Whether for architectural reasons or for airflow, Estate Millworks louver doors are a high quality, solid wood product. We manufacture the actual louvers in three stock sizes varying for louver cabinet doors, louver shutters or full louver doors. In addition to our stock louver sizes, we can custom manufacture in any size or profile. In addition to our solid louver construction, the rails and stiles of all of our products are solid wood and are hand crafted using premium joinery and high quality glue, mortises and tenons. Our louver doors can be ordered in a variety of configurations including louver over panel, louver over louver and with fixed pitch or varying operable pitch louvers.
How to Configure Custom Louver Doors
Our online louver door designer allows you to quickly select your wood species, prime and panting options and sizes. But the ability to customize our louver door does not end there, you can order any one of 3 stock louver sizes in our standard bullnose profile, or other profiles such as buffalo louver, chevron, beveled or S4S, or we can match your own custom louver design. Our online designer also allows you to customize stile widths, rail heights and placements, and especially important for louver doors, the louver sparing and the louver pitch angle. To increase airflow or light you can increase the louver spacing and reduce the louver pitch angle. To increase privacy or to restrict airflow you can order the louvers in fixed close position. If you cant make up your mind about how to configure the pitch for your custom louver door, you can order the louvers with an operable configuration that includes a lift rod for moving the louvers from the fully open to the fully closed position.
How we manufacture our premium quality Louver Doors
All of our louver doors are built with solid frames with deep seated mortise and tenon joinery including functional and decorative doweling at each tenon. The louvers are also set using precision CNC machining of precise louver mortises at your desired spacing and pitch. The louver doors are hand assembled and then machine and hand sanded to showcase the natural grain of the dozen wood species in which we build custom louver doors. You can optionally add operational louvers, privacy panels and prime, paint and clear coat finishes.
Louver Pocket Doors are an Elegant Way to Divide Living Spaces
Louver Doors can be ordered in a sliding or bypass configuration for closets or rooms whereby the louver door is received by an opening in the wall, either on one or both sides of the opening. Commonly used for larger doors that partition walk-in closets, rooms, or living spaces, pocket doors are a very convenient way to quickly separate or unify spaces. When open, the doors are not visible. Probably the most complicated method for installation, it often requires pre-planning, for the removal of studs and the addition of headers, and it is most economically done in new construction. However, it is a very common application in well-built older homes as well, and Estate Millwork can exactly match your existing pocket doors if they need to be replaced, or to be used in a remodeling.
Precision Crafted Louver Doors Using State of the Art CNC Machinery
Solid Louvers
Each louver in our louver doors is precision machined in a 5-head moulder that can be configured to mould any of our 3 standard production profiles or custom profiles as specified by the customer. We offer 1/2" X 2 1/4", 3/8" X 1 3/4", and 1/4" X 1 1/4" bullnose profiles, but also have tooling for chevron, beveled, and other louver profiles. Whether the louver door is to use fixed louvers or operable louvers, we can even create custom tooling to match existing millwork or to provide the ultimate in personalization and detailing.
True Louver Door Mortises and Louver Mortises
Each louver in a fixed louver door is seated in a 7/16" deep mortise in the door stile. Our CNC machining equipment can be instantly programmed to program any variation of louver size, profile, pitch, and spacing, that gives us unlimited flexibility to match historic millwork or to create custom louver doors to a precise specification in terms of louver count, rail placement, and airflow. In the same pass as the louver mortises are being created, our equipment also creates the larger mortises for each rail in the door. Unlike many custom door manufacturers today, Estate Millwork does not use cheap dowels, veneers, screws, or biscuits. Instead, we use old-fashioned mortise and tenon joints, even though they are considered by other custom door manufacturers as too expensive. Because we have invested heavily in automation, our cost to produce highly custom louver doors using solid materials and premium joinery is much lower than other manufacturers, hence: higher quality, lower price.
