Custom Wood Doors

5 Reasons Contractors Choose Don Schanzenbach at Old Virginia Woodworking:

When you need custom wood exterior doors for your projects, here's why I should be your guy:

1) My Door Designs Are Unsurpassed for Beauty

I'm not building catalog-line schlepp pieces just to fill openings—that's what the factories do for big box outlets. I'm a craftsman building masterpieces. These handmade custom doors are crafted as one-off pieces with the kind of eye-appeal that makes people turn around for a second look or tug on their friend's arm saying "isn't that lovely?" These wood doors are designed to make you and your customers say "this is the guy we want for our project."

2) I'll Have Your Custom Door Ready When Promised

I've heard all the stories about those other guys delivering so late you wonder if they'll ever finish. Years ago, I managed commercial construction myself — it was my job to get contractors on site and keep them on schedule. I know how hard you work to make it all work. I know the pressure and the frustration. When I was in your shoes I remember being grateful for suppliers who made my job easier. I'll be that guy, the one who makes your scheduling easier. I work diligently to keep my promises.

3) I Actually Understand Wood

Amateurs are just gluing parts together with no knowledge of what designs will succeed or fail over time. That's not me. I've studied wood my whole life—furniture building has been my beloved craft since high school woodshop. I completed carpentry school when I was nineteen. I used to subscribe to all (yes, all) of the woodworker magazines. Wood expands and contracts in predictable ways, and it cracks under specific circumstances. Door builders should know these things. I do.

4) I Can Handle Those Big Doors

Need 8-foot or 10-foot tall doors? I've got experience building 2-1/2" thick hardwood doors so heavy two men can barely lift them. Oversized doors aren't a problem.

5) I Don't Jack Up Prices After We Start

I've made it a point to be a man who keeps his word. When I tell you a price for a project, that's the price. Sure, if you add new items to the work order, I'll charge for legitimate extras—but I'm not searching for new ways to make you pay more.

Follow along below to see how a custom wood door is designed and built and use the form below to contact us about your project.

: Completed custom exterior doors (African mahogany, rain finish glass, Endura Trilennium® locking system).

: Inside of a two inch thick, quarter sawn, white oak door, hand-built here in our shop.

: Outside of a two inch thick, quarter sawn, white oak door, hand-built here in our shop.

: Outside of Installed Door

: Inside of Installed Door

: Custom wood door entry system with sidelights, 2.5″ thick white oak.

When building a custom door we build the frame first to ensure a perfect fit of the completed door in the frame. Once the carefully checked pattern is made we use it to make the door frame.

This frame is made of two and a half inch thick African sapele wood. This exterior door required a curved peak at the top of the door. The curve was achieved by assembling a series of short blocks into a near-curve, gluing them up, and then the curve was cut in half across the peak to give two half-moon pieces. This allowed us to get the, still heavy, pieces up onto the bandsaw and to cut the curve to the patterned shape. The two large curved pieces were then sanded. After sanding they were re-glued to each other at the peak and glued and doweled to the tops of the side jambs. A ratcheting web strap was used to pull it all together.

Door Frame Glue Up

Curved Peak for Custom Door Frame

After the frame is complete the custom wood door can be made to fit the space. After making all the main frame pieces for this door, they were doweled with around 200 dowels and dry-fitted to make sure everything would fit together. Then a crew of three men glued the door, clamping it in two lifts to achieve final assembly. At two and a half inch thickness, eight feet tall, and a four feet four inches width, this substantial exterior door was too heavy for any individual to move alone once assembled.

Door Assembly

Many custom exterior doors require panels to match surrounding architecture. Interior doors may need to match existing woodwork. This door was designed for a stone church building. The solid wood panels for this door were machined and inserted to give the raised panel effect.

Raised Panels

The panels are actually a sandwich with solid wood outsides and a half inch of high r-value polystyrene in-between. This keeps the panels from developing frost in the inside of the door during cold months.

Custom Wood Door with Polystyrene Core to Insulate and Weatherproof.

Hardwood Door with a Polystyrene Core to Insulate