Solid Wood Doors by Harvest Creek Millwork

Solid Wood Door Guarantee

Harvest Creek Millwork produces the highest quality solid wood doors available on the market. We pride ourselves in the quality of all products that we manufacture. To this end, we guarantee our doors against warpage, and manufacturing defects.

"Warp" is any distortion in the door itself, and does not refer to the relationship of the door to the frame or jamb in which it is hung. The term "warp" includes bow, cup, and twist. To measure the amount of warp present in a door, the following method is used: bow, cup, and twist are measured by placing a straight-edge, taut wire or string on the suspected concave face of the door at any angle (i.e. horizontally, vertically, diagonally) with the door in its installed position. The measurement of bow, cup, and twist shall be made at the point of maximum distance between the bottom of the straight-edge, taut wire, or string and the face of the door.

We guarantee that our doors will not warp or twist for a period of one year from the date of shipping. A warp or twist of less than 1/4" for a 3/0 x 7/0 door is not considered a defect. Doors that are wider and/or higher are not considered defective if the warp or twist is proportionally more than 1/4". Wood used will not check or crack under normal use provided that the finish has not failed as outlined below. If a defect does occur, County Heritage Forest Products guarantees to replace the door with an equal product. We assume no responsibility for the cost of rehanging and/or refinishing doors supplied.

Handling of New Doors

New doors must be handled in such a fashion that they are protected from the weather. Prior to their installation they are most susceptible to absorbing moisture, warping and or twisting. Doors in their unfinished state must be stored out of the weather in a dry location, and flat. Conditions to avoid include direct contact with concrete floors, storage in outside buildings without heat, freshly plastered buildings, or any other place that may have abnormal or varying temperatures or humidity levels. Relative humidity should not be less than 25% or more than 55%.

When a door is installed it must be properly finished immediately. If it is left hanging, exposed, it will start to absorb moisture immediately. This unprotected absorption of moisture will affect the door and void its warranty. A door must be finished on all surfaces uniformly. All surfaces include both faces, and all four edges, top, bottom, and sides. If hardware is installed, the area cutout should also be finished.

Wood doors expand and contract relative to the temperature and humidity. When the door is installed, allowances should be made for this change in dimension that will occur.

Proper Finishing of Wood Doors

The doors are provided to our customer in good quality. Care has been taken in selecting the wood, machining the products and sanding the finished door. We hope that our customer will take the same care of their door. Doors should be finished uniformly. If one side is treated differently than the other side, it will absorb moisture at a different rate and cause a warp. Many exterior finishes are designed to penetrate into the grain and protect the interior of the wood. These products are good but must be used in combination with other products that protect the surface of the wood such as varnish or urethanes. Products used must be appropriate for the exposure. A minimum of three coats of finish are suggested. If the application is severe, more coats are required. It should also be noted that most stains give no protection to the wood. They only give the wood color. The average finish has a limited life expectancy. Most quality exterior finishes will only last for two or three years before they lose some of their effective moisture protecting characteristics. They must be refinished properly on a regular basis.

As wood is a natural product and reacts to changes in temperature and humidity, the doors and panels within the doors expand and contract as the environment changes. When doors are fitted to an opening, the relative humidity at the time of fitting will influence the amount of space that is required between the door and the jamb. Please leave enough space to prevent the need to refit the door. Likewise, the interior panel of a door will expand and contract between the summer and winter, reflecting the relative humidity of the home. If doors are installed and finished during the humid summer months, the interior panel may reduce in size during the winter, leaving an unstained area exposed on the panel. This unstained area should be touched up with stain and sealer during the first dry season to eliminate any further exposure of raw wood.