I haven't been uploading because life has been happening. My pregnant wife had pneumonia which put her in the hospital for 4 days :( I had to take care of our other 4 kids and work. So it was pretty rough. I got a little taste of what it was like to be a single dad. It was not fun. I also had a close family member die :( It all happen at once... Everything is good now! Baby is doing great! Count your blessings guys. Life is too short.
Sorry to hear about your loss. I hope your wife is back to 100% (or as close as one can be to that while pregnant) soon. I really enjoy your videos and your attitude/demeanor. Thank you.
Big disadvantage for me in hallow doors is no soundproofing. I was thinking if you would drill the holes from the top and bottom and inject SPRAY FOAM inside maybe this will make better sound barrier? Does anyone have any ides?
I’ve replaced hollow core doors with solid core doors in every house I’ve owned. It’s expensive, yes, but the sound-proofing and temperature-proofing makes it worth it to me. It also adds to the feeling of sturdiness and quality of the home.
Corrugated cardboard is a fantastic material - it's light and very strong in compression. It's great large amounts of forin this application for providing strength to a hollow shape where large amounts of force aren't expected. Sure, solid would is of a higher quality, but 'better'? I think you could make the argument that it's completely overkill for most interior doors.
I think that any solution have their advantages and disvantages. When we promote it as a cheap door, directly we look for disvantages because the vantages are not published by the manufacturers, value vs cost is an important parameter and the way you offer any product will influence your costumer decision. If we look at the body of Formula 1 car, read about the evolution and we cut it like the door, we will se basicly the same structure, too much air between skins, but it´s well known that is not cheap, and directly we look at the vantages because we were previously informed and we focus on the advantages of light weight structure in racing cars. Of course not all materiales takes advantages in all kinds of engineered structures present in the market. In my country, Venezuela, we made all the walls of our houses with clay bloks and mortar, and when we see the North American constructive method is normal to think that you have cardboard houses, that´s absolutly not true, you have many advantage with available material and enough skills to rise a house that resist your enviroment, we have our advantage, because specials skills are not necessary to pose blok over blok, any of them have their value/cost index. Saludos Gerardo
You said you only have so many chances to screw in those hinges before they strip out. If you didn't know you can tap some toothpicks in a stripped screw hole to give the screw something to grab on to. Works like a charm.
XxStratAttackxX . An even better way it to use golf tees. Can usually fill 2 or 3 holes with a single tee. Most of the tees are maple so they can have screws taken in and out several times.
I have often wondered if there was a way to take advantage of them being hollow and put some sound insulation in those doors. I get a lot of noise coming through one of these doors leading to a laundry room.
That chipboard on the hinge side is the lock block. You're supposed to keep that side on the lock/latch side so you have something to screw into for the handles. Here in the UK, these hollow doors have a printed mark on the top of the door indicating which side the lock block is on.
I used to work for a company making those doors. We made 1 door per 3 seconds gluing them together 4 people on each side at a time, yep they used cardboard spacers inside. They glue them together and use the weight of IDK about 12-20 on top each other one after another.
I'm considering filling one of these CHEAP Hollow doors with INSULATION FOAM and using it as a Storm door.... Just wanted to get your thoughts on that...lol. Basically I adopted 2 CATS and need a way for them to get into the garage where the litter box is, and I can't Cut into the "Fire Door".... So right now I just leave my door open, with the rolling door closed.
Once upon a time, I worked at a yard that had a door & window shop. That stuff you refer to as 'melamine' is actually just either particle board or OSB, and is there because hinge and strike screws won't 'bite' into MDF. 'Melamine' is actually a laminate, but commonly refers to hardboard ('Masonite') with veneer grade laminate (1/32" Melamine) applied. Center spacers in hollow-core doors are corrugated cardboard 'honeycomb' to add some rigidity. Skins are typically either 1/8" (more or less, these days) lauan mahogany or (thinner than 1/8") vinyl. Not bad looking, but not awfully durable, either way.
Joe T.....No doubt, there are ways to get it to work! In fact, speaker enclosures are a great place to use MDF! In applications where it would be subjected to constant and significant lateral stress (e.g. the weight of the door, multiplied by constantly pulling on hinges while opening/closing), it would fail pretty quickly, though. It's simply a question of choosing the best material for an application. Notice that, in the video, you can see MDF used in the 'molded' parts of the door. Edge blocks, though, are always either solid wood or particle board/OSB......in my experience anyway. :-)
Doug DeGrave My point is living in California is very expensive. So in other words, if a townhome is worth about $500.000, that should answer your question. A house is worth more in California.
Hey buddy! Just bought my first house and your videos are saving me!! Keep up the great work! And the honesty you provide to your clients...too many people try to shortcut nowadays, and the ethical ones will go far at the end. Cheers!
