Video guide accompanying this article.
Our topic in today's field guide is doors. In a previous field guide video, we discussed the purchase of wood — that wood is what gets used to make a door, and today we explain how a door is actually made. There are mainly three kinds of doors used in house construction: engineered doors, semi-solid doors, and solid doors. Each is made differently, with different materials, and we will cover them separately in detail. Today, in this article, we explain the making of an engineered door — the exact making process, along with the real cost incurred in producing one.
The first step in making a door is measurement. We first take the measurement of the place where the door has to be installed — the top width, the bottom width, and then the height of the wall. Once these three sizes are known, we proceed to cutting the wood planks purchased for the door. Engineered doors do require some solid wood, but the type of solid wood used depends on the client and their budget. The most economical wood, as explained in our earlier wood-purchase article and video, is Partal — Partal wood can be used for engineered doors as it is quite economical. For a better quality build, Kail wood or other higher-quality woods can be used instead. The whole idea behind an engineered door is that it is economical, so it is recommended to use Partal wood to keep the cost as low as possible — since semi-solid doors are considerably more expensive, going with an engineered door usually means there is a budget constraint to work within.
To make an engineered door, we need a few things besides wood — nails, glue, a saw, a hammer, a measuring tape, and, most importantly, a set square to confirm that every corner sits at a true right angle. We also need MDF veneer sheets for the final touch of the door. These veneer sheets are available in different grades and finishes — ash veneer, oak veneer, and so on — and are the final layer pasted onto the door.
Once all the wall sizes are taken and the planks are cut accordingly, we join the planks together to form the frame of the door — making sure every joint sits at a right angle. Once the frame is ready, the MDF veneer sheet is cut to the size of the door, and the glue is prepared. Making the glue is fairly simple: one door requires about 2 kg of glue, and to prepare it, water is added at a ratio of roughly 30% water to 70% glue. Once the glue is ready, it is applied onto the veneer sheets, the wooden planks (the internal packing) are placed on the MDF veneer sheet, and the assembly is closed by placing the second MDF veneer sheet on top of the wooden planks. Doors can also be filled with wood wastage instead of solid planks — in this case we use solid Kail wood planks for the packing, but if budget is a constraint, the door can be filled with wastage, or the quantity of the wooden packing can be reduced.
The door is then placed under a press and weighted down — the more weight applied, the better the result. It can be locked under the press for a minimum of 12 hours, going up to 24 hours in winter, and up to 10 doors can be placed in the press at once. Once released from the press, the door is ready to have its design routed onto it — a router is a power tool used to carve grooving designs into the wood. Once the design is complete, the door is ready to be placed, with only the polish left as its finishing step. Polishing a door is a technical and fairly involved process on its own, which we cover in detail in a separate article.
Finally, here is the cost breakdown for this engineered door:
| # | Item | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wood (Kail) | Frame & internal packing |
| 2 | MDF veneer sheets | Final finish layer, both faces |
| 3 | Glue | ~2 kg per door (70% glue, 30% water) |
| 4 | Hardware & consumables | Nails, saw, hammer, set square |
| 5 | Press & router labour | Pressing (12-24 hrs) + routing/design |
Note: the wood used for this specific door is imported Kail.
We hope today's article on engineered doors has been helpful in understanding how an engineered door is actually made. We will continue to write articles and make videos on further topics — do follow along for more.