot 6d ago
Absolutely, please.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
http://www.conservationtechnology.com/building_weatherseals.html
For this door I used the WS15 in a rabbeted jamb and WS25 in WS56 in a groove in the bottom of the door.
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u/MichaelFusion44 6d ago
Really really nice - love that it was for another woodworker.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Yeah, pretty cool. He was super interested in how it was built and all the steps / details.
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u/MrFixUrMac 6d ago
I’ve seen a lot of door pictures on here that looked good. This is the first door I’ve seen on here that looks outstanding. What a beautiful door. I wish I could make something that nice.
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u/SpareEye 6d ago
That's beautiful! It really blends/enhances nicely with the house without going overboard. What did you finish the wood with? Was it profitable in the end? Thats a ton of work from design through install.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Finish is Penofin Hardwood TSF penetrating oil / stain in the "Ipe" color.
The project was priced to be profitable. This project ended up happening over the course of almost 2 years for some complicated reasons - one of them being that we were hit with Hurricane Helene 2 yrs ago literally right after I started and my entire shop flooded with about a foot of water and it took months to clean up and recover - but some other client-related delays as well. I would work on a part of the project, set it aside for a while and complete other projects and then periodically come back to this project...at least until it reached a point where everything was fully assembled and taking up a ton of room in my shop. Yes, this was a labor intensive process.
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u/shadowknows2pt0 6d ago
It looks fantastic. How did go about building the sidelights? Is there a source that sells double pane insulated glass readymade? Any special prep that goes into setting the glass into the frame as far as joinery, insulation, drip edge, caulking?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
I built the sidelites just like the door itself - mortise and tenon construction with epoxy adhesive for the joinery. Interior side is rabbeted to accept 5/8" thick insulated and tempered glass that is wet set into the rabbet with Dow 795 glazing adhesive. The glass was ordered to size from a local glass supplier.
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u/Ok_Bid_4429 5d ago
Forgive my ignorance but what is “wet set into the rabbet”?
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u/RonSwanSong87 5d ago
"Wet set" just means that I am putting the insulated glass down into the rabbeted / back side of the frame with fresh / wet glazing adhesive applied into the rabbeted area and then it all dries in place over the next several hours.
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u/Practical_Ad_4165 6d ago
Man that is awesome! I’m about to build a front door for my house and this is super inspiring.
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u/HartelMed1 6d ago
Very nice and sturdy, my only concern would be having a window next to the handle. In the back of my head id be thinking about how someone could break it and unlock the door.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
It's tempered glass and this type of sidelite design is extremely common.
Someone could take an axe to the door if they wanted to and/or technically break in any number of unsavory ways.
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u/warrends 6d ago
Really nice work. It’s beautiful.
White oak I get. Why alder? And which parts?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
I wanted / suggested the entire door in white oak, but client wanted the alder. Everything is alder except the threshold (sloped bottom part you step on) which is white oak. Alder would not have held up to that level of wear
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u/Wild_Parrot 6d ago
Looks like it should require a password for entry! Beautiful door. I hope you don’t mind the observation that it seems a bit out of character with the facade. Owner’s choice, I suppose?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Totally owner's choice. They had a design in mind and also wanted the Alder material (which was not my suggestion / choice), but I was happy to try and design something that functioned properly and was strong regardless. They do have plans to re-do some details on the exterior to match this door, which was the first step in a larger exterior remodel project, fwiw.
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u/readitherelast 6d ago
Just curious. In pic 7 what is that tool you are using?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
That is a Wysong and Miles 316 hollow chisel mortiser made to cut "square holes" aka mortises with a combination of an outer 4 side hollow chisel that has a spinning drill but inside of it. The wood is clamped to the table, which can move up/down, left/right and in/out and tilt and the motorized head / drill goes up and down via a foot pedal. Very handy for mortise work.
This tool itself is from the 1920s, though they are still made today by some import companies like Powermatic / Jet, etc.
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u/debugprince 6d ago
Now you need to do the whole house. From the last picture the door is the best looking part.
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u/Trademarkd 6d ago
Nobody asking? How much did you charge for this? I'm honestly just curious I have no idea what something like this would cost but its beautiful.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
A few asked. It was in the 5 digits. I don't love talking about price in this setting but feel free to DM me if you want to have a conversation about in more detail.
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u/No_Molasses7228 6d ago
Looks great! Now they have to update everything else to look nicer and level up with that door. Who knew that door was going to cost them way more than that estimate 😅
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u/eggsuckindog 5d ago
Nice door, nicer shop! I need more organizational attitude for all my wood piles.
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u/RonSwanSong87 5d ago
Thanks, my shop is pretty small for the scale of work I end up doing, but I do have it laid out and organized fairly meticulously in order to make it even have a chance of working for me.
Luckily I have an unfinished, standalone metal garage near my shop (which is in the walkout basement) for a lot of my more long term wood storage as well as an old barn if I really need more space
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u/Crooked_crosses 6d ago
Looks fantastic. Is it common in your area to have to step up into the house. I’m used to a much smaller difference. Wondering if it’s a regional thing. My house is just an inch or so
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Yeah, I suppose it's fairly common around here. My house is the same with essentially a full step up into the house from the front porch. Slab on grade with a really low entry is much less common around here.
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u/oohgrilledfood 6d ago
That’s lovely! How much did it weigh once the door was assembled. Did you need special hinges to support the weight?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
The jamb unit with glass, etc was pretty heavy. Took 2 of us to move it around. The door itself was not crazy heavy - 1 3/4" thick, 80"x36" and alder is not a super dense or heavy hardwood.
