What is better, interior doors made of eco-veneer, PVC, natural veneer or solid wood

White interior doors - a universal solution

Now there are a lot of interior doors in stores, with a modern design similar to each other, but made of different materials. In one store, managers say: “This is eco-veneer”, in another simply: “Veneer”, and in the third they say: “Array”. How to understand what is in front of you and decide which is better, given your requirements? Usually sellers in stores praise their product and pretend that they know absolutely nothing about the properties of analogues, and to the question “Which is better?”, You will have to look for the answer yourself.

Our article is about interior door finishing materials and how their characteristics change from this. We have collected all the facts in one place, and we hope that this will help you in a difficult choice.

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What are eco-veneer interior doors

Ecoveneer is a polypropylene film with wood decor. "Eco" in this case indicates that the material is environmentally friendly, and not that it is of natural origin, as many might think. But that's exactly what it's all about.

By combining two meanings in one word, marketers have outdone themselves. The veneer is a natural cut of a tree, and in addition, “Eco”. What could be cooler? But again, this is just a polypropylene film, and nothing more.

Sliding doors with eco-veneer coating in wenge color

Why the emphasis on sustainability? Because before that, PVC film, which contains chlorine, was mainly used in the cladding. True, this chlorine is there in a bound state and this coating is also absolutely safe. But it turned out to be a good legend for bringing new material to the market.

Eco-veneer doors are mostly prefabricated or, as they say now, "tsargovye". This means that they are assembled from different parts: the frame (strap), filling parts and glass. Everything is covered with eco-veneer before assembly. Each detail of the future door leaf is wrapped in a film so that the edges can be tucked inside the seams during assembly.

This design has several advantages:

eco-veneer door to the bedroom

What can be said about the eco-veneer itself? These are very high-quality films, with a relief that really naturally conveys the texture of wood in appearance and to the touch. The film itself should be quite thick, which means it is durable. Blows, pokes with sharp and hard objects, attempts to scratch it, it must endure without traces.

Why do we say "should"? Because, as always happens, when something good and of high quality appears, fakes appear. And in our market everything is now called eco-veneer, so you don’t need to take a word, check it out for yourself. When examining a sample, it is imperative to find the place where you can evaluate the coating - its cut or edge. The easiest way to do this is on platbands, a box or on the upper end of the door leaf, which always remains unprocessed.

What to watch:

Eco veneer bathroom door

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What are PVC-coated doors and what is better PVC or eco-veneer

Doors with PVC coating, these are doors covered with PVC film, everything is logical here. If any person, even a door specialist, is shown two pieces (rolls) of film, one is PVC, the other is polypropylene (eco-veneer), then no one will find the differences. They may even have exactly the same decor.

The horror story about chlorine in PVC film has probably not scared anyone for a long time, because. everyone understands that chlorine is bound there at the molecular level and can only be released during combustion. And the most harmful substances, in both films, are used specifically for decorating. Therefore, there are no visual and tactile differences.

But there are differences in the properties and therefore the doors are different.

Door covered with glossy PVC film

PVC film stretches under the influence of temperature and pressure, so it is applied to the doors using a thermal vacuum press. The film is heated and imprinted into the MDF base, covering all the relief elements of the decor of the door leaf and moldings.

Eco-veneer (polypropylene film) does not stretch, and it is impossible to cover anything with a voluminous relief. It is thanks to these properties that the PVC coating can imitate enamel, the now fashionable "Concrete" or SoftTouch, even leather. Doors can be made with real volumetric panels, with decorative elements, with carvings.

This allows you to make doors with a PVC film finish much more interesting in design than those made of eco-veneer. Not everyone is interested in wood flooring when there are many other options. That is why PVC-coated doors remain leaders among film doors.

Three-panel door with carved PVC trim

You probably have a question, why do manufacturers use polypropylene film then? The fact is that it is applied to doors on other equipment, this allows you to reduce the price of the final product.

As for purely household properties or checking in a store, everything said about eco-veneer is also true for PVC film.

Tsargovy door in PVC film

This material was prepared jointly with the employees of the V Dom interior door store. The photos of the doors taken by the craftsmen after installation were especially useful. But this is only a small part of what is presented on the store's website.

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What is veneer and veneered doors

Natural veneer is a thin cut of wood. In the door industry, veneer with a thickness of less than 1 mm is used. Veneer sheets are sewn into shirts, selected according to the pattern, and under great pressure they are literally imprinted into the MDF base so that they become one.

Interior doors in oak veneer

Many believe that all this was invented only in order to make the final product cheaper, due to the fact that many times less valuable wood is used. Actually not only for this.

