Pin Oak for Entry Door - Bad Idea?

[Charlie Barnes]

Hey guys,

My nephew who lost his house in the Washington, IL tornado last year, has asked me to consider making a front door for their new house. They also lost a large pin oak in their front yard and were thinking about using that. I have a major concern about this (aside from the fact that I've never made an entry door before) regarding the use of pin oak. I saw the floor plans this past weekend and the door will be sheltered from moisture and sunlight. But after reading some of the threads here, it sounds like pin oak is a member of the red oak family. So I don't think pin oak would be suitable for an exterior door under any circumstance. Is this correct?

Thanks,

Charlie

[Rich Engelhardt]

If your nephew is lucky, he might find someone that will haul the pin oak away for free - provided they can keep and use it for firewood.

Do a search for "pin oak furniture"
Lots of good information.

I've had about 5 of them removed and they were good for little more than firewood. Even if they'd had some decent grain, they were "City trees" and no one wanted to mill them.
I got lucky and gave the downed trees to a guy that turns them into firewood. He came and hauled them away for nothing.

[Art Mann]

The lumber from a pin oak is similar to red oak and the two are used interchangeably around here.

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd be cautious about red oak where it is going to really get wet. For instance, fence posts or a picnic table. But in this application I wouldn't be too concerned. Rain mostly won't hit it. And what rain does hit it will run off. Use a varnish with UV blockers -- one intended for use outside. Spar varnish usually fills the bill.

A bigger issue is getting the tree milled and dried. You really don't want to make the door with green lumber.

[John TenEyck]

I've milled a couple of pin oaks into lumber and both were mostly a bust with lots of knots in them. I don't know if it was just bad luck or indicative of the species, but I'm not too eager to do another. I wouldn't be all that worried about weathering considering that the intended location will be sheltered, but an exterior door is such an involved project I'd want to use something I know will weather well, regardless. I'd be more inclined to buy another wood for the front door and use the pin oak for something else if it has great sentimental value.

John

[Peter Quinn]

I've seen it specified for interior doors before but not exterior. Proceed with caution. The value of your work on an entry far exceeds the value of the lumber involved, so calling the wood free has little meaning. It's always nice to turn lemons into lemonade and feels good using trees from the property as millwork, but only where it actually makes sense. I wouldn't use red oak or it's relatives for exposed work.

[Rich Riddle]

Steve Mickley once indicated the primary use of Pin Oak was firewood and a secondary use was pallets but it didn't make very good pallets. Stay away.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I don't know if it was just bad luck or indicative of the species

Up above I mentioned doing a search for "pin oak furniture".
I believe you'll find that most of the comments about the usability of pin oak revolve around it having an unusually high number of knots.

That factored into my decision to just get rid of the trees I had taken down quite a bit.

I didn't want to risk having to cough up for a damaged blade if they ran into any metal, all to end up with questionable wood for my investment.
That and the fact that decent red oak in my area can be dirt cheap.

[Mel Fulks]

Not sure it matters much ,but willow oak is often called pin oak even though they are nothing alike.

[Art Mann]

Not sure it matters much ,but willow oak is often called pin oak even though they are nothing alike.

I wonder if that could be the source of the discrepancy in opinions here. Pin oaks and red oaks are very closely related and are sometimes difficult to tell apart. Once they are at the sawmill, it is practically impossible. Another possibility is that a specimen tree in someone's yard will have a very different habit of growth than one growing in the wild.

[Joe Spear]

Willow oak leaves are very different from usual oak leaves, more like willow leaves, hence the name. Pin oak leaves look like oak leaves in the red oak group, having pointy lobes instead of rounded, but also having little straight extensions from the points. Check the leaves of your tree, if any are still around.

[Dennis Ford]

The "average" pin oak tends to have more knots and defects than the "average" red oak, but what does average have to do with this specific tree?

[Charlie Barnes]

Thanks for all of the input on this. I was/am concerned about the suitability of the wood itself from a porosity perspective and hadn't considered the issue of knots. I haven't seen the lumber so I don't know if this is a problem or not. In any case, the last thing I want to do is put a bunch of work into this door and my nephew to be disappointed in the performance. They live quite a ways from me, so I wouldn't be able to babysit it once it was installed in case it did start to have some problems. I also have concerns about the wood being stable given how recently it was sawn into boards and how soon they will need it for the construction. It sounds like the overall consensus is to take a pass on this and recommend that he find another project for the lumber (or possibly have a big bond fire!).

[Andrew Hughes]

I bought a couple boards from a local lumber yard that were set aside.I was told it was pin oak,Now I am not sure what I had.But I did like working with it.It was stable very hard and people loved it I just about tripled my money back made.Heres what it looked like.
Maybe you brothers tree has some nice grain?