Which Wood Material is Best for You?
We have a wide variety of wood materials, but which material is best for your saloon doors?
Whether you plan on painting or staining your doors the material matters. Not all wood options are available for all designs, this general guidance can answer most questions.
Best Paint Grade Material
All the wood materials we offer can be painted. The best wood materials for painting are Poplar and Soft Maple.
Poplar is renowned for its ability to take paint well. Poplar wood is a strong hardwood that is creamy white in color and may include streaks that vary from a pale yellowish brown to olive green. This wood holds up well for normal interior wear and tear.
Swinging Cafe Doors uses Soft Maple when crafting our professionally painted doors. We prefer Soft Maple for a refined, smooth finish, making it is easier to cover and giving a slightly better finish than Poplar. Soft Maple is a mostly straight grained sapwood, light blond with a gray cast sometimes, with the heartwood varying from a light to a dark reddish brown with occasional dark brown flecks.
Painting yourself- Here are our recommendations for paint:
If spraying- Sherman Williams pre-catalyzed primer with a pre-catalyzed lacquer.
If brushing/rolling- Sherman Williams or Benjamin Moore Latex with Primer in the Indoor Grade.
Best Stain Wood Material
If you are looking to stain the doors you have several options. Most people like to match the wood that is currently in their home; so we offer a large variety of stain wood options. All these woods are beautiful when stained but the grain is going to be slightly different on the stain wood options. We are currently working on showing all the wood samples with all stain options. (Coming Soon)
Eastern White Pine is a very soft wood and since it is a soft wood it is the most easy to mark. Eastern White Pine commonly has knots and is a pale brown, with occasional reddish brown streaks.
Soft Maple can also be stained and has a mostly straight grained sapwood, light blond with a gray cast sometimes, with the heartwood color varying from a light to a dark reddish brown with occasional dark brown flecks.
Ash has a beautiful grain, a light color to nearly white with the heartwood varying from grayish to light brown. The wood is generally straight grained and uniform in texture. Currently we are able to offer Ash, but Ash wood will not always be available due to the Emerald Ash Bore.
Red Oak is a very popular wood for staining. Red Oak has a medium range of color variability from lighter tan tones with pinkish highlights to darker browns.
Sapele is a beautiful reddish colored wood. We recommend this wood for any outdoor application (these doors are interior doors and do need extra steps if you are planning on using them in an outdoor application). Sapele is an African hardwood, highly sought after, and similar to Mahogany. Sapele’s colors are slightly redder than that of Mahogany.
Rustic Alder is a hardwood of medium density that features a color range of light browns with reddish hues and can feature large split knots and open knots. Rustic Alder is a great wood to show a variety of characteristics that are great for that barn wood look.
Cherry has a fine uniform straight grain varying in color from rich red to reddish brown. Cherry is a beautiful wood to stain.
Professional Painted Doors
We use Soft Maple wood material and spray the doors with commercial grade paint; ML Campbell Turino, satin sheen. It has an excellent scratch and mar resistance. First we will prime the door(s) and then apply two coats of paint.
Once the doors are painted we give them time to dry and then we start our door packing process.
We use Minwax stain colors. Then finish the doors with a lacquer, the lacquer finish is a strong durable top coat. We can stain Eastern White Pine, Ash, Oak, Sapele and Cherry woods. The stain finish does vary based on the base wood. Click Here to see our wood offering finished with minwax stain!
Top 8 Wood Options for Swinging Saloon Doors
Adding Saloon Doors to your home can be a fun easy update to your home. Maybe you are adding privacy to a master bathroom or an easy pantry door. These saloon doors can be made of many different materials, the most popular material is wood. What is the best wood for your saloon doors?
Paint Grade Wood
1. Poplar
Poplar is a strong hardwood that is creamy in color and may include streaks varying from pale yellowish brown to olive green. This is our base wood for most of our saloon doors, and it’s a paint grade only wood. Poplar offers a great bargain hardwood with a lower density than soft maple, 540 rating on the Janka hardness test. We do recommend the doors be primed then painted. Even after the poplar wood has been painted, wood grain will most likely show thru the paint.
2. Soft Maple
Soft Maple is a customer favorite. Soft Maple most straight-grained, sapwood is light brown heartwood color varies from light to dark reddish-brown with occasional fark brown flecks. Soft maple grain is generally straight, with a fine even texture. Soft maple is not a softwood, it has a 950 rating on the Janka hardness test. Soft Maple can be painted or stained. Soft maple will be easier to cover with paint than Poplar. After painting soft maple, little to no grain will show. Soft maple also stains well, so if you are unsure how you would like to finish the doors, soft maple is a great option.
Stain Grade Wood
1. Eastern White Pine
Eastern white pine wood commonly has knots and is pale brown with occasional reddish-brown streaks. This pinewood will stain well. Pinewood is considered softwood, not hardware. Eastern white pine grain is straight with even, medium texture. Since pine wood is softer the wood can be easily dented and marked. Eastern white pine has a 380 rating on the Janka hardness test.
2. Soft Maple
Soft Maple is a customer favorite. Soft Maple most straight-grained, sapwood is light brown heartwood color varies from light to dark reddish-brown with occasional fark brown flecks. Soft maple grain is generally straight, with a fine even texture. Soft maple is not a softwood, it has a 950 rating on the Janka hardness test. Soft Maple can be painted or stained. Soft maple will be easier to cover with paint than Poplar. After painting soft maple, little to no grain will show. Soft maple also stains well, so if you are unsure how you would like to finish the doors, soft maple is a great option.
3. Red Oak
Red Oak has a medium range of color variability from lighter tan tones with pinkish highlights to darker browns. Red Oak is a very popular stain grade hardwood choice. Red oak is a beautiful wood when stained, the stain will highlight the rich grain of the wood. Red oak has a 1290 rating on the Janka hardness test. If you are planning on staining door, and love the grain look red oak is a perfect choice. Red Oak grain is straight with coarse uneven texture.
4. Sapele
Sapele is an African hardwood, highly sought after, and similar to Mahogany. Sapele’s colors are slightly redder than that of Mahogany. Sapele has a 1410 rating on the Janka hardness test. Sapele is a beautiful wood with rich red tones, this looks great stained or clear coated. Sapele is known for having durable rot resistance. Sapele wood grain is a fine uniform texture.
5. Rustic Alder
Rustic Alder is a hardwood of medium density that features a color range of light browns with reddish hues. It can feature large split knots and open knots. The characteristic of this wood gives a rustic feeling to your designs. Great wood for a barn style door. Rustic Alder will have a wide range of knots that can be deep, the grain on the wood will show thru when stained. Rustic Alder has a 590 rating on the Janka hardness test.
6. Cherry
Cherry wood is a moderately hard, strong, and closed grain wood that is a light to red-brown wood. Cherry wood is a highly prized hardwood, due to the cost and limited availability. Cherry wood stains well and will be a beautiful showpiece in your home. Cherry wood has a 950 rating on the Janka hardness test.
Whether you pick our default poplar wood saloon doors or cherry swinging doors, you can ensure the doors will be a statement piece in your home or business. The durability and beauty of wooden swinging doors can help you add privacy, separation, or function to your doors. Wooden saloon doors should be protected with paint or stain to ensure long durable doors. Our interior doors are easy to install and provide self-closing hinges. Pick out your door design today.