American Hardwoods

Oak. Widespread throughout the eastern United States, white oak has a nearly white sapwood and a grayish brown heartwood. The pores of the heartwood are filled with tyloses or thickenings, which render the wood impenetrable to liquids, hence its desirability in shipbuilding, barrels and casks. In addition, white oak displays moderate decay resistance. White oak stains to a good finish and lends itself to a spectrum of finish tones. But the wood dries slowly and demonstrates some difficulty in machining. Its thermal
performance can also be a drawback.

 

Entry doors make a distinctive statement.

 

Red oak grows more abundantly than white oak. Though the two oaks have a similar appearance, red oak has somewhat smaller rays, and is mostly straight-grained, with a coarse texture. Red oak lacks tyloses in its pores and consequently has an open cellular structure which makes it more susceptible to moisture damage. Fairly high shrinkage in drying is a characteristic of red oak.

Overall, oak is susceptible to checking and cracking, a situation that requires a good finish and keeping the application out of the sun. Manufacturers have warranty instructions that dictate the proper overhang and sunlight angle at which to locate the door. "This is more important with oak than with mahogany," says Wallace. Still, siting is always an important issue. "I imagine any wood will have some susceptibility to the sun - and the sun also wreaks havoc on finishes," says Christopher DiMarco, Design Manager at G H A Architects in Dallas, Texas, which specializes in national restaurant prototype design and development. "We typically have an awning or canopy over the doors and storefront which helps protect them from the weather. It's worth taking the extra protection, especially on the west or south side of a building. The sun is a big hot ball, and it can do some damage to protective finishes as well as bleaching and drying out the wood itself."

Another factor that speaks to the desirability of oak is that of perception. While oak enjoyed immense popularity for decades, consumers may be cooling on the wood. Studies show that while a slim majority of designers still prefer oak, there has been a growing preference for cherry, walnut, maple and mahogany over the past ten years.

Cherry. Moderately heavy, strong, stiff, and moderately hard, cherry has a heartwood of rich red to reddish brown that darkens with age and exposure to sunlight. It is close grained with a uniform satiny texture. It has very good machining properties and will be dimensionally stable after drying.

Black Walnut. Growing in a range from the northeast to the Great Plains and south to Texas, black walnut is primarily found in the central states. Walnut has a creamy white sapwood and a heartwood that ranges from light to dark chocolate brown and that develops a rich patina and grows more lustrous with age. It is normally straight grained, stable, strong and stiff. It is easily worked with tools and well suited for natural finishes. However, black walnut does have some drawbacks in the areas of color stability and shrinkage.

A Design Showcase: Wood Entry Doors

A distinctive entry door is a must-have in the luxury home market as well as in country clubs, churches, professional service firm headquarters and high end boutiques and restaurants. "An entry door is definitely a place where a client will spend the extra money to reinforce their brand," says DiMarco, noting that he
specified Honduran Mahogany doors for a gourmet Mexican restaurant chain located in southern states, Cantina Laredo. "Our client wanted a big, carved ornate Mexican-looking door with vertical planking and clavos, the large decorative-head nails. We chose Honduran Mahogany because it is a particularly dense wood that resists splitting. Its density also gives it the ability to stand up to weather better than other wood species such as alder, which is traditionally used throughout Mexico for decorative entrance doors. The Honduran Mahogany has a beautiful look and gave us the authenticity we were seeking. In the past, we had difficulty on another concept where African Mahogany was used in an entry door and custom storefront application. It did not hold up to the weather particularly well, which inevitably led to frequent refinishing and repair projects for the proprietors. It is our hope that the Honduran Mahogany will prove to be a more durable product."
Consumers can choose from a variety of door styles from hollow core to solid wood.

Hollow Core Doors

Light, inexpensive and easy to install, hollow core doors are not really hollow. The core is often a lattice of cardboard or wood slats. Seldom used as exterior doors because they can be easily breached, hollow core doors used in the interior can also pose problems, notably their ineffectiveness as sound barriers.

Solid Wood Doors

Nothing beats the look and feel of a solid wood door. But the significant cost and the required large sections of defect-free wood are definite drawbacks of solid wood doors.