Solid Tenons
The tenons on both ends of each rail are engineered to give maximum stability to the louver door frame, and when combined with our hardwood doweling, the door frame will stay together and be extremely stable, even without glue. But of course we use glue for added strength. For larger louver doors, we use a 10-inch baserail that has two tenons and a third feather tenon for additional strength that connects the two main tenons. These tenons are precision machined on a proprietary tenon machine that Estate Millwork designed and custom-built. Our sophisticated mortise and tenon joinery preserves 100% of the quality of traditional mortise and tenon joinery at a fraction of the cost.
Wooden Doors Fabricated from Premium Lumber Grades
Stain Grade Lumber
For our louvered door products ordered in stain grade, we use FAS clear hardwood grades for both domestic and imported lumber. For projects requiring environmentally sensitive grades, we also offer FSC certification when required. We procure all of our lumber electronically, and order only the FAS clear grades. Additionally, we pre-select and inspect each shipment of lumber, and moisture check to insure that it meets our 8% standard. And as part of our routine quality process, each board from a unit of lumber is inspected as part of our quality louvered door manufacturing process.
Paint Grade Lumber
Even our economical paint grade louvered doors are manufactured from FAS grade lumber. The FAS specification controls the type of defects that are permitted, including knots, which we exclude from our paint grade products. However, features that would be considered defects in stain grade products -- color streaks, mineral discoloration etc, are not pertinent in paint grade. Typically, we use Poplar and occasionally Oak and Soft Maple for our paint grade products.
Color and Grain Matching
For high end louvered doors, we can offer a pre-selection service whereby all of the lumber required for the entire louvered door job is picked, inspected, and designated to be assembled as a unit at one time, which often results in boards from the same tree ending up in the same door for maximum consistency. When specified we can also book match raised panels and flat panels when used in our louvered doors.
Milling and Sawing Specifications
For our highly discriminating louvered door customers, we can offer our various hardwood species to be sawn in certain way, to emphasize a desirable feature of the wood. If required, the door material can be specified as flat-sawn, quarter-sawn, rift-sawn or ribbon sawn. Talk with your Estate Millwork louvered door specialist to inquire about adding these specifications to your order.
Top Quality and Elegant Custom Wood Doors
Estate Millwork creates each custom wood door from your detailed specifications. We use premium materials, state of the art equipment, and an experienced, quality oriented staff to produce our doors. We follow each of the steps below to produce the finest wooden doors on the market.
Hand Selection and Inspection of Materials
Our lumber procurement process is computer driven so that we are sure to be getting the best possible price on the highest quality materials. Once your order is "green-lighted" for production in our plant, the lumber demand is compared to our shop inventory and automatic replenishment orders are placed if necessary. When production begins on each custom door, the material is hand selected and the best of our high quality stock is used for the solid stiles of the doors. Louvers and rails are generally selected from the same lot of material to afford the best match, within the natural variation of hardwoods.
Precision Ripping of Rails and Stiles
We minimize the costs of our high quality products by maximizing the yield on the rough lumber. Once the lumber of the appropriate thickness has been selected, it is passed through our ripping department where a specialized gang rip saw is used to get the maximum yield from each board. Our operators are trained to reject defective materials either during the selection process or during the sawing process, as some defects are latent and are not visible until the board is "opened up".
Hand Jointing of All Door Components
The next step is to hand joint each rough sawn board to get a true flat edge, and to relieve any internal stress in the solid wood. This is a step that is skipped by many modern door manufactures, but one that we believe is so important that we honor the tradition. Our most skilled craftsmen in the plant are responsible for this function which requires judgement, precision and experience. Lower quality door manufacturers skip this step, or use particle cores and veneers to fake the look of a real door. But by hand jointing each board, we insure that every other step in the process is operating on a flat, smooth board, and that the door will remain stable for its lifetime.
