Question - Building wood doors for interior

[Bennylava]

I'd like to try my hand at building interior closet doors. I could just buy some but I need to be convinced that the value is there. Doesn't seem to be, for what I'm wanting.

But is there any reason to use tempered glass? There won't be any kids around, so I was thinking maybe normal glass would be fine. Here's a short video where he makes what I'm talking about:

 

[jar944]

That's about the last way I'd make a passage door.

As for value, you will be hard pressed to buy the wood for less than the price of a commercial door.

Yes passage doors need to have tempered glass.

 

[manwithtools]

Buying vs building doors is not a question you would ask if you had ever built traditional doors. It's not cheap and unless you have the proper tools and setup, it's not easy. Getting straight true lumber and the tempered glass will likely cost more than the complete commercial door as jar944 mentioned. That video is not the way to build a good door. Needs morticed and tenoned rails and stiles.

 

[PoorUB]

Even with tempered glass I wouldn't build the door like he shows. Suppose one the of the glass panes get broken? There is no way to replace the glass pane.

 

[MovingAlong]

I'd like to try my hand at building interior closet doors. I could just buy some but I need to be convinced that the value is there. Doesn't seem to be, for what I'm wanting.

But is there any reason to use tempered glass? There won't be any kids around, so I was thinking maybe normal glass would be fine. Here's a short video where he makes what I'm talking about:

Do you have someone already lined up to remove the doors after you're gone? You won't always be able to control the environment and kids may certainly be around one day... Does seem to be a code requirement as well too.

Also, from the videos description "Here's a unique way to build a glass panel door." You often get what you pay for on YouTube. It's changing and (in my opinion) not getting better...

Recommend picking up a good book on door making instead.

 

[phred]

I had some replica doors built for my 1926 bungalow. Doors only where 750 each. I thought that was a bargain.

 

[Bert_]

I've got exterior doors that are just plain glass.

The design in the video is not great. As said before you can't replace the glass

 

[Old tool guy]

There is so much wrong with that video.

 

[jar944]

I've got exterior doors that are just plain glass.

The design in the video is not great. As said before you can't replace the glass

Modern or vintage doors?

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

There are a lot of good quality doors you can buy pre-made. They are not very expensive.

My study had an 83-inch wide arched opening. I found a set of reasonably priced 42x80 doors and sized and mounted them. Made an arched transom for the top. I would not recommend using regular glass for any of it; The doors came with tempered glass, and I used clear polycarbonate Lexan for the arched transom. The transom is as clear as the doors and it will not shatter if something were to hit it.

 

[Bert_]

Modern or vintage doors?

Old

 

[Jeff C]

There’s a reason all modern doors come with tempered glass. Probably not the best place to save a few bucks.

Code requirements, wife getting mad at me and slamming the door, tripping and my arm going through regular glass all come to mind. Scenarios might be a long shot but if you’re going to do something you might as well do it right.

Most commercial doors also come with engineered stiles and rails. I can’t keep a solid wood cabinet door straight let alone a full size door.

If you’re doing this for the challenge or the enjoyment that’s one thing. Otherwise, I think you’d be better off buying a door.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Go with bullet proof glass. Just in case.

 

[jar944]

Most commercial doors also come with engineered stiles and rails. I can’t keep a solid wood cabinet door straight let alone a full size door.

If you’re doing this for the challenge or the enjoyment that’s one thing. Otherwise, I think you’d be better off buying a door.

The nice thing about stave core construction (beyond the main benefits of flat straight stiles) is the material savings from using less than perfect lumber in the core. I know a guy in Oregon that specializes in traditional doors and windows out of Douglas fir, and he is happy to get 10-12 door stiles out of a 2000bdft pack.

 

[Bennylava]

Buying vs building doors is not a question you would ask if you had ever built traditional doors. It's not cheap and unless you have the proper tools and setup, it's not easy. Getting straight true lumber and the tempered glass will likely cost more than the complete commercial door as jar944 mentioned. That video is not the way to build a good door. Needs morticed and tenoned rails and stiles.

