I want to dress up the front entry door that is steel by bonding wood panel to it. What kind of wood panel should I choose, and what bonding agent is best for this.
pamsong8

 

pamsong8,

Welcome to DoItYourself.com and the Door and Window forum.

To try bonding a panel to an entry door is opening up a can of worms that is best left alone. A better solution would be to simply replace the door.

Here's why.

The door that is there now is 1-3/4" thick, and is in a jamb made for a door that is 1-3/4" thick. Adding a panel is going to increase the door thickness to 1-7/8" (assuming that you add an 1/8" panel), and you'll have to move the door in 1/8" so that the paneled door will work in the jamb. That means you'll have to also move the hinges up or down so that the screw holes will be in solid wood. You'll have to alter the stike plate so that the door will latch properly.

Bonding wood to steel and having that bond hold, especially on the exterior side where it is exposed to big temerature swings daily is going to be difficult.

 

A more doable alternative is to use a wood graining paint kit, or to use mouldings to make it look like a panel door.

Still a 6-panel steel door replacement isn't that much money and you may be better off that way--it's still not wood, but not so plain.

Fiberglass doors can be stained to look very much like wood but cost a bit more. I reccomend them over a real wood door though because of the tendency of real wood to warp and swell. But HD has real wood exterior door slabs for less than $150.