Can anyone comment on the internal wooden frame? How (typically) "tall" is the bottom frame? Update....oops....just saw your note above about the life's issues that came up. Hope all is going well.
Very surprising thing for me is this door is made in India. Most homes in India use solid wood doors. My home has Teakwood exterior doors and other solid wood interior doors and windows. Looks like everyone is cutting corners on quality these days. Totally agree durability is the most eco friendly and economical chois than filling landfills with cheap garbage.
Did you look where the door knob is installed? I think there is a thick block there as well to prevent the door from smushing down when the hardware is installed..
That's why old solid wood doors are better, especially with angry neighbors and that piece of mind means everything for a better nights sleep, and takes away paranoia
I am always impressed with the weight of a solid door, the sound they make when closed and how they feel as you swing them open. I haven't thought this through but what if holes were drilled at the top and sides and the door was filled with sand? It would provide weight and sound proofing and no cancerous fumes from spray foam filled alternatives. If the door suffered a hole, it might be quite a mess but I was hoping to get thoughts from others. Please go easy, I did say I haven't thought this through yet.
If it was completely filled with sand the door would be too heavy. I imagine the screws wouldn’t hold at the hinge points in these kind of doors beyond a certain weight.
You didn’t notice that the latch side was in fact the hinge side (had the slim spine of wood inside) as the lock block was used for the hinge side by mistake. That large piece of particle block was the lock block.
What is the job of a modern internal door? it does not need to withstand power it does not need to withstand pressure or humidity it does not need to do anything but to create a good sight barrier between two spaces - and for that purpose, this door does exactly what it is meant to do. could it sound proof better - that would be an advantage, but even for that, the cardboard fill would do better than solid wood. thank you for the interesting video
Has the job of not making the owner feel like he is living in a cheap piece of crap every time he opens or closes a door while paying 25-50% of their income in mortgage.
My 22 years old house have hollow doors, they have been servicing perfectly to the point that I didnt rembeber they where hollow until I stumped with this video.
I love these videos! I have to add a vent to lower portion of my door for a front vented wine fridge and trying to figure out what is in there to hold my vent panel
Phil Rabe , yeah Phil , before MDF door edges , doors had F.J. pine all around the edges , but before that they had solid pine all around the edges . What's next , cardboard all around the edges except in the hinge and passage hardware locations ? Every poor quality material or product that I use on my jobs and my feelings/opinions of said product , are mentioned in my contract with my client . People think that warranties are attached to "products" but for me , they are attached to "reputation" . If I try to dissuade a client from using an unapproved ( by me ) product , and I am unsuccessful , I note it in the contract "prior" to signing and have the client initial the notation . At this point they understand my apprehension to using that product , and usually relent and spend the money to buy something that IS proper . Folks , every job we do for someone is an advertisement for the next job . And every client is a walking billboard who is directly attached to the food and toys you want to put on your table at home for your kids and family . If we continuously blow our reputation by using , and worse , advocating the use of crappy products , we don't even get INVITED to quote on that next job . Just because the building materials are "devolving" , doesn't mean we have to . We all get better EVERY DAY at what we do . Is it wrong to ask the manufacturers and materials we use to live up to that same standard ? The manufacturers read these threads, they watch these videos . We NEED to criticize poor quality products . Let's help THEM help us help our client base !!!
"You don't spend half a million dollars and house and have cardboard doors in it." LOL. I'd be fine with that as you can't buy new house around the Seattle area for only half a million unless the entire thing is made out of cardboard. But on a serious note, why would that matter to you? Why more pay for something over engineered for the task that adds no actual functionality, appearance or no measurable longevity difference? These are standard everywhere for internal use because they work perfectly for the task they were made for. Unless you are trying to do some sound mitigation or have some other uncommon requirement, I do not see value in worrying about whether it is a hollow core door or not.
Good points Curtis , but remember that interior doors were invented for privacy , and hollow core doors only provide " optical privacy " . A solid core door provides both optical and aural privacy , in that you can't see or hear through them . I use solid core doors in every home I build . We also insulate every interior wall with sound deadening insulation , which not only minimizes sound travel through walls but also aids in flame spread protection and heating & a/c retention . We also use S.C. doors for closets because they last longer . We have all , at one time in our lives , been in a century-old home or building that STILL has all of it's doors . Those doors are still there BECAUSE they are not hollow core doors .
