Insulated “Solid Walnut” Front door

Another project posted elsewhere in 2012. Where it says below that it (they) has stood up well for eight years, you can now read twenty and still like new.

Back in '04 when we remodeled / built the house we now live in I did a lot of the architectural woodwork and furnishings. I had always wanted to build a front door but was worried about the effects of cold wet air on the outside and warm dry air on the inside. It seemed like a good time to give it a try. This is what I came up with and I can say it has held up extremely well for eight years now with six months of cold rain and then hot (ish) summers.

There are actually two. The front door is 42" wide by 80" high and the back is 36" by 80". They are both 2 1/4" thick. The composition is a sandwich of solid walnut, plywood and foam. The sketchup and the photos will give you the details. The main frame around which the rest is formed is made from "boards" that I laminated up from 1" wide strips of 3/4" plywood. My reasoning being that there was no way they could warp. Then after insulating inside the frame I added 1/4" plywood skins to form sort of a torsion box. The rest is cosmetic.

Coolest part…. they are very heavy and swing closed with a very solid "Thud!"

Photos # 1,2 and 4 are the front door.
Photo #3 is the back door.
Photo #5 is the internal layup.

For the 3/8 walnut skins I re-sawed 1" boards and put the halves opposite each other on the inside and outside of the doors to carry on the illusion of a solid door.

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=80cb3620c7e0d5473156432c7f82342

Thanks for looking

Paul