What is the best wood for a front door in Colorado?

Why does Colorado's climate change the choice?

Because the air here is dry, so wood gives up moisture and shrinks more than it would in a wet climate. Wood swells and shrinks across the grain as it takes on and loses moisture, and the moisture it settles at outdoors depends on the local air.

Those figures come from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Wood Handbook, chapter 13 (USDA). The same handbook puts indoor wood at typically 6% to 12% moisture content (USDA, chapter 16). A front door sits between the two: heated, dry air on the inside face in winter and outdoor air on the other. That is why stable woods and construction that controls movement matter more here than in a damp climate.

What matters in an exterior door wood?

• Decay resistance: how the wood holds up if water gets past the finish. The ratings below are the Wood Database's.
• Movement: wood swells and shrinks across the grain as humidity changes. The Wood Database's shrinkage figures, measured from green to oven-dry, approximate a species' stability: lower numbers mean less movement.
• Hardness: the Janka test measures the force needed to press a 0.444-inch steel ball halfway into the wood. Softer woods dent more easily.
• Finishing: JELD-WEN notes that mahogany and walnut need grain filler when finished (JELD-WEN), and the Wood Database warns that cherry and maple can blotch under stain.
• Construction: Simpson says its doors are typically built "in an engineered fashion", with each part made of several pieces of wood under a veneer, "resulting in a sturdier, straighter door" (Simpson FAQ). Ask any maker whether a door is solid lumber, laminated or engineered.

How do the main exterior door woods compare?

Shrinkage is measured from green to oven-dry, a far bigger swing than a finished door ever sees, but the figures rank how much each wood moves. By those figures white oak moves about two and a half times as much as genuine mahogany across a flatsawn face (10.5% against 4.3%). The USDA Wood Handbook gives slightly different numbers for the imported woods, 4.1% for true mahogany and 7.4% for sapele, with the same ranking (USDA, chapter 4).

Sapele, mahogany, white oak or walnut?

Sapele is a tropical African hardwood that the Wood Database says is occasionally used as a substitute for genuine mahogany. It is one of the two hardest woods here (1,360 lbf), its heartwood is rated moderately to very durable, and it is moderately priced. Simpson lists it among the especially weather-resistant species in its Nantucket Collection. Its interlocked grain gives quartersawn boards a ribbon figure but can tear out in machining, and it discolors on direct contact with iron. It is not CITES-listed but is on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable.

Genuine mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla, sold as Honduran mahogany) has the lowest tangential shrinkage here, 4.3%, and the Wood Database calls its stability phenomenal. It is easy to work and finishes well. Durability varies with how the tree grew: plantation-grown stock can be slightly less rot resistant than older wild trees. It is listed in CITES Appendix II, which restricts trade, so ask where the lumber came from.

White oak is nearly as hard as sapele (1,350 lbf), rated very durable, and frequently used in boatbuilding and barrels. Its weak point is movement: 10.5% tangential shrinkage, the most in this group, and the Wood Database calls its dimensional stability mediocre, especially in flatsawn boards. In Colorado's dry air, ask for quartersawn stock. It can also stain where it touches iron, particularly when wet.

Black walnut is rated very durable and has good dimensional stability, but it is priced in the high range for a domestic hardwood and boards can be narrow. Masonite notes that as wood doors fade, color variation shows most on dark woods, so a walnut door is best kept out of full sun.

Is Douglas fir or cedar good for a front door?

Douglas fir is a popular front door wood and the value choice. It is straight-grained, sold as construction lumber at a modest price (old-growth or reclaimed boards cost much more) and takes paint or stain well. JELD-WEN calls it "a popular choice for front doors, as it naturally resists weathering" (JELD-WEN), and Simpson includes it in its weather-resistant Nantucket Collection. The Wood Database rates the heartwood moderately durable and notes it is susceptible to insect attack. Quartersawn, or vertical-grain, fir gives the straight, even grain most people picture.

Western red cedar is very light (23 pounds per cubic foot), rated durable to very durable and low in shrinkage. The trade-off is softness: at 350 lbf it dents and scratches very easily. It suits a sheltered, lightly used entry better than a door that takes daily knocks. Iron-based fasteners can stain it, especially when wet.

Why do alder, cherry and maple usually stay inside?

Some manufacturers do offer alder, cherry and maple exterior doors; JELD-WEN lists all three (JELD-WEN). They are still better suited to interior doors and cabinets, for different reasons.

• Red alder is rated non-durable to perishable and is soft (590 lbf) (Wood Database). It works and finishes easily, but if water gets past the finish the wood offers little resistance to decay.
• Black cherry heartwood is rated very durable, yet the Wood Database notes it is "not typically used in exterior applications" (Wood Database). Cherry darkens with exposure to light, and direct sun speeds that up.
• Hard maple is the hardest wood in this guide (1,450 lbf) but is rated non-durable to perishable, can blotch when stained and has high tangential shrinkage, 9.9% (Wood Database). JELD-WEN describes it as "traditionally used for interior applications".

All three make fine custom cabinets.

Which wood suits my entry?

Start with how much sun and rain the door gets, then decide on looks and budget.

• Deep porch or adequate overhang: Simpson's overhang data sheet says a door with an adequate overhang can be "any type of Simpson exterior door and in any wood type" (Simpson). Choose on looks and budget.
• Exposed to rain: favor the higher decay ratings. White oak and black walnut are rated very durable, western red cedar durable to very durable.
• Big swings between dry winter air indoors and outdoor weather: favor the lowest-movement woods, genuine mahogany and western red cedar, or quartersawn stock of the others.
• Strong sun on a south or west face: expect more finish upkeep with any species, and keep the color light. The USDA Wood Handbook says darker finishes "result in more solar heating, and so result in more warping and checking of wood than light color finishes" (USDA, chapter 16). Our wood door care guide explains the upkeep.
• Heavy daily use, kids or pets: the harder woods, sapele, white oak and walnut, resist dents best.