@@robertn2813 Yup, as I mentioned, sound mitigation is a reason to consider them. Though saying that you can't hear through them is of course an overstatement. They are demonstrably better but sound does easily transfer through solid wood and then there is the fact that interior doors are not sealed anywhere around the perimeter and have a notable gap at the bottom, especially if you have central air. Even if it was sealed (which would make notable difference), it isn't soundproofed as can be demonstrated by anyone listening to someone talking outside their front door. Insulation in the walls, with no other treatment is like solid core vs hollow core, it is better than not doing it and is relatively small cost uplift. However neither eliminates sound and with insulation, as long as the drywall is directly attached to the studs, sound is going to travel right through and use the other side acts like a flat panel speaker (it is just that it can't use the cavity for resonance). I have spent the the past 10+ years redoing the top and bottom floors of my house, all with sound mitigation in mind as I'm next to a freeway and attached on one side, so it is a subject I'm extremely familiar with. All wall cavities filled with Roxul, all walls are two layers of 5/8th with Green Glue, on hat channel attached by sound clips, drywall joints stair stepped and caulked, sound series windows (2 windows in one frame), etc etc. Have 2 solid core doors partially in place waiting for me to attach them. But they are by far the weakest aspect of the sound mitigation. So I prefer them given my desire for sound transfer reduction but otherwise, they are a good choice for most, especially for areas like closets and not some junk option as stated in this video. As for the century old house, really didn't have a different choice so you can't say how hollow core doors would have held up. Frankly I don't think longevity is an issue as there is nothing that would cause hollow core door to last any less amount of time other than severe impact in one of the hollow sections. If that happens, it could also have taken chunk out of solid core and replacement of a hollow core is much easier and cheaper. Also, given what I've soo folks like to remodel every 20-40 years and modernize the interior so I wouldn't expect generally make it that long.
I really enjoy your videos and your delivery is always spot on . I'm glad the wife and baby are doing well and I am sorry for your loss. You seem like an honest , hardworking , giving person who could be a great inspiration to a lot of these young knuckleheads out there. With your hard work and dedication , you will get everything you ever wanted. Hang in there brother!
Even solid cores will be filled with mdf material. Better solid cores have more real wood. Advantage of the mdf solid cores is, they are more temperature and humidity stable. (Not water). Solid wood doors change dimensions with the seasons and may warp.
Premdor produce thousands of these doors every day. They use the Masonite door skin & stick it together with a few pieces of timber to make an ultra cheap door. Here in the U.K. those doors cost around $13. The old saying is very true, you pay for what you get.
Yea mdf isn't great to screw in and out of.. i agree you shouldn't really use them on a higher end house.. but if you ever just tear out all the wood to the point where you can use a screw just insert an anchor to fix it.. i usually drill a 3/16" hole, insert the anchor, then then screw in the new anchor screws carefully and it should hold.. if you ever tear up the anchor just use the 3/16" bit again and it will cleanly take out the anchor and it leaves it like new for the new anchor.. Great way to save money especially if your living in a house that you don't see yourself living in for the rest of your life..
Melamine is the thin colored covering on a substrate, they even make dishes out of it. That wood your pointing out for the hinges is particle board/chipboard. I'm surprised they didn't put a strip of actual wood on the hinge side instead of that mdf chip board combo.
No Luisa , unfortunately you can't . Even an 1-3/8" thick interior solid core door would reduce that noise by 80 - 90 % . Foam insulation couldn't reach every little cavity in the door , and may cause the door to swell . Hollow core doors are not only inexpensive , they're also very cheap ( i.e. poor quality ) .
@FinishCarpentryTV I was wondering if you could help me out. I am looking to repair my interior apartment doors. They are hollow-core door. I have looked online for blueprint or DIY to make hollow core doors, I also checked RU-vid. I am unable to find any. Can you please or anyone help me out. Thank you
Six panel H.C. doors are made on a steam press . And that long piece of pine is a strong-back to keep the door from warping vertically . It's the ONLY piece of "wood" in the door , sadly .
I live in an 1800 sq ft suburban house built in the 90’s and it has beautiful solid wood 6 panel doors downstairs and flat hallow core doors upstairs. All the doors are original too, the house came that way. I’ve made the mistake of getting mad and punching them it’s it made a hole that went half way through.
Melamine is the coating applied to shelves and countertops. It's the hard "plastic-like" surface. It's not the wood the shelves are made of. What you said was behind the wood edges on the door is just low-density fiber board.
I figured a hollow door would be mostly hollow with some cardboard filler but I'm wondering where the boards lay inside because I need to install a small doggie door. I am a 55 year old woman using a hand file. I'm trying to avoid hitting the boards. I wish you would have opened the bottom part of the door up, instead of the top. I wish you would have opened the whole door up as one piece, instead of sawing off sections. Thanks just the same though.
I agree with you , MDF jambs are stupid . They are as stupid as steel brake lines for cars . I believe the concept is known as " engineered failure " .
I watched this because one of my hollow core doors has failed at the hinge. The MDF at the hinges is probably 1/4th of an inch thick with nothing behind it for the screws. It's amazing how cheap it is.
