Long story short: Buy retail and get the pre/assembled door.
The idea of a kit is attractive for its customisable potential, but I made a mistake. Thinking ahead, I figured I would sand and stain the individual parts, then assemble after. After checking each piece, sanding off the fibers and flyaway edges, working through the grits, popping the grain, sanding again to 240 grit, and hitting with pre/stain treatment, I was ready for stain.
I used a water/based stain, and the colour came out as I liked it. All of that was pretty straightforward, all things considered, but when it came time to assemble everything and start the measure/and/install process, I realised the wood had warped. All those changes in temperature, humidity, and even getting caught in the rain in the for a hot second, I was sitting on a pile of cupped, warped, and twisted lumber. The smaller pieces had some chance at redemption but it was the main door frame members which did me in. Without access to a proper wood shop where I could steam/bend the larger pieces back into square, it was a lost cause. Ive abandoned the wooden parts of the project.
Sure, its more expensive to buy a pre/made door with a kit from the local home improvement store — in the order of 400. But itll save the headache of any potential wood problems.
If you must buy this kit, my advice is to do the opposite of what I did. Keep everything in the package, indoors, for a few days, then when you unbox it, immediately assemble the door and clamp it flat to something you know is square, like a table or bed frame. After a few more days, go ahead and start your sanding, etc. all the while checking for square at every possible chance. If you see the door starting to twist, stop everything and sort it out. Doors are finicky in the best of situations, you dont need any more drama.
Learn from my mistake
Long story short: Buy retail and get the pre/assembled door. The idea of a kit is attractive for its customisable potential, but I made a mistake. Thinking ahead, I figured I would sand and stain the individual parts, then assemble after. After checking each piece, sanding off the fibers and flyaway edges, working through the grits, popping the grain, sanding again to 240 grit, and hitting with pre/stain treatment, I was ready for stain. I used a water/based stain, and the colour came out as I liked it. All of that was pretty straightforward, all things considered, but when it came time to assemble everything and start the measure/and/install process, I realised the wood had warped. All those changes in temperature, humidity, and even getting caught in the rain in the for a hot second, I was sitting on a pile of cupped, warped, and twisted lumber. The smaller pieces had some chance at redemption but it was the main door frame members which did me in. Without access to a proper wood shop where I could steam/bend the larger pieces back into square, it was a lost cause. Ive abandoned the wooden parts of the project. Sure, its more expensive to buy a pre/made door with a kit from the local home improvement store — in the order of 400. But itll save the headache of any potential wood problems. If you must buy this kit, my advice is to do the opposite of what I did. Keep everything in the package, indoors, for a few days, then when you unbox it, immediately assemble the door and clamp it flat to something you know is square, like a table or bed frame. After a few more days, go ahead and start your sanding, etc. all the while checking for square at every possible chance. If you see the door starting to twist, stop everything and sort it out. Doors are finicky in the best of situations, you dont need any more drama.