We at the Real Carriage Door Company set very high standards for craftsmanship. We believe in good-old American ingenuity and productivity, and we never take shortcuts. We encourage you to be an educated consumer. Here are some examples that set us apart from our competition:
Solid Wood
We are advocates of true solid wood construction. Just as in design, simpler is better. Nowadays, most solid wood doors are actually solid core doors, the heart of which is junk composite fiberboard, skinned with a thin wood veneer. When we use the term “solid wood construction,” we mean just that: solid, natural, ACTUAL wood boards, all the way through.
While solid core door manufacturers claim “solid wood,” Fiberglass and Vinyl composite companies claim “maintenance-free ownership,” an indestructible product. In reality, such systems will chalk or dent, grow brittle and crack, and sag or delaminate over time. Sun, cold, rain exposure and simple general use will warrant repair, and in many cases, replacement.
Uniformity
Our carriage door quality is second-to-none, on both sides! Because our doors are solid wood, the rails, stiles, and panels will look just as beautiful on the inside as they do on the outside… with absolutely NO plywood or synthetic material. We believe this is especially important to our customers who are using their spaces as living rooms, car showrooms, workshops, or gamerooms.
Compare this to the “faux” carriage doors we see in the marketplace. These fake carriage doors are made by attaching an array of nice-looking boards to a plywood backing or frame for ’show and looks’. These wood garage doors depend on the plywood or frame and fasteners to hold the door together. The result is a door that looks flat and plain on the back side, and is susceptible to early failure. Moisture can get in behind applied pieces, leading to serious warping, sagging, or even delamination, trim literally falling off the door.
Structure
Our door thickness is an industry standard full 1-3/4″. RCD also offers an upgrade to 2-1/4″ thick, for those looking for the best of the best. Compare this to companies that build with common 2-by dimensional lumber. These doors, at 1-1/2″ thin or less, may be fine as interior doors, but are too flimsy for use in any exterior application.
Joinery
RCD uses the choicest joint method for large door building: Mortise and Tenon. Extra thick and long tenons make a deep connective joint into the doors’ rails. This joint, coupled with the resulting ample surface area for today’s modern glues, provides the ultimate in shear strength. Doors built with this joint possess the very best structural characteristics. Beware of door companies using dowels or thin, shallow tenons to join structural members. Such a joint will have trouble supporting the loads that gravity exerts on a door over 3′ wide, and may weaken dramatically when subjected to general use and the elements.
True Divided Lites
We build as traditionally as possible, and this means that our carriage doors have independently set glass panes. We believe that “faking” a divided lite window pane by affixing a wooden grille to a single sheet of glass detracts from the integrity of an authentic product.
Visit the Door Details page for more information about Real Carriage Door quality.