Interior Door Showdown: Solid Wood vs. Hollow Core

When building or remodeling a home the interior doors are often an afterthought but they shouldn't be. Cheap doors on a quality built home suck! But investing a limited budget into solid wood doors isn't always the smart choice.

We've followed this debate on Home Construction Improvement regarding hollow-core vs. solid wood interior doors and while there are some basic advantages and disadvantages to both.

Solid Wood Doors
+ Solid wood doors are great for sound dampening, insulating properties, damage resistance and value to potential buyers.
- Solid doors certainly have benefits but they also cost approximately 50% more, they are heavy and more prone to shrinkage and expansion due to temperature and moisture changes.

   

Hollow Core Doors
+ Hollow core doors are cheaper, lighter, and less likely to warp, shrink and swell. Hollow core doors also take paint much better than solid wood doors.
- Hollow core doors are prone to damage from unruly kids, slamming doors into stops and other impact loads. Hollow core doors are also much harder to modify and repair due to the hollow nature.

Read more and decide for yourself.