Internal Door Replacement

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NzVanFan

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#280977 23-Jan-2021 07:15

Our bedroom doors are all warped and full of borer - in short they need replaced.

Just looking at replacement internal doors and the affordable ones all appear to be pre-primed. Does that mean I can't stain them a rimu colour? (most of out house has rimu trim etc so we want the doors to remain that colour). We're looking at the affordable hollow core doors rather than solid timber like the current ones but wondering if I should start looking at some other options. Haven't been to a demolition yard yet so not sure what the chances are of finding 4 doors.

Any insight would be appreciated - we've novices at the reno stuff!

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2640431 23-Jan-2021 08:09

I would look for a local door manufacturer to see if they can supply a door which isn't primed. We used Superior Doors in Auckland for a recent project. Their polystyrene core doors feel more solid than the cheap paper core doors from Bunnings etc., but they also offer doors with MDF cores.

NzVanFan

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#2640432 23-Jan-2021 08:25

Cheers - they look to sell via Carters down here in Dunedin so might go see if they have any in stock to take a look at.

lxsw20

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#2640436 23-Jan-2021 08:32

The pre-primed you're looking at are likely MDF or similar. I'd say the most cost effective doors you could find would be some sort of timber veneer. Something like this - https://jgdoors.co.nz/door-styles/timber-veneer-doors/

NzVanFan

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#2640440 23-Jan-2021 08:43

Ideally I was after a version of this that I could stain to match the other timber in the house: https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hume-doors-1980-x-810-x-35mm-oakfield-woodgrain-interior-door_p0598664

lxsw20

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#2640629 23-Jan-2021 14:27

Those are listed as MDF. There is no grain, the pattern in it is fake. It's practically made out of wood shavings and resin. You need something with a proper wood veneer if you want to stain it.

shanes

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#2640633 23-Jan-2021 15:19

NzVanFan:

Ideally I was after a version of this that I could stain to match the other timber in the house: https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hume-doors-1980-x-810-x-35mm-oakfield-woodgrain-interior-door_p0598664

Another thing to check is the depth of your doors and jams. The one you've listed is 35mm, being an older solid door you might find the doors will be 39-40mm.

NzVanFan

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#2640636 23-Jan-2021 15:27

Thanks - sounds increasingly like I'll need to go hunting through the demo yards. Either that or use an external door like this: https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hume-doors-1980-x-810-x-40mm-lincoln-2-entrance-door_p0143922

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neb

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#2640669 23-Jan-2021 17:34

NzVanFan:
Just looking at replacement internal doors and the affordable ones all appear to be pre-primed.

They're pre-primed to disguise the fact that they're made of recycled cardboard.

And before you laugh:

That's why they're cheap. You can get cardboard doors with paper-thin wood veneer, but I think your best bet would be demolition or Trademe, whenever an older house gets torn down it'll have proper wooden doors, or at least wood veneer over MDF or similar.

Another option, how many other doors would you have to replace to make the place consistent? If it's a choice between getting 3 expensive wooden doors or seven cardboard doors, the cardboard may be a cheaper option.

NzVanFan

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#2640679 23-Jan-2021 18:56

We're after 4 doors - three if we could find some that matched the one decent door we have. Previous owners painted one side of the door and did nothing on the other so they have all warped as well as being taken by borer. We've got one door that they must have stripped and treated as it's in decent shape.

Will keep looking and hit the yards up next week. The more expensive external doors might be the next choice - we want them have a little character as opposed to most of the laminate rimu doors I've seen.