Can I make raised panels on a cheap interior door?

On Feb 12, 12:18 am, "Stupid48" <[email protected]> wrote:
> This might sound cheap but....My house has those cheap hollow interior
> doors and I would like to spruce them up a bit. If I replace them all
> with new raised panel doors, I won't get the money out of them so I
> thought I could just add some moldings and make my own with the
> existing doors.
>
> Does this sound feasible and\or will this look stupid?
>
It is feasible sure. Whether or not it looks stupid depends upon your
skill level and your taste. In my mind, skip it. You can't make a
silk purse out of a sows ear. It won't increase your homes value so
put the time and money elswhere. Buy yourself a few bottles of wine
and forget about it.

the (e.g 1/2 x 3/8") trim may end up being expensive esp. if only avail in
oak. You could buy a 2x4 and use an ogee type bit if you have a TS and RT.
Compare to doors you have, or doors you will have or like, and a pattern,
if not depth

"Stupid48" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This might sound cheap but....My house has those cheap hollow interior
> doors and I would like to spruce them up a bit. If I replace them all
> with new raised panel doors, I won't get the money out of them so I
> thought I could just add some moldings and make my own with the
> existing doors.
>
> Does this sound feasible and\or will this look stupid?
>
> Thank for the advise.....
>
> Chris
>



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After giving this a bit of thought, I'll bet you could do it
realatively cheap. First of all, if you have the cheap plastic coated
doors, I would just leave them. Your never going to like the outcome,
I can promise you that. If you have Oak, Luan, Birch, or even Pine,
then here's an idea. Not raised panel but indented panels. I'm going
to talk about oak doors just to keep it simple
First of all you need to determine the measurements of the
panels. To do this you need to layout the rails and styles of each
door. Keep all your styles at 4" (measure 4" in from the hinge side
and 4" from the knob side). Your top and next lower rail can also be
4" your middle rail 7-8", your choice, and your bottom rail at 8-9"
your choice. You will be cutting the rectangle and square parts out.
Here you will need to make a filler to go between the door skins.
Use pine or what ever cheap lumber you have lying around. You will
also need to remove more of the filler to accomadate this pine. Glue
the pine in and clamp. Now make your panels. You can use 1/4, 1/2 or
3/4" plywood for the panels. You will need to make a frame for the
panels. This can be out of real oak, or oak plywood with edge banding
veneer put on before your cuts.
Since we are talking about interior doors you will need to rip these
to 1 3/8" to match the thickness of the doors. (measure your doors
first) Cut the ripped parts to length using a 45 deg. corner. Dado the
centers to accomadate your plywood. Cut your panels to size to fit
into the frame. Insert your panel into the frame, glue and nail. Once
the glue dries these panels should fit into the holes you cut in the
door. Hopefully they are tight, if not shim as required to center and
line up with each other. You should be able to shoot a couple of brads
into the pine that you put in the door holes earlier. Now, find a
suitable material for the casing of these panels. Screen stop comes to
mind. If you can't find any, rip some solid oak to 1" by 1/4" thick
and install on the frames like you would door casing. Stain to match
and you will have a very custom good looking door.
Lou
You can use any thickness you want for the panel, maybe 1/4 inch. Get
a sheet of plywood, (oak plywood if you have oak doors) and rip the
sheets down.

On Feb 12, 1:18 am, "Stupid48" <[email protected]> wrote:
> This might sound cheap but....My house has those cheap hollow interior
> doors and I would like to spruce them up a bit. If I replace them all
> with new raised panel doors, I won't get the money out of them so I
> thought I could just add some moldings and make my own with the
> existing doors.
>
> Does this sound feasible and\or will this look stupid?
>
> Thank for the advise.....
>
> Chris


Do a test, closet door inside maybe, and see how it comes out.

Though I'm inclined to think it won't be a value added project.

A.M. Wood

I made (3/8" beading router bit) 1/2" quarter round and 1" outside corner
pieces (rabbet &/or straight, and roundover bits )from std. (spruce?) 2x4'"s
on my RT and TS. I think seven 7 footers, all of them into dozens of
pieces. The don't all come out straight, or w/o knots, cracks,
imperfections, but after sanding, touch up, prime and paint there is a lot
of cheap usable stuff for a few bucks. and I have racks of leftovers.

