Hardly anyone owns a real, handcrafted wood door anymore.
The doors leading into our homes are steel or aluminum or a fiberglass composite.
Most of the wood doors labeled as such aren’t wood in a traditional sense; they consist of a core of wood strands wrapped in a wood veneer sandwich.
The reason, of course, is cost.
Solid wood is expensive and so is the skilled labor to craft something beautiful. Mass manufactured doors can be strong, affordable and handsome enough.
Why bother with solid wood?
The look, the heft, the feel, explained Bob Kriebel, a superintendent for CMI Homes in Bellevue. The builder just completed a $1,950,000 home with a solid wood entry door and interior doors from Old World Door, a company that specializes in custom doors and other millwork for homes.
“You just want to run your hand down it,” he said. “(The wood) wrinkles and moves and you want to feel and touch it.”
Many manufacturers are looking at how to make doors less expensive; his company does things the old-fashioned way, said John Gardener, a sales manager and co-owner for Old World Door.
Their typical customer is a successful business executive building a dream home, he said. The California-based company’s bread and butter are Mission- and Mediterranean-style doors, but they’ve produced doors with more Northwest design influences as well.
An entryway door typically costs about $6,000 but rare woods and special features such as custom carvings can quickly drive up the cost. High-end hardware, particularly antique pieces updated with new components, are popular and can be as expensive as the wood.
Alder is the most popular wood choice followed by oak, walnut and mahogany. Customers who request rare woods, such as an African ebony, may have to wait months for just the right wood in the right size to become available.
Some of the more popular features on custom doors include the speakeasy, a little door to peek through. Others want a toe kick, a heavy piece of wood to bang the mud off the boots before stepping into the house.
“It’s a carry over from the old West, and it gives the door a certain style,” Gardener said. “It makes the door feel masculine. It gives a don’t-threaten-me feel to your door.”
Some of the company’s Northwest customers, particularly those with lodge-style homes in the mountains, want a door with a distressed look, as if the door were as old as the hills. In the Southwest, people strive for the same look by choosing pitted doors for their adobe or Mission-style homes.
The finished product, he said, is vertical furniture.
The front door greets guests and serves as a barrier to both intruders and the weather. It sets the tone for what’s inside a home.
“It makes a basic statement about your house,” he said. “People step out of the car and look at the entryway. It’s the first experience they’ll have with your house.”
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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