SOLID WOOD DOORS: PROS, CONS AND FEATURES
Time goes on, more advanced materials appear, but whatever the technology, there will always be a high demand for naturalness and eco-friendliness. Solid wood doors are a piece of nature in your concrete house, it is a small window into the forest with a wonderful smell and a great view. Solid wood doors are more expensive than their artificial counterparts, but are superior in their performance properties.
The main advantage of solid wood doors
The main positive feature that can be said about is, of course, naturalness and environmental friendliness. This is the most harmless material for people. According to this aspect, solid wood doors will give a head start to any other door leaf.
Also to the pluses could include several other factors that are usually forgotten or take for granted from the natural material, but we would like to focus on this, because these are very important indicators.
Durability and reliability of solid wood doors
Nowadays in houses and apartments you can still find doors made of solid wood, installed already in the last century. Yes, they are outdated, yes they are worn and stained, but if you carry out restoration work, you can breathe new life into them.
These doors will shine again and become a place of attraction. Once you breathe new life into the doors, they will last a long time, because wood is a great durable material and feels comfortable in the home.
Thermal and sound insulation properties of solid wood doors
Solid wood doors have very good thermal and sound insulation properties. These are not the old models of the Soviet era, when there were not even such requests for doors. Modern models, thanks to the material and the latest processing, have reached the maximum of their capabilities and are sure to please their owners with warmth, quietness and tranquility.
Depending on what kind of wood is used in the door leaf, we can get additional specific properties, such as oak is very strong and not afraid of water and steam. It will not dissipate under the action of moisture, and will not react negatively to constantly changing temperature conditions, so such a door can be easily put in the hallway or anteroom in a private house or in the kitchen in an apartment.
Pine doors are designed for apartments and suitable for all rooms, they are less heavy than oak doors, but they have all the positive qualities of solid wood.
Pine doors absorb moisture well (they "breathe" so to speak) and help you maintain a balance of fresh air in the house. In terms of finishing, all modern technologies can be applied to them, you can cover them with varnish, the paint is good and stays on them. Among other things, solid wood doors are easy to handle, you can create beautiful patterns and carvings on the leaf.
Disadvantages of solid wood doors
Of course, where there are pluses, there are also minuses. Of course, there are more advantages of solid wood doors, but we should not forget about the other side of the coin. We advise to choose doors from solid wood carefully and ask the sellers about the temperature conditions, in which this wood will normally operate without cracking and swelling.
If the door made of solid wood gets dirty and a stain appears on it, it is not worth pouring a ton of water mixed with faeces on the cloth. So you can do with the artificial material, and here we need to act carefully.
Types of solid wood doors and their features
We will not divide the doors into types based on the presence of panels or glass inserts in the leaf. This is still more of a decorative element, not a feature of the door itself. Consider the types of doors in terms of material. After all, the properties of the product depend on it.
Solid pine doors
The main advantage of solid pine doors is their affordable price, it is the most common wood in our latitudes and the easiest to work with. Not the highest density and resistance to moisture, but an abundance of models in assortment, colors, styles and designs.
With the latter disadvantages, modern industrialists have already learned how to combat - for the manufacture does not use a solid pine, but glued, which due to the different direction of the fibers in one product has better characteristics.
Solid alder doors
As the main advantages of doors made of alder can be noted their high resistance to water, but on this, their advantages do not end.
Alder contains a small amount of different resins, and does not emit bad odors even when burning, does not emit any harmful substances into the air. These doors are considered an excellent option for outdoor areas with high humidity.
Solid oak doors
This is the most expensive wood, the heaviest, strongest and durable, having a unique texture and smell. Oak is hard to work with, but it perfectly copes with temperature changes and excessive humidity. It does not mind such problems. Good heat and noise insulation, it does not warp and does not change in volume under the influence of the environment.
Other types of wood are also used for solid wood doors: ash, beech, maple and even exotic species like bamboo or merbau are used quite often. But for Russia, it is the materials we have considered above that are relevant.
So, solid wood doors are beautiful, comfortable, durable, but also expensive, so if you want to save money, you better look at the analogues of another material. But if you want naturalness and environmental friendliness, excellent properties of exploitation, then choose the doors of solid wood, you will not go wrong.