Well this thread certainly is not encouraging. I didn't think that closet doors needed to be built to such exacting standards.

I've been looking around at the usual places, but I haven't found much selection of 24"x 81" doors. Total opening is 48"x81" so I'll need 2 doors. I just thought it would look nice if they had some glass in the top half of the door.

Anyone have a good recommendation for somewhere that would have plenty of that size to look through? I've noticed some of these sites can be pretty obscure.

 

[Hank11]

You can order all kinds of doors from the big box home stores. Last I did took about a month or six weeks.

 

[nadogail]

With my limited skills and equipment there is No Way I would attempt to build a door with a glass panel.
The ability to pass the responsibility for the door is almost priceless. I chose a stock door with an etched window for our Laundry Room. I believe it ordered it from Home Depot and they got everything correct on the first attempt.

 

[Wiz02]

I have personal experience with why you want tempered glass in a door. It definitely is a good thing and not just some silly regulation.

 

[Bert_]

Well this thread certainly is not encouraging. I didn't think that closet doors needed to be built to such exacting standards.

I've been looking around at the usual places, but I haven't found much selection of 24"x 81" doors. Total opening is 48"x81" so I'll need 2 doors. I just thought it would look nice if they had some glass in the top half of the door.

Anyone have a good recommendation for somewhere that would have plenty of that size to look through? I've noticed some of these sites can be pretty obscure.

It would definitely depend on your skill level. I would not attempt to build a door myself but have made the jambs for several doors and windows. I like to reuse old stuff so often need new jambs

 

[rsanter]

Making doors in a home shop is a ton of work. But sometimes that is the only way to get what you want without paying a fortune.
Commercial off the shelf doors are cheap/reasonable.
Even off the shelf fancy doors are expensive and custom even more so.

I made these doors for my girlfriend, she found ones like it and I think they were $2000 each. I made these as a sort of house warming gift for her.
They tool longer than I thought and were more work than I though but they came out great and everyone that sees them loves them

 

[Bennylava]

Would it be a bad idea to try and modify existing doors to have glass in them? Maybe I could find some used doors locally, and customize them. I'm not afraid of wood work but I wouldn't want it to be a waste of time. Just curious on that one. I'm still going to look for ones that already have the glass integrated.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

Would it be a bad idea to try and modify existing doors to have glass in them? Maybe I could find some used doors locally, and customize them. I'm not afraid of wood work but I wouldn't want it to be a waste of time. Just curious on that one. I'm still going to look for ones that already have the glass integrated.

A 30x80 glass door will be around $250 at Home Depot or Lowes. Just buy those and be done. Not worth modifying doors.

 

[Bennylava]

A 30x80 glass door will be around $250 at Home Depot or Lowes. Just buy those and be done. Not worth modifying doors.

I'll take a look at them, but I was hoping for something kinda stylish. There's a town wide junk swap this weekend. Called "Antique Alley". I bet I can find some nice antique doors there. So I was curious to know if installing glass in them was feasible. Even if it takes a considerable amount of work.

Wouldn't work on all these modern hollow interior doors, but maybe it would work on some of those old solid doors.

 

[Zeke]

Any stile and rail door with panels can have glass. Most are panels and frame assembled at the same time so no stops holding the panels, just a rabbet. So you will need to rout out one side, install glass and make stops to secure the glass. I've done this many times to new doors as well as existing.

You can also blow the door apart and reassemble moving rails up or down to create different openings.

 

[jives]

Check out your local Habitat or Reuse store, or CL or FBM for something close. I just picked up a free 6 panel solid wood door for free on FBM. It is 30 x 80, but I need to cut it down to 61" for a special door. All it will take is cutting off the top panel and stile and shaving a bit off the bottom. No problemo. Only issue with old doors is possible lead paint and the hassle of refinishing.

Finding a matched set of 24" doors is a bit more trouble, but not impossible.