Thanks for the visual. I wanted to cut one of my doors to fit some shelves in my closet I have three hollow doors that slide side to side to get into the closet. The doors are hollow and I wanted to know whats inside the doors to cut the sides of it like 1/2 inch each so I can fit my shelves
Building your own custom doors is probably a cheaper and better option especially if you know millwork.. me personally i like barn doors and I've built all of mine.. great video ❤
Thanks man I was in a discussion with someone about what material the top and bottom of the interior doors were made of I kept googling, but nothing Masonite thx man
Richard, Thanks for all your teaching videos and work ethic. May this year be full of prosperity and adventure for your business Praying for you and your family from Charlotte, NC.
Need to know what is on the handle end of the hollow door, as we want to put a longer cabinet handle, disappointed you cut that off and did not show it.
These doors are okay for closets but as room doors they suck one good breeze and it's "Slam bang" then when closed it keeps banging because it's still moving with the breeze
I'm glad you posted this because I need to a new 20" 6-panel (really 3-panel) door for my kitchen pantry. Home Depot wants $350 to make a custom one because it isn't a standard size. A 36" door, however, will be perfect if I rip it correctly and fill in the gap. Now I know what's inside so I don't waste a $80 door.
If you want a privacy barrier, that door is fine. You can work out the internal structure by tapping, different parts will sound different. I have been looking at DIY camper conversions, all that I have seen specify 19mm ply for a QB. I need a KS, not so wide but I need length. That kind of construction would be lighter, quieter, cheaper, and give improved fuel economy over the years.
Go with me here... working a jobsite for a year{ 3500 sq. ft. homes } with 8/0 solid core doors. 60 doors per unit and most go upstairs. UGG! To rebound from that on a condo job with H/C doors. Gotta love them...
How would you go about cutting such a door in two parts. Thinking of getting 2 of them and doing half paneling on the wall. If I can split such a door in two identical parts... Then I could do a whole room half panel bottom wall for extremely cheap. Anything is possible, but what would be the best way? So splitting the door on the sides into two identical pieces. Would be flimsy, but would have brandring in the back of it.
Oh man, sorry to hear about the death in your family and the worries your family went through with your pregnant wife getting sick. It's horrible it all just happened at once. We recently bought a house, out in the country, Alvarado (TX) with 7 acres (40min from Dallas). We got tired of renting a 4br/2baths house (in the City) at $1450/mth (for 3yrs) plus bills in a crappy crime happy neighborhood. We're now only paying $1100/mth plus bills and it's OUR house. You should definitely look into buying a house. Our loan officer talked & walked us through everything exactly 1yr ago until we were ready with closing cost money & my husband worked on his credit. We're actually going to build our own house on the land in about 3-4yrs and sell the existing one. I can give you my loan officers info if you'd like. Just email me or send me msg. Thanks for sharing a bit of your life with us & teaching us a few things.
I live in a mobile home, I'm sure that's how our doors are constructed. I tried to hang a ceiling fan the other day and discovered how badly our roof trusses are constructed. I couldn't even mount a retrofit brace system in there without making another hole in the ceiling and putting wood blocking in the trusses. What a pain.
A "solid core" door is the same thing, only with more cardboard. Don't be fooled, if you want a solid wood door, you have to be very specific these days.
You cut the door crooked just kidding sorry about your setbacks hope all is well I have installed many of these doors and I agree they are not the best quality they also don't like humidity once they are installed the humidity makes them swell cool video
It happens all the time/you speak the truth/some shaker doors are mdf but there solid right/i went with solid core roman smooth with poplar frames base a trim custom cut/and don't punch a solid core unless u want to brake a hand
Hey chief, one of the panels of my hollow-core door is punched in. Is there an easy way to fix it without replacing the whole door? I was thinking of just cutting out the panel and then gingerly fixing it from behind and then replacing it. Any ibetter deas?
We're building right now and the doors are about to go in. We upgraded to solid-core doors throughout early on and didn't know if it would be worth it. This video helped so much, thank you!
There is actually two types of hollow core doors. They make ones with finger joint pine sides instead of MDF. I prefer the finger joint pine in the northern climates where you have dry winter and humid summer. MDF swells a lot in the summer and will cause rubbing. And MDF like you said you only get one chance with the screws!
I’m curious if you ended up doing this. I’d be concerned that expanding foam might pop the door apart, and that the foam might not do much, since it’s mass that blocks sound-but those concerns might be totally unfounded. If it worked that’d be a handy stopgap for crappy apartment doors.
@@jenbow88 I haven’t done it yet. It’s on the list. I think they are basically laid out in 1/4s. I was going to drill 6 holes. 2 top, 2 bottom and 2 on the hinge side. I was wondering if it would pop the laminate off myself. I think they are probably more sturdy than you would assume.
