Why Choose a Wood Door? Top Advantages

It’s not all too common to worry about the material your door is made of until you really need to buy one to match a renovation, add value to your home, or simply replace one that is worn out. So, many people don’t understand exactly how important the choice can be. 

However, it is a choice that is far more complicated than just aesthetics or how long the door will last. 

In our opinion, wood doors when made properly and with high standards are the best option. There are numerous reasons we feel that way, and to help you get an understanding of just how useful a wood door can be and why choose a wood door, we’re going to go over every benefit you can possibly imagine and explain why your next-door purchase should be targeted at a high-quality wood door instead of one of the other options available. 

Let’s get started. 

So Why Choose a Wood Door?

First things first, not all wood doors are made the same, and it’s important for you to understand that before you attempt to spend the bare minimum and expect all of the benefits we’ll be talking about in the following sections. 

Just like with anything else, there is definitely a gap in quality when you look at the various price ranges available. If you’re getting a wood door for $100, it’s probably not going to be as good as this list will describe wood doors as being. With that being said, you don’t have to pay top dollar for this list of benefits to be relevant. A good, mid-range door made by a reputable company should demonstrate all of these benefits, or at least the vast majority of them. The key isn’t to look at the price as much as it is to make sure the company manufacturing the door is known for doing good work. 

With that in mind, let’s move on to the list of benefits. 

Aesthetically Pleasing: 

The first thing you notice about anything is how good it looks. With doors, that’s especially true since 99% of the time you’re going to be looking at it; not fixating on maintaining whatever it’s made of properly, worrying about damage, or anything else. 

So, you’ll be happy to know that, out of all the door materials available, wood doors typically look the best in the vast majority of situations. 

Sure, if you’re running a business in a strip mall, a modern metal door with massive glass panels will probably match the more professional setting you’re in, but for residential purposes, wood doors are the most attractive option hands down. 

You can get dramatically different looks depending on the wood used to craft the door, how the door is finished, and whether or not the manufacturer added any details such as small, decorative window frames, engraved designs, cutouts, etc. 

This makes wood doors aesthetically flexible, but just the presence of solid wood tends to make surrounding design elements pop and add to your home’s curb appeal. 

A Multitude of Options: 

Wood is one of the few door materials that let craftsmen truly let their creativity shine. It’s not quite as easy as molding an aluminum or polymer-based door, but wood is such a versatile material that can be used for making custom wood doors with nearly unlimited design elements that can be added with the right production tools and a bit of creativity. 

However, how the door is carved and cut is just one way the options available are expanded. You also have to think about the wood type and finish. 

If you want a natural woodgrain, doors protected by light staining are available. If you want a bright red door with polka dots, that’s easy to paint. Want your door to have a primary matte color with a gloss trim? You can do that. If you can think of it, and it conforms to the general shape of a standard door, you can find it in one of many wood varieties. 

Also, if you want anything that lets the grain shine, you have various woods to choose from with dramatically different grains. You can have something fairly uniform like mahogany, or something more exotic and knurled such as cherry or African mahogany. 

There are honestly so many combinations you can go with to get a truly unique door that we can’t list them all here. Trust us, though. You can easily get overwhelmed with how many options you have compared to steel, aluminum, or fiberglass doors. 

Longevity: 

One of the biggest draws for a wood door is that most of the time, they’ll outlast you. If you purchase a wood door today, spend the next thirty years in your house, and take care of the door, you likely won’t need to replace it at all, and the next owners might even get decades’ worth of use out of it. 

This comes with the caveat of you having to maintain the door. Wood is a natural material, and it will degrade over time if you neglect it. Luckily, maintenance requirements are low, and it’s not too much work for the average person. We’ll talk more about that later. 

In comparison, many doors made from other materials only last 15-20 years. Steel doors can rust out, fiberglass doors can get damaged by sunlight, and you’ll notice that every other door material tends to suffer from one issue or another that shortens its lifespan. 

Durability: 

Going along with a wood door’s high longevity, it’s also a durable option. Wood doors, when made from high-quality hardwood instead of composite wood or cheaper wood species, are highly resistant to dents, scratches, and other common forms of wear and tear. 

Of course, this high durability does have its limits. Forcing large objects past them such as furniture with metal bits poking out can easily gouge the wood, standing water or heavy rain on an unprotected door, and various other things can cause irreversible damage. 