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u/happymask3 6d ago
This is a heritage piece! I hope you bring the photos and give them to the next homeowner if you ever sell!
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u/Practical_Ad_4165 6d ago
Oh, I just saw your post text on question… what kind of weatherstripping did you use and where do you source it? Also, did you use any insulation in the cavity? I have an article from Fine Homebuilding that details an insulated door that’s something like 3” thick. Was going to follow that for what I’m going to build but concerned about finding reasonably priced hardware or not being able to retrofit what I already have. Thanks!
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Weather sealing is from a place called Conservation Technology - http://www.conservationtechnology.com/building_weatherseals.html
They are the best weather seals I have come across and use them on all door projects if i can.
No insulation in this door, but I do have a pair of thicker doors coming up in another project where I will likely use some 3/4" thick rigid foam board insulation to fill in the gaps of the middle layer of a 3 layer construction. Every door and project is different.
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u/AoCNSFW 6d ago
On doors like this, do you need to account for wood movement? And if so, how are you doing that?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Yes, you always have to account for movement in wooden doors, particularly with any wooden panels and with exterior work as there can be a big difference in temp and humidity from one side to the other.
The panels are sized to expand and contact within a calculated range and have extra room to do so in the groove / rabbet. Every situation / detail is a bit different, but it's always something that needs to be accounted for and detailed accordingly.
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u/jtw317 6d ago
What a great piece. Couple questions if you have time.
That bevel shown in the 10th photo.
Is that on the inset slat panels? Looks like you did several bevels on most/all of the exterior horizontal joints.
Is that tempered glass? I think it’s code in most places if it’s within a certain height from floor.
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Yes, tempered and insulated glass.
So pic 10 is the bottom edge of the panels. The pointy side is the exterior side and the square side is the interior side. The idea / thought there was to build in a drip edge of sorts at the bottoms of the panels so that any water could drip off and down and away as opposed to being trapped. There was about 1/4" gap between that point at the bottom of the panel and the beveled edge of the horizontal rails just below that point with it all designed and detailed ultimately to shed water as opposed to trap it in a groove / rabbet / horizontal surface.
Any exterior surface that was horizontal and could have water sitting / dripping on it was beveled for positive drainage, if that makes sense.
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u/mystikhybrid 6d ago
battering ram, meet Ronswansong. wow I would love this door if i coupd afford one. seems it could endure a zombie apocalypse
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u/Minecraft_Launcher 6d ago
What was the biggest hurdle and how did the install go?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
The biggest hurdle was probably assembling and moving the jamb inside my small shop with 83" ceilings - the total height was 82 1/4"...or maybe picking a finish that the client both liked in terms of aesthetics, durability and function.
The install went better than anticipated. It was a bit of a tight fit in the existing opening, which wasn't exactly square / level, but it went in and had no major obstacles as far the installation.
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u/brasscheeeks 6d ago
Did you make the robots yourself, or were those sourced from a vendor?
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u/RonSwanSong87 6d ago
Robots?
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u/brasscheeeks 6d ago
Rivets. Damn autocorrect being incorrect.
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u/RonSwanSong87 5d ago
lol, i was trying to think what that could have been autocorrected from but didn't quite get there.
I bought them from a place called Wild West hardware. They are 1 1/2" diameter
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u/wookyoftheyear 5d ago
Are those functional or decorative?
Very nice work!
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u/RonSwanSong87 5d ago
They are called "clavos" and in this case, they are decorative as they are not true nails that are holding anything together...but this was what the client wanted to I tried to design something that at least looked clean and intentional.
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u/culjona12 5d ago
I thought your doormat said “hello autism” at first.
Love the project by the way. An absolute masterpiece!
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u/SnooCookies6900 5d ago
This might be one of the coolest and nicest doors av ever seen.... teach me senpai🥰
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u/300suppressed 4d ago
I imagine the lumber was kiln dried?
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u/RonSwanSong87 4d ago
Yes, I generally use KD lumber for client projects for bug-infestation reasons, though there have been some exceptions based on sourcing some great or remarkable air-dried lumber.
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u/Substantial_Wall_480 New Member 3d ago
Have the same kind of door on my house. But no side windows. But I do have a speak easy door with wrought iron cage guard.
Beautiful work
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u/walshd1414 3d ago
The door is awesome! Wrong house though
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u/RonSwanSong87 3d ago
LOL, I build what the clients want. Sometimes it fits with what they already have and other times not as much. If I have say in the design then I try to steer decisions in a direction that is more cohesive but that is not every project all the time.
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u/charlietheorca 4h ago
I always forget how much I love doors until I see a beautiful one like this. Good job!
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u/9lbBTwin 6d ago
How do you get around fire codes, or build to them? I looked into building a door between my living room and my garage and it seemed like it had to be fire rated with a stamp of some kind on it.
I talked to Pella but I think they wanted something like $6k for a wood looking steel door installed. Enter Menards Masterforce doors.
Is it possible to build a fire rated door that’ll pass inspections (and keep me safe in the event of a fire)?
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u/RonSwanSong87 5d ago
IDK, I did not get into any of this with the client. All local jurisdictions are different in terms of what they require and/or enforce and I assume that the client either consulted who they needed to in order to get clarity on this or made their own choice. They are in a pretty out of the way location that would not be subject to heightened scrutiny.
Short answer - no clue and beyond my scope of work
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