Main Door & Pooja Door - Wooden Logs Versus Cut Sizes - What you need to know before you finalize the design

I just wanted to share my experience of finalizing the  door design. We googled for door design and decided a particular design. What I did not realize is that the door design can impact the cost of the wood. We wanted to have a 43 inch door and our design required wooden planks of about 15 inch width.

I was told that to have uniform grains, I will have to go for a wooden log. To get a width of about 15 inch, I had to choose a tree of 53 inch circumference. Rule of thumb on pricing is that one inch of dia would cost you Rs. 100 per CFT. So, the 53 inch  tree cost me Rs. 5300 per CFT (price in April 2016). I checked the neighboring shops and the  price was varying. They were also quoting Rs. 7500 per CFT, I am guessing that the girth (diameter) is 75 inches - not sure. There was only one tree which had a 53 inch girth. They would only cut it on one end of the tree. I needed a wooden plank that is 7 feet in length and so requested that they cut a portion of the tree that is 7 feet in length. I saw minor cracks at the tip  of  the  wood - I have pasted a sample picture below that just shows the cracks....


Once they started cutting the tree, ended up getting 6 planks. The widest one (15 inch) ended up being only 4.5 feet long due to big cracks (that developed during the cutting)!!. I needed a single piece of 7 feet long!! Other planks also, had cracks. The log when measured 7 feet x 53 inch girth came up to 8.53 CFT and after cutting the log, I wound up with 4.06 CFT of useful planks!!. Lost well over 50% in wastage. They say  that usually we loose 10 to 15%, however, in my case well above 50%.

Things that I learnt from this experience:

1. Wood logs right in the beginning: If at all you are going to go for wooden logs, buy it right in the beginning of the wood work. In other words, don't buy any other wood (for example, for frames, shutters, etc). In my case, entire wood work for doors and windows (frame and shutters) are over. I went in for the log to use it for Main door and Pooja door ONLY. Now, I am stuck with pieces of wood with dimensions that are useless for me). If you buy entire wood in the form of log, then you will be able to use the border of the tree, etc for the miscellaneous sizes that you need.

2. Logs Vs Pre-cut: I would recommend going for pre-cut planks. The downside is that they charge Rs. 6000 to 8000 or so for pre-cut planks - the 4 inch wide planks for example cost Rs. 6000 or so while the 15 inch plank costs Rs. 8000. The wider the plank, the more expensive it gets. The upside is that there is zero wastage. You get to choose wood with no cracks etc and so you don't loose any money on wastage. What you see is what you get.

3. Door design and plank width: Choose a door design that uses smaller planks.  For example (just to show the difference), see the picture below, you can buy smaller planks (width is small). Further more, if the door is 2 door design, the need for width will come down.





The image of the second door (pasted above) shows the need for 5 planks that are wide. Imagine you  door is about 38 inches wide, the plank that you will need might end up becoming 26 inches are so (assuming 6 inches are left on either side). You will spend a fortune getting those planks. Another way, people get around this problem is to join to planks of 13 inches for example. However, they say that it can get complicated as the gap might increase between the  joints due to weather (contraction and expansion).

4. Pre-made Doors: If you are tight on budget, KSFIC (Karnataka State Forest Industries Corporation) has a shop near Satellite bus stand  in Bangalore(go to dead end on the  road that is right next to Satellite bus stand). They have plush doors on which they put  some beading to make it look nicer. The cost would be about Rs. 8500 per door (about Rs. 350/Sq ft). They also sell teak wood doors for about Rs. 4000 (1.25 inches thick) and it would go up to Rs. 60,000 if you want a door that is 1.5 inches thick and 43 inches wide as of April 2016 + VAT.
http://www.ksfic.com/manufacturing/index.htm
KSFIC
45A New Timberyard Layout
Mysore Road
Bangalore 560026
+91-80-26748301.

Many of the timber shops and also shops that sell doors of Nikki, etc also sell ready made teak wood doors. I feel that they use second quality of teak (which is NOT necessarily bad) and might  be using joining pieces of planks. The quote for a  38 inch  door was Rs. 28,000 and for a 43 inch door was Rs. 33,000. I am guessing that it is for 1.25 inches. The advantage of this is that you don't have to worry about looking for planks, no wastage, etc. You know exactly what it costs...The pre-made doors are most likely going to end up being cheaper compared to Burma Teak door.

5. Sal wood or Teak wood: For door frames, you can opt for Sal wood (I went for Red, there is also white) which cost me about Rs. 1200 per CFT in Jan 2016. They charge Rs. 80 for planing per CFT. They also charge VAT usually at 50% of the value of the transaction. The African/Ghana teak (for shutters) was running for Rs. 2800 per CFT and Tanzania Teak at Rs. 4200 per CFT. I am told that you need teak wood for shutters or they might bend over time. If you are confused between Sal and Teak wood for frames, I suggest go to the shop and look at it. Sal wood is rock solid too. Going for teak for frames might be over spending in my opinion. By the way, if you are going to put marble floor, you will need the teak wood frame (any type of teak) as they say that sal wood would seep come color into the marble.