Most wooden door problems - sagging, sticking, not closing properly - have nothing to do with the wood itself. They start with wrong measuring and installation; here are three common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Most of the complaints we hear about wooden doors - sagging, sticking, not closing properly - have nothing to do with the quality of the wood. Almost all of them trace back to one thing: incorrect measuring or installation, before the door itself ever reaches the workshop.
If you measure the frame before the final flooring (tile, parquet) is laid, the correct height will change once the floor is finished, leaving the door either too tall or catching at the bottom. The same applies to the wall: if the final plastering and painting haven't been done yet, the actual width of the opening will shrink by a few millimeters later. The simple rule: always take the final measurement after the floor and wall plaster are finished, never before.
A door that looks fine on installation day will start sticking within six months if its frame isn't plumb.
Installing a wooden door while the wall plaster or paint is still wet, or while the workshop is full of construction dust, damages both the wood and the hardware: ambient moisture gets absorbed into the wood and later causes warping, and dust settles on the hinges and lock. We recommend final installation only after the plaster is completely dry and at least one coat of wall paint is applied; if the door has to be in place earlier, protect it with a covering at the very least.
Before ordering a door, always take the final measurement after the floor and wall are finished, check the opening for plumb and square, and schedule the installation for after the paint and plaster have dried. You can read more about selection criteria before ordering in the Wooden Entrance Door Guide; if your current door is already warping, see why in Fixing a Warped Wooden Door. For precise measuring before you order, you can also book a visit with Choobe Sabz Workshop.
The entrance door is the first thing a guest or passer-by notices; the right wood, panel thickness, weatherproofing, and lock decide how secure and durable it stays against sun and rain for years.
Door warping almost always comes from uneven moisture on the door's two faces, not from bad wood. Here is the real cause and the actual fix.
Many wood facades start warping and rotting two or three years after installation, not because of bad wood, but because of a missing air gap behind the cladding.