Solid core wood or hollow metal?

Most commercial openings resolve to one of two constructions: a solid core wood leaf or a hollow metal steel leaf. Both cover a very wide range, both can be supplied fire-rated and acoustic-rated, and the honest answer is usually that either would work. The choice is normally decided by conditions around the opening rather than by the door itself.

What each is good at

Solid core wood is the finish answer. Five-ply construction carries face treatments — natural veneer, laminate, overlays — with a consistency and warmth steel does not match, and it can be matched across a floor or a building. In occupied, front-of-house and institutional interiors where the door is part of the finished architecture, wood is usually specified for how it looks and how it feels in the hand.

Hollow metal is the durability and environment answer. A steel leaf in a steel frame tolerates abuse, moisture and temperature swings that would degrade a wood assembly, and it is the default wherever the opening is exterior, industrial, back-of-house, or exposed to weather. Gauge and core are selected to the job, and specialty constructions — lead-lined, ballistic, stainless for coastal and sanitary conditions — are extensions of the same platform.

The questions that actually decide it

Where is the opening? Exterior, or anywhere exposed to moisture, is hollow metal. This is the one that settles most cases on its own. In the Maritimes it settles more of them than it would elsewhere: wind-driven rain and salt air are routine conditions here, not edge cases.

What is the traffic like? Corridors with carts, loading areas and service routes push toward steel. A wood leaf can be built for heavy use, but the impact damage that steel shrugs off shows on a finished face.

Does it have to match the millwork? If the door is part of the visible interior, wood. This is a legitimate reason on its own and does not need defending.

What is the wall condition? Frames get selected for the wall — masonry, stud, existing opening — and the frame decision is often more constrained than the leaf decision. It is worth resolving first, because it sometimes settles the leaf.

How much is changing after the order? Both constructions are prepped at the factory, and both are far less forgiving of site changes than people expect — particularly if the assembly is rated. If late change is likely, that is an argument for resolving the schedule earlier, not for choosing one material over the other.

What does not decide it

A few beliefs that are worth retiring:

• “Wood can’t be fire-rated.” It can. Rated wood assemblies are ordinary.
• “Steel is always cheaper.” Depends entirely on gauge, core, finish and quantity. A specialty steel opening can cost multiples of a standard wood one.
• “Acoustics means steel.” Both are supplied in acoustic-rated constructions. As covered in the acoustics guide, the perimeter matters more than the material.
• “You can decide later.” The preps are made at the factory. Deciding late is what turns a supply item into a site problem.

Where the two meet

On most real projects they are not competing — they are dividing the schedule. Wood on the finished interior, steel on the exterior and service openings, with a consistent hardware and sealing approach across both so the building behaves the same way everywhere. Getting that split right is a bigger win than getting any single opening right.

That is also the practical case for having both lines under one contact: one opening schedule, one set of preps, and one person to call when something on it changes.

• Lambton — wood construction, cores and faces (opens manufacturer site in a new tab)
• DeLa Fontaine — hollow-metal doors, frames and specialty openings (opens manufacturer site in a new tab)

Send us the opening schedule and we will mark up which openings we would put in each, and why.