Hello and welcome to our Halloween edition of Dave’s Door Blog.

Most of the people I know in the door and hardware industry are strong-willed and are rarely scared of anything. But one simple term used in wood door specifications will strike fear in the most seasoned door person. NATURAL BIRCH! Those two simple words always bring up horrid memories of past projects. Who would think that the combination of heartwood and sapwood in a door face could create some of the wildest looking doors you have ever seen.

The term “natural” in birch and maple can be (by veneer guidelines) any mixture of the dark (heartwood) and light (sapwood). If you think that specifying “AA” grade faces will protect you from the wildness of natural birch, you are very wrong. The most important thing to remember to protect your customer from receiving doors that can look like this is to use the term “Select White” or “Select Red”. We need to remember not all natural birch or maple doors will look like this. Some designers love the random look of natural birch. Just make sure your customer is aware how wild this veneer can get and remind them that birch and maple wood is not all light color.

For now just sit back and enjoy this collection of frightful looking natural birch doors. If you do run into a wood door specification calling for these veneers, maybe send them a link to this video so you can save them from getting a door that looks like these.

If you have a picture of a particular unique looking birch or maple door, please share with us. We will reward the most frightful looking birch door with a special gift and a shout out on our blog.

As always, thanks for checking out our blog.