The veneer allows the surface of any complex product, consisting of several parts, to be made uniform, as if it were carved from one large piece of wood. Moreover, for example, you can choose a pattern so that the largest stains fall exactly in the center of the desired fragment of the door leaf or are located symmetrically on it.

That is why even the ancient masters used veneer. Veneering technology allows you to make very beautiful products.

American walnut veneer door

Previously, veneer was glued directly to the array, now the base is made more stable and inexpensive. The frame of the door leaf is assembled from solid pine, sometimes reinforced with a high-strength plywood beam. Then all this is glued on the outside with a layer of MDF, which serves as the basis for the veneer.

Panels are made from MDF board. This design turns out to be very durable, and most importantly with stable dimensions, which will not change much (like solid wood) with changes in temperature and humidity in an apartment or house. There is no better base for veneer.

Door covered with natural walnut with milling on the surface and glass

The veneer is natural, usually from valuable species with the preservation of the natural wood pattern inherent in this species, and FineLine veneer, which is made from fast-growing species such as poplar and aspen. The peculiarity of the latter is that it is first cut into sheets, then glued and cut again.

Thus, an ordered structure is obtained, the thickness of the strips in which is controlled by the thickness of the initial cut. Such veneer is much cheaper than natural veneer and there is no pattern of annual rings on it. But nevertheless, it looks modern and it is clear that it is a natural tree.

Mahogany veneer door

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Which doors are better veneered or film eco-veneer, PVC

Veneer or eco-veneer, now the choice often sounds like that. We have already talked about the advantages of ecopon, how durable it is, it conveys the appearance of natural wood well and the price is not high. And against this background, sellers, vparivaya their doors, often begin to offend products made of natural veneer, such as expensive, fragile, they are afraid of moisture, scratched, everything will fall apart, etc. We do not agree with this.

Yes, eco-veneer is cheaper and can hold shock and scratch effects better, but that's all. The main advantage of natural veneer is that doors made of it really look better, they are natural, you can see it right away, many of them are indistinguishable from the most expensive doors made of solid oak or ash. No matter how high-quality the film material is, in any case it is clear that it is a fake for a tree, and not the tree itself.

Door with gray eco-veneer for flooring

Down the list. Are veneered doors moisture resistant? In the previous paragraph, we did not specifically talk about how the veneer is coated on finished products. It is tinted to the desired shades and covered with protective compounds, varnishes of various types, which, by the way, are no worse than films in terms of strength.

The veneer is painted, and the paint is also an excellent barrier to moisture. All this is done with already assembled doors, i.e. cover them entirely, without seams or gaps. Therefore, the surface of the door leaf is protected no worse than that of eco-veneer.

Veneered bathroom door

If we imagine that the doors are installed in a small bathroom, where condensate periodically flows down on all surfaces, then the situation is the same for veneer and eco-veneer. The first to take the hit are all the untreated places of the door block: the upper and lower ends of the door leaf, sections and reverse sides of the trim, boxes and extensions.

And in this case, this is where problems can begin: MDF will begin to absorb moisture, swell, and, accordingly, the coating in this place will begin to peel off (any coating, no matter veneer or eco-veneer).

To protect yourself from this, you need to thoroughly, before installation, coat all these places with varnish. Also, it is better to coat the fittings insertion points (handles, lock, wrappings, hinges) before its installation.

Eco-veneered bathroom door

Now about strength and sticking. As we have already said, when applying veneer, it is so firmly connected to the base that it literally becomes one with the frame, unless, of course, everything is done with high quality. Therefore, even with very strong mechanical damage, this sandwich behaves as a whole.

Even if a whole piece of material is torn out of the surface with something heavy and sharp, the veneer will no longer peel off (as happens with a film coating), but will behave more like natural wood. Therefore, such damage on veneered doors can be restored, for example, with mastic in the color of the coating, which cannot be said about foil doors.

Sliding door with large mirror in wenge veneer

Another plus of veneered doors is a whiter heavy and durable construction.. Because Since veneered doors are more expensive than eco-veneered ones, manufacturers make the door leaf and moldings better, more durable, without voids and honeycomb filler. This point must also be taken into account when comparing, and not just the beauty of the coating.

But veneer has one unexpected drawback, it fades in the sun, this is a payment for naturalness.

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What kind of solid wood doors are made and which ones are better

Wooden doors are made from different breeds, but in our material we will consider the most popular: pine, birch, alder, beech, ash, oak. They should be in the same order in order of increasing value.

