Quote:
Originally Posted by stuntbutt  MDF will not hold screws well enough to support hinges. You would need solid wood on the jam side of the door... |
How about using "T-hinges", like these:
Stanley Hardware - 8" Heavy T-Hinge
If you screw hinges into the FACE of the MDF door panel, I'd think it might work... using three or four hinges minimum. What do you think? Side load on the screws would be way less of a problem than a load trying to pull the screws straight out (as with a conventional type hinge).
Or you could use T-hinges and run small BOLTS through the hinges / MDF... as long as the MDF doesn't outright tear apart like a sheet of paper, it should work fine.
In general, what would be better?
MDF or particle board?
I can't believe no one has made doors like this, two sheets of 3/4" material screwed together covered with 1/4" paneling... for a door with total thickness of 1.75" like all standard doors. It's either the greatest idea that no one has ever tried, or it's a terrible idea.
Considering the super low cost and great STC that can be achieved (due to excellent mass), I'd think this would be a very popular door design. A good new fire-code solid door is like what?... $500 at least?... two sheets of MDF or particle board and some paneling is like... $60 maybe? With two layers of MDF you'd be looking as almost 6.0 pounds per square feet of mass... this outperforms two layers of 5/8" fire-code sheetrock and likely performs exactly the same as a brand new fire-core door of the same thickness that costs over 10 times as much.
Of course the SEAL (frame, etc) of the door is very important and that's where things get tricky.... but it CAN be done well by the DIY person if careful attention is paid to the details and careful workmanship is performed.... not TOO hard if you have patience. And if you are putting together a DUAL-door system, a tiny "leak" in one door is not as critical anyway as if you were just running one single door... not to say one should be careless, but with a dual-door system, overall success is much higher in the DIY realm.
