Wooden doors designs types and technicalities

Doors are one of the most integral components of a house required during construction at finishing stages. A house without doors can never be considered complete as it serves the purpose of privacy and security of different rooms in house. Doors have been in practice since ages and have a history of evolution however design and types of doors have remained almost same. Doors designs are of various types some of which mostly used in residential houses these days are:

• Single leaf door
• Double leaf door
• Sliding door
• Folding door

Single leaf doors are most commonly used in all houses and are required for all rooms, kitchens, washrooms etc, whereas double leaf doors are used mostly as main entrance doors of a house. Similarly sliding doors and folding doors are used as partition doors between lounge and drawing room.

Doors are mostly made in wood however due to escalating costs of wood, PVC doors have also been introduced in the market and are being used. But majority still prefers wooden doors because of its natural looks. Some of the woods available in Pakistan for making of doors are:

• Partal
• Kail
• Yellow pine
• Ash wood
• Mohaagni
• Diyar
• Meranti

Detailed article on wood has already been posted, click here to get familiar with different types of woods and their latest rates.  Being one of the most important and integral components of finishing works of a house, one must have a basic idea and knowledge about the making mechanism of different kinds of doors and its cost. Doors can be made either in very low budget, medium budget or a very higher budget. Before going towards the making mechanism of various kinds of doors, lets discuss different kinds of doors briefly:

Panel/Press doors:

These types of doors are most economical and cheap doors and are made of ready made press sheets that are available in various designs. In Pakistan these press/sheets are normally referred to as Malaysian Press and are available at very cheap rates ranging between Rs 1000 – 1200. These doors require 2 sheets along with small quantity of solid wood planks for side frame and internal filling. These doors also require manual or machine pressing during making. These doors in current market prices can be prepared in price range of Rs 7000 to Rs 9000 including labor and material. These doors are not strong and durable due to their low cost however there are methods of making these doors stronger by solid internal filling before pressing the doors which will eventually increase the cost of door. Press sheets required to make these doors are available for standard sized doors only i-e maximum up to 3.5 x 7 ft doors. Doors larger than these dimensions can not be made in these press sheets.

Engineered doors:

These types of doors are slightly costly as compare to Malaysian press doors and have much more pleasing looks.  These doors require simple ply press sheets that are available in different vineers such as oak and ash in price range of 1200 to 1500 Rs/sheet. Making of these doors is similar to malaysian press doors however it requires more wooden planks for side frame and internal filling. Cost of engineered doors can vary in between Rs 13000 to  Rs 15000 depending upon the type and quantity of wood used for side frame and internal filling.

Semi-solid doors:

These are the most commonly used doors these days in construction market. These doors are strong and durable and can be made in any desired design. These doors are are called semi solid because of their solid side frame/panel, internal portion of door is made in plywood/MDF sheets. Cost of this door depends upon the type of wood in which the door is being made. Let us consider Ash wood for the sake of calculation. Semi solid doors can be made in 7 ft height as well as 8 ft. A standard sized door (3.5 x 7 ft) of this type as shown in picture below requires 2 cubic ft of solid wood for its side panel/frame which is 2inches thick. Internal section requires 1 plywood/MDF 20mm (3/4″) thick and another press sheet of any desired vineer. Hence cost of this door will be:

Solid wood required for 1 door = 2 cubic ft

Price of Ashwood current = 8500 Rs/cubic ft

Cost of solid wood = 8500 x 2 = 17000 Rs

20 mm plywood/MDF = 2150 Rs

Press in ash vineer = 1850 Rs

Labor for door making = 8000 Rs

Hardware, glue etc for door making = 700 Rs

Total cost of door = 29700 Rs

This is cost of just the door in raw form i-e without polish, door handles, latches, hinges etc. Another very important part of door is the making of architrave border and jamb frame as shown in picture below. Architrave (border) is also available from market in ready made form and is cheap as considered to making a solid one at site, similarly jamb frames can also be cut from 10 mm thick plywood/MDF sheets and pasted on chogaths for giving it a finished look instead of cutting planks from solid wood which is much more costly. Let us calculate the cost of solid architrave and jamb frame:

Solid wood required for 1 door’s architrave and jamb frame = 1.5 cubic ft

Price of Ashwood current = 8500 Rs/cubic ft

Cost of solid wood for architrave and jamb frame = 8500 x 1.5 = 12750 Rs

Labor for border & jamb frame making = 4000 Rs

Total cost of border & Jamb frame = 16750 Rs

TOTAL COST OF Semi solid DOOR, ARCHITRAVE & JAMB FRAME = 29700 + 16750 = 46450 Rs

Solid doors:

These are also very commonly used doors these days in construction market but in luxury constructions due to its higher costs. These doors are much more strong and durable as compared to semi solid doors and can be made in any desired design. These doors are called solid because unlike semi solid doors where plywood/MDF is used for internal section, this door consists of 100% solid wood. Cost of this door also depends upon the type of wood in which the door is being made. Let us consider Ash wood for the sake of calculation. Solid doors can also be made in 7 ft height as well as 8 ft. A standard sized door (3.5 x 7 ft) of this type as shown in picture below requires 5 cubic ft of solid wood. Hence cost of this door will be:

Solid wood required for 1 door = 5 cubic ft

Price of Ashwood current = 8500 Rs/cubic ft

Cost of solid wood = 8500 x 5 = 42500 Rs

Labor for door making = 8000 Rs

Hardware, glue etc for door making = 700 Rs

Total cost of door = 51200 Rs

Solid wood required for 1 door’s architrave and jamb frame = 1.5 cubic ft

Price of Ashwood current = 8500 Rs/cubic ft

Cost of solid wood for architrave and jamb frame = 8500 x 1.5 = 12750 Rs

Labor for border & jamb frame making = 4000 Rs

Total cost of border & Jamb frame = 16750 Rs

TOTAL COST OF Solid DOOR, ARCHITRAVE & JAMB FRAME = 51200 + 16750 = 67950 Rs

Kindly note that these costs doesn’t include wooden or any other chogath (door frame). It is a separate item and has completely separate cost.

DOORS COST UPDATED : JANUARY 2022