Pine is the most inexpensive (a normal door costs from 7,000 rubles per leaf) and the most unusual in its properties. Due to its low density, it has very little thermal conductivity (which means it keeps heat well, and indirectly good sound insulation).

Due to the natural resinousness, it resists the influence of high humidity. Given these two properties, it is understandable why pine doors can be found in baths and steam rooms, and even in their raw form.

Solid pine door with white wax finish

The same resinousness already plays against the manufacturers of pine doors when it is necessary to make a quality product with a coating for an apartment or house. You need to dry the pine for a long time and correctly. If you do not dry it out or are simply unlucky, then the finished product will crack or yellow spots will appear on the coating. Therefore, when buying pine doors, pay attention to the reputation of the manufacturer.

Pine has a beautiful, pronounced natural pattern, but the surface is very soft, so over time marks appear on the doors. Pine is usually covered with translucent coatings. Dense enamel is rarely used, because. cracks may appear.

Next on the list we have birch and alder. Purely in terms of consumer properties, they are somewhat similar. And the doors of them cost about the same, from 12,000 rubles per canvas. The surface of birch and alder is slightly harder than that of pine, so these doors keep their perfect look longer, besides, they are not prone to cracking. Their wood is denser, so the insulating performance is worse than that of pine.

Door in solid alder with walnut patina

These rocks are perfectly processed and polished to perfectly smooth surfaces. After drying, they are very stable, but do not like water. Therefore, doors made of birch and alder, unlike pine, are often covered with dense compositions, painted with enamels. They do not have a pronounced natural pattern, the pattern of growth rings is almost invisible. Birch without coating milky white, alder slightly pinkish. After tinting, the surface is calm, noble.

All the same about the appearance and finish can be said about beech, only it is much stronger and harder. A beech door leaf can be bought from 18,000 rubles.

Well, oak and ash combine all the advantages: a very beautiful bright pattern, the wood is strong, hard, perfectly processed and then does not throw up surprises, like pine. Therefore, these doors are the most expensive, from 22,000 rubles per door. In oak and ash, the drawing is usually not painted over, but made even more vivid and expressive. They use different techniques for this: two-color tinting, etching, brushing, etc.

Solid ash door with beautifully matched slats

You can distinguish oak from ash by core rays, ash does not have them.. Ash is not suitable, unlike oak, for the manufacture of external doors, because. The environment is bad for him. Oak front doors, on the contrary, are very popular.

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What is better pine doors or eco-veneer and PVC

We compare exactly these segments, because their prices are comparable. In general, it is like comparing an artificial bouquet with a living one.

Pine doors exude their naturalness, they even smell like pine needles. Yes, their surface may not be perfect, marks from all blows accumulate on it, cracks appear, but this does not make them worse. After all, this is a real tree, with a beautiful pattern that is not repeated on neighboring doors, with character and charm.

In addition, when you close them, you feel that the doors are entirely made of wood., and the natural properties of pine endow them with excellent insulating properties.

Door trimmed with white PVC film

All this is not in the film doors, but there is only an impeccable appearance, as if carbon copy repeating from canvas to canvas. And also a surface that, like a plastic bouquet, will never wither.

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What is better veneered doors or solid wood

The veneer is a tree, and inside the frame is made of coniferous species. In general, I would define the transition point of purely massive doors to veneered ones by the moment of adding MDF to the design.

Veneer is also used in 100% massive doors. For example, to make the surface more expensive and beautiful. For example, an inexpensive oak door is made of small bars glued together, and its surface looks like a type-setting parquet. In order to turn a surface sewn from pieces, like Frankenstein, into one whole, lamellas or veneer sheets appear on it, which differ only in thickness.

There are other options, for example, solid pine on the inside, and a harder solid alder on the outside. Or framing a paneled door made of solid birch, and panels made of solid pine with a beautiful pattern. There are a lot of options, and breeds have always been combined.

Double doors in ash veneer painted according to RAL catalog

Well, once it came to people, why use natural wood everywhere at all. After all, some properties of the door leaf want to be changed for the better, for example, its price, weight, geometry constancy, susceptibility to humidity fluctuations. And with the advent of new materials, this became possible. MDF is just such a material that contains only natural components in its composition, cheap, durable, keeps its dimensions perfectly.

We get a pine frame, then a layer of MDF, like a substrate for veneer, and on the surface a layer of expensive, beautiful, natural wood. At the same time, the door turns out to be 2.5 times cheaper than if it were made entirely of this tree, and this is the most economical option. Well, what can I say, it's up to you!