"bent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> the (e.g 1/2 x 3/8") trim may end up being expensive esp. if only avail in
> oak. You could buy a 2x4 and use an ogee type bit if you have a TS and
> RT. Compare to doors you have, or doors you will have or like, and a
> pattern, if not depth



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If you wanted real depth, you could use pieces of plywood, hardboard,
masonite, whiteboard. May get it cheap enough if you plan in, and you are
painting.



"bent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> if not depth



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Keep in mind that when you buy new 6-panel, or w/e, hollowcore doors,
though painted, are not actually white, its just a primer, and you prob need
to paint those too. Some are finish painted white, maybe special order, not
the creamy painted ones at my borg



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The 1/2" lays flat on the door. It sticks up 3/8" on the outer edge of the
mitered pieces, and rounded over 3/32" near the inner, in a sort
of }parenthesis profile, for lack of a better key. If you layed about a
1/4" thick sheet around the outside it could work, pretending the door
itself is the recessed panel. Its about the money, and time. Oh, did you
say raised panel?

> "bent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
...
>> the (e.g 1/2 x 3/8") trim may end up being expensive esp. if only avail
>> in oak.



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You would just have to shift the doorstop, using the same hinges and
locksetting. You could angle a cut on a thinner piece for the center of the
panels, and/or route the sheet instead of making a raised trim, which looks
good painted on my fuse panel door.


"bent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If you wanted real depth, you could use pieces of plywood, hardboard,
> masonite, whiteboard. May get it cheap enough if you plan in, and you are
> painting.



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"Stupid48" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> This might sound cheap but....My house has those cheap hollow interior
> doors and I would like to spruce them up a bit. If I replace them all
> with new raised panel doors, I won't get the money out of them so I
> thought I could just add some moldings and make my own with the
> existing doors.
>
> Does this sound feasible and\or will this look stupid?
>
> Thank for the advise.....
>
> Chris
>
I think it would be a waste of time. Unless you are extremely talented I
think they would look like cheap interior doors that someone tried to dress
up!
Have you considered six panel painted MDF doors? I bought some at Home Depot
and like them. You could rehang them on your old frame and keep the stained
jambs and trim.
Greg

"Stupid48" <[email protected]> wrote:

>This might sound cheap but....My house has those cheap hollow interior
>doors and I would like to spruce them up a bit. If I replace them all
>with new raised panel doors, I won't get the money out of them so I
>thought I could just add some moldings and make my own with the
>existing doors.
>
>Does this sound feasible and\or will this look stupid?

Try the inside of a closet door to see how you like the look. It's
done all the time with decorative moulding simulating panels below
wainscoting. But folks are not used to seeing real panels there, so
it might be easier to get away with. Everyone is used to seeing panel
doors, so a "fake" (other than molded plastic fakes) may stand out.

If you do much more than simple picture-frame mold, you need to
seriously price out your materials versus a cheap molded plastic panel
door. For my taste, I'd avoid the simulated grain (looks like someone
forgot to sand and properly prime before painting), and then paint it
as if it were a real panel door (i.e., panels, then center stiles,
then rails, then outer stiles). I'd be tempted to lightly score where
joints would be to further improve the illusion.
--
Alex -- Replace "nospam" with "mail" to reply by email. Checked infrequently.

On 11 Feb 2007 22:18:18 -0800, "Stupid48" <[email protected]> wrote:

>This might sound cheap but....My house has those cheap hollow interior
>doors and I would like to spruce them up a bit. If I replace them all
>with new raised panel doors, I won't get the money out of them so I
>thought I could just add some moldings and make my own with the
>existing doors.
>
>Does this sound feasible and\or will this look stupid?

It's very feasible, and even pretty easy if you're careful.

Looking stupid is another matter entirely, and is up to your personal
taste.

I've had to do this in the past for customers at their request, and it
generally doesn't look all that bad. Since you're apply wood to the
surface, it's not a bad idea to think about ideas that you wouldn't
normally see on the doors in question, like making some sort of
geometric grid with 1/4" strips that are jointed togther before
application rather than simple wooden panels with a routed edge.

Another idea is to add not only the raised panels, but to also add a
thin raised border around the edge that matches the profile of the
panels.

Or, and I like this idea better, you could just make new doors- it's
not as big of a hardship with interior doors, as you don't have
different temperature and humidity levels on opposide sides, the way
you do with an exterior door.