How would you make these doors?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

The front doors of my house are 9' tall and are narrow- about 20" each. In front of those are storm shutters that are rail and stile inside, but rather than a panel, the frame is skinned on the outside with 1" wood, so the outside is smooth and the inside decorative.

The previous owner replaced the doors with ones he made from the worst knot-filled pine he could find, painted the inside white, and left the outside UNFINISHED! He said he likes the look of unfinished wood. ??? The knots were filled with the wrong color of putty and left that way. I suspect the doors are just edge glued or possibly biscuit joined. I can get some beautiful mahogany locally and want to build new front doors in rail and stile. I do like the thin center panel and thick outer panels for looks, but it seems it needs a crossmember for structure.

I found on eBay (of all places) a picture of my house taken in 1941 and the original exterior shutters had little glass windows to let in light when the shutters are closed. The shutters for the downstairs doors have the lights (windows) but they have been plugged with wood. I thought about doing a small square glass panel at the top like that.

The original doors were louvered. The original owner had saved them but he cannot find them in his warehouse. I wouldn't be against a louvered door, except we don't always close the shutters when we go out and louvered would be easier to kick in. There is already a louvered panel above the doors which is great for letting the breeze blow through.

If you have read this far, I thank you. What are your thoughts on a rail and stile? Would it need an additional crossmember or can I do something like the existing door but with rail and stile construction? Any votes for louvered doors?

Below pics: doors, door opened to show shutter, and old photo. You can see the open shutter in the far left of the old image has a little window in it. BTW, I don't like the panels on the shutters for the door. They are not proportioned properly. If I had to multiple panels I would do only two, with the top longer than the bottom.

[Cody Kemble]

At 9' I think you would need a crossmember somewhere near the middle. I really like the idea of the glass panel at the top to match the original shutters.

[lowell holmes]

If the doors are 20" wide and you used 5 1/2" wide stiles to accommodate the lock set, the panel would be 9" wide. Typically, a 3068 raised panel door will have 10" bottom rail, and 5 1/2" lock and top rails. The lock rail will be at door knob height.

If the door is 1 3/4" thick, each panel will probably weigh 120 -140 pounds. I know this, because I built the front and back doors for my house. They they weigh in excess of 140 pounds and they are 80" tall. Actually, my back door, being solid with 3/8" thick tempered glass weighs 160 pounds.

I would expect to have another rail on the 108" height. I would expect 4 hinges per door would be wanted. Even with just 3 hinges per door, getting the hinge pins in when hanging the door is going to be a chore.

I made my doors with cope and stick construction and put loose tenons at each rail. You could make your door with loose white oak tenons and provide slots for rebates for the panels to fit into the stile and rails. I made detail drawings before building my doors. I would suggest you do the same.

You can buy an inflatable wedge (made by Steck) that locksmiths use. The wedge has a squeeze bulb and will lift the door a bit when aligning the hinge pins. I highly recommend it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I will look up that wedge. Good suggestion. I am leaning towards a cope and stick with very wide rails and stiles and a tiny window at top, or even a prism like a deck prism on a boat. The window would help when I can't remember if I shut the shutters or not.

[lowell holmes]

Actually, I think the wedges are marketed as "air wedges" and Amazon has them.

[Judson Green]

You could do a simple stile and rail (no coping) then add panel molding. The molding can be recessed in the frame or be proud of it a bit.
You could make the molding or buy it already made then miter to length and then nail it in place with a little glue, don't glue on the panel. If you go the panel molding route, you needn't even bother with a slot for the panel, just glue and tack on one side of panel molding, insert panel, tack/glue on other side.

Peaches n cake!

Lately I've a fascination with bullseye glass.

Screenshot_2014-07-16-07-51-12.jpg
With the panel molding recessed

Screenshot_2014-07-16-07-52-06.jpg
Section views of proud standing panel molding

[Phil Thien]

I think a single cross-member would look awkward, but two or three cross-members may look better. I'd try to add enough cross-members that the panels themselves would approach the golden ratio in proportions.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

The downstairs interior doors are two panels but not really panels- they are skinned solid on one side and rail and stile on the other. I also took a picture of the rear shutters, original to the house, showing the former light at top, now filled in. I am going to sketch some ideas, but the light may throw off the balance (visually) of the panels.

[lowell holmes]

I've made odd sized closet doors by making a rectangular figure eight core with 1X4's using pocket screws. I then attached 1/4" plywood to both sides. They are at least 10 years old and are as good as new.
They are stiff and light. You may want to consider something like that. Actually. they are trackless bi-fold doors. I can make a sketch if you want to see it.