Hello all. I am in the process or slowly remodeling a house to a more a and c style. I want to replace the interior doors, but I realized that I cannot even begin to afford 11 solid oak 6 panel interior doors, just not even possible. I was looking at pine and while they are still expensive (sine they are solid wood doors) they are doable price wise in a few more months of saving. I will then stain and seal them myself. But then the trim was going to be oak with the cherry stain in the a and c style. That won't look right I think so what suggestions do any of you have? Thanks!

Have you considered making your own interior doors? With the right tools, it is a possibility. Really you only need a decent table saw, and a table top mortise machine (a mortise machine is about $200) .. and a few pipe clamps..

Interior doors can cost mega bucks, but then again, they do take a considerable amount of material... To build it yourself (material costs) you can figure about $7-8 sq ft.. so a 7 ft door x 32" is 20 sq ft x $8 is $160.. That is using oak plywood panels and 1.5" oak frame.

it is an idea...

Well, I appreciate the reply but thats a project I won't and really am not able to take on at this time. Not only would it take ME way to long, but I don't have the ability to take on that type of task and feel good about the quality of the outcome. I have tackled a lot of the projects in this house myself, but not that one! lol Thanks though....maybe someday I could.

You know the hardest part of a project is convincing yourself that you can do it.. break down the problem, and things will fall into place.

There are options to doing a mortise joint on a door, You can double biscuit a door (buiscuit from the front and the back side) and save massing with the mortise joints (biscuits still create a very strong joint)

I do have a friend that has a ton of doors.. He had an apartment that the local university just purchased, so he removed all of the woodwork and interior doors. He has 15-20 (I can get an accurate count).. He was asking about $20 per door (can;t beat the price).. I think they are 2x1x2 raised panels, all natural finish.. (no paint), May be a good chance to get a large group of matching doors at a good price.

The boards are not for sales, so if you are interested, it would be best if i gave you his phone number, and you can ask him all of the questions you like.. He can shoot you measurments and such.

~Rob

I appreciate your desire to help, but I know what I can handle, and what I care to take on and that just not something I want to deal with, nor do I have the room to even do it (no work shop really). There are a list of solid reasons why I can't tackle that, but not having the desire to do it is the winner. Thanks for your help thopugh, I really do appreciate it.

Wood Grain the doors.
Check out http://www.oldworldbrush.com/
Get your base color right first, then grain, check roll it, finish with a sealer/overglaze.
Easier then it sounds.
Do Not use the "Zar System" from your local paint store.
Sean Brown CKD