Luckily, a bit of common sense when moving furniture, navigating around your door, or dealing with natural occurrences will go a long way. Not to mention, keeping the door sealed with a coat of sealant or paint will prevent most natural forms of damage from taking place. However, you don’t have to worry about it developing wear and tear on its own in 99% of situations. 

Ability to Adapt: 

When you buy fiberglass, steel, aluminum, or iron door, you’re more or less stuck with what you bought. Those materials are more difficult to paint, can’t be sanded and resealed easily, and generally can’t be modified to match your changing taste and décor. 

On the flip side, wood doors are highly versatile, and you can change up their appearance with relatively little effort. Are you tired of that bright-red paint you thought “stood out” ten years ago, and now you want something that matches your home’s paint scheme and décor? Just do some light sanding and paint stripping, repaint the door, and call it a day. The whole job can usually be done in an hour or two depending on how much time you spend removing the door and stripping its existing coating. 

Most people don’t stick with one preference their entire lives, and if you’re in your “forever home”, you’ll likely change things up several times throughout your life. Buying a wood door now ensures that you can do that with as little hassle as possible. 

Price: 

Of course, price is a major determining factor in almost everyone’s purchasing decisions. The price range you can expect to pay for a door, any door, is extremely wide. You can find really cheap doors that get the job done for a while for just a little over $100, or you can find top-of-the-line doors made from exotic materials by hand that cost several thousand. This makes purchasing a door a little more complicated sometimes, but it also ensures that you can find a proper way to seal off your home’s entrances regardless of your budget. 

For wood doors, you get a good selection of mid-range and high-end doors to choose from. So, while you’ll mostly be excluded from the lowest end of the door pricing spectrum, you still get a good variety of options without sacrificing too much quality. 

Usually, you can expect to pay between $900 to $3000 for a wood door. Of course, that figure can rise dramatically if you look at artisan pieces or the very high end of the quality spectrum, but the range provided covers the vast majority of doors you’re likely to find, and anything in that price range is sure to bring the full list of benefits we’ve provided here. 

Ease of Purchasing: 

Most places that carry doors of any kind have various wood options to choose from. Your options won’t be as varied as if you went directly to a premium wood door manufacturer, but there are still plenty of options if you just want to drive to the store, pick one out in person, and bring it home. 

This is a stark contrast with some other door materials that are slightly rarer. Not every big box store is going to carry fiberglass, polymer, and other doors made from newer materials, and that makes you resort to online orders that require shipping periods and the other downsides of shopping online. 

This gives you two very easy options for sourcing your door and completing a purchase. If you have a little more time to wait for shipping and perhaps a small shipping fee, you can find some amazing deals and a much wider variety of options online. If you need a door asap and don’t mind paying more with fewer options available, you can easily drive to a big box door that sells home renovation products and pick one up. 

Ease of Installation: 

Have you ever tried to pick up an 8-foot-tall piece of two-inch-thick iron? It’s not exactly easy, and holding it in line with your door frame, especially on your own, is even more difficult. Wood doors are still heavy, and they can be troublesome for beginners to install on their own. However, it’s doable, and this is a major advantage over the other options that are certainly too heavy to install without professional help. 

With that being said, it is still recommended to have at least one strong buddy help you with the installation. One of you can hold the door in line with the door frame while the other drills the hinges to the frame. 

Of course, you don’t even have to do that most of the time. Most sellers will offer professional installation at a fair cost, and if you’re already buying a $1500 door, what’s another $50 to have professionals install it properly and ensure it doesn’t get damaged during the installation? 

Low Maintenance: 

If you want your wood door to outlast you, you will have to put in a bit of time to maintain it. Luckily, that doesn’t require much. 

The main thing to consider when maintaining your wood door is keeping the sealant in good shape. That protects the wood from 90% of the things that cause wear and tear such as sunlight and rain. To do this, all you have to do is set aside about an hour or two once a year. If you’re changing colors or stains, strip the door with a paint stripper, lightly sand it, and paint the door your desired color. Reinstall the door when it’s dried. If you’re just refreshing an existing coating, a rough sanding to give the paint a good surface to stick to is enough before you paint. 

You can do either of these without removing the door, but it’s definitely easier to do if you remove it from the hinges. 

Purchase a High-Quality Wood Door for All These Benefits and More

We specialize in crafting and selling the best wood doors on the market. We have the best prices, and you can trust that every door that leaves our warehouse is made to the highest standards, so wait no more – order your #1 solid wood door today!