What are hollow core doors?
Hollow core doors are doors which are essentially hollow in the inside, save for some construction paper or cellular cardboard arranged in a honeycomb pattern. Doors are constructed with hollow cores as a light, cost effective alternative to solid core doors. These doors can easily be created in any style, and with certain panelling, veneers or styling, can easily be made to look like solid core doors.
What types of doors are made using hollow core construction?
Because hollow doors are weaker, offer less in terms of insulation and generally underperform solid core doors in just about every other aspect, they are most commonly used as interior doors. By far the most common hollow core door type is the conventional hinged doors, although sliding doors are also very commonly hollow cored.
Hollow core doors can also be used as exterior doors, although the panelling on the exteriors of the door needs to provide adequate strength and protection from the elements.
How are hollow core doors constructed?
Hollow core doors normally feature a timber frame made out of hardwood or pine, along with solid 'lock blocks' on either side of the door to allow a handle and other door furniture to be mounted on either side of the door. The 'core' of the door is filled either with waste paper or a cardboard lattice or honeycomb. Depending on how it's constructed, this type of honeycomb reinforcement can provide a surprising amount of strength.
The outside of the door is then finished with panelling, which helps to determine how the door looks, how well it insulates and how strong it is.
How do hollow core timber doors perform?
- Security – These doors don't offer the same type of security that a solid door does, although they can be adequate as external doors providing that they're designed for that purpose.
- Weatherproofing – Again, unless they're specifically designed and finished for the purpose of exterior use, hollow core doors don't offer much in the way of weatherproofing.
- Soundproofing – Sound travels easily through hollow core doors.
- Cost – These doors are much cheaper than their solid counterparts, and are often favoured for indoor use for this reason alone.
- Weight – Hollow core timber doors are much lighter than solid doors, and are therefore also much easier to install.
- Thermal insulation – Hollow core doors offer only basic thermal insulation, unless they've been specifically designed with this purpose in mind..
