Death To The Six Pannel

At the beginning of our basement renovation, I was cleaning up one day in anticipation of a big lumber delivery. Becki was gone out and I inadvertently locked myself down in the basement. (For some creepy reason, the previous owners had a lock on the basement door...) Equipped with only a hammer, shoestring, and stick of gum; I had to MacGyver my way out before the delivery truck showed up.

As you can see, I only needed the hammer. The door was sacrificed in my great escape, but that's ok though because I knew we would eventually replace it (since, well, I dislike six panel doors almost as much as La-Z-Boy furniture).

Like staircases, doors are one of those obscure elements of a renovation that often get overlooked. Everyone seems to stick with the standard six panel model. In the setting of a traditional home, sure, they fit. But in a modern renovation, they look completely out of place.

So what alternatives does one have when deviating from the six panel? There's those Shaker style doors that come in a variety of panel numbers. These are a step in the right direction, but still aren't our style. The single panel versions aren't as bad, but why do we even need panels at all? Next. Browsing the aisles at the hardware store, another popular door that is stocked is the Cheyenne style. DEFINITELY not our style! I've seen some really nice modern/plain solid wood doors, but then you're getting into custom (read: expensive) solutions. So what does one do in a modern renovation, especially when considering budget? Flashback to the 50's, where painted flat slab doors were all the rage. We figured the melamine versions would be perfect, no detail. Swap the gold knob for a modern stainless lever and you're golden (err stainless?).

Two problems though, the first was finding affordable levers. Most of the styles we liked online were well over $100 per set! We lucked into finding a perfect model from Taymor through Rona, but they told us it was either discontinued or they were no longer stocking it. Either way, we got super lucky because they found a bunch in one of their warehouses on the other side of the country. They had them shipped over and it still cost us less than $25 per set, if I remember correctly.

The second problem was sourcing the flat slab doors - neither Kent nor Rona stock them. Home depot to the rescue - not only do they have them as a regularly stocked item but they're the cheapest door they sell. For once, the more modern option is the cheapest! But there's always a catch: there's no pre-hung version. Not a huge deal for most of the house, but three doors in the basement were new construction so that required us make our own door jambs.

We purchased this door lock installation kit which comes with a jig, hole saw, and everything else you need to install a door. While the first few were a bit tricky, after replacing all 13 doors in our house, we were fairly proficient! We deviated a bit from the provided instructions, but we'll post all that in a tutorial to follow.

We donated all of our old doors (with the exception of the basement door) to Habitat For Humanity, who help build affordable homes for low income families. The lady there was shocked. "Hey Steve!! Get a loada dis guy! He's gettin' ridda all his perfectly good six panels for those old flat fronts from the 50s!! BAHAHAH!". Steve pipes in, "Wha? You serious?? You're cracked, my son! You crazy kids are all into 'vintage' *does air quotes* these days!"

Anyway, here's the before and after for our doors (and upstairs hallway)! Note that the before photo isn't quite a true before photo since we had already installed new trim and drywalled over the stucco ceiling when it was taken, but you get the idea.