Precision moulding of all door components
Once the rails and stiles have been ripped to width and jointed on one face, we process them through a 5 headed moulder which reduces the wooden door components (rails, stiles, louvers) to their final cross sectional dimensions and profiles. We offer 3 stock louver sizes, but can customize them to any other size or profile. Again, at this phase, parts are inspected for defects to make sure that the final piece meets our high standards
Precision CNC Machining of Mortises, Tenons and Louver Slots
Because we do not cut corners, we also use old fashioned, but time tested joinery. Our doors are held together with true mortise and tenon joints, rather than the cheaper, less time consuming and lower quality options of dowels, screws, or biscuits. Our mortise and tenon joints are so precise and tight fitting that gluing the doors is not even necessary, they hold themselves together. Our CNC eqiupment is accurate to .001 inch, and is automatically programmed by our advanced plant management system that monitors your order as it proceeds through each department. Our CNC operators are highly skilled and go through a year of specialized on the job training where they learn the safe operation of the equipment, and advanced techniques like radius and pattern machining.
Hand Assembly by Experienced Craftsmen
Once all of the custom door parts are completely machined, they are pre-sanded and then hand assembled by a team of meticulous craftsmen. On fixed louver doors, the louvers are hand beveled and inserted into the deep seat louver mortises in the stiles, and then the entire door is clamped in a clamping system while the pegs are drilled into the tenons. Operable Louver doors are assembled in a similar fashion, where each louver is set in a nylon bushing for maximum life, and a custom louver rod is attached to the louvers to give trouble free, friction free operation for many years.
Machine Sanding to tolerance
Once the door has been completely assembled, it goes through our machine sanding department -- giant sanders big enough to sand garage doors are used for multiple passes to bring the surfaces to their final dimensions and grit. In most cases our doors are machine sanded to 150 which removes most visible roughness.
Hand Sanding.
The final step in our process is the hand sanding of the doors to break edges, and to finish sand areas that are not sanded by the machine process. Our finishers are the best in the business and during this phase, they carefully inspect the finished product and either prepare it for paint or stain, or carefully pack the door for shipment.
Poplar: The Versatile Alternative
Often overshadowed by its more illustrious counterparts, poplar hardwood is an unsung hero in the world of woodworking. While lacking the bold coloration and striking grain patterns of its peers, poplar possesses its own understated charm, with a pale olive-yellow brown heartwood and lighter off-white or gray sapwood tinged with subtle greenish hues.
Widely distributed across North America and Europe, the poplar tree boasts rapid growth and abundant availability, making it a sustainable choice for various applications. Its propensity for large, clear sections makes it particularly sought after for secondary uses or applications where visibility is not a concern.
Though considered relatively soft, poplar is classified as a hardwood, ensuring durability and stability despite its softer texture. Its ease of workability is a boon for craftsmen, readily yielding to machining, sanding, and finishing processes. While often relegated to painted or secondary roles, poplar shines as a stain-grade species, gradually deepening in color over time to a richer shade of brown, earning it the affectionate moniker of "poor man's Cherry."
Versatile and affordable, poplar hardwood opens doors to a myriad of possibilities in woodworking and interior design. Its neutral color palette provides a versatile canvas for a range of finishes, from traditional to contemporary, allowing for seamless integration into diverse aesthetic schemes. Whether crafting custom cabinets, intricate moldings, or sleek furniture pieces, poplar's easy workability and consistent texture ensure a smooth and enjoyable woodworking experience.
Moreover, poplar hardwood is an environmentally conscious choice, with its sustainable growth and renewable nature aligning with eco-friendly practices. As a readily available and rapidly growing resource, poplar offers a responsible option for those mindful of environmental impact. Embrace the versatility and affordability of poplar hardwood in your next project and discover the endless possibilities it brings to the table.
Handcrafted with Sustainably Harvested Lumber
At Estate Millwork, we employ a meticulous process to ensure the quality and sustainability of our lumber. Our commitment begins with the careful air drying of much of our lumber, followed by further refinement in low wattage dehumidification kilns to achieve optimal moisture levels.
Every single piece of wood we acquire undergoes thorough utilization in our production processes. Leveraging advanced automated saws and optimization software, we achieve an exceptional yield ratio of 94 percent. This means that nearly all of the wood we purchase is transformed into usable products. The small remainder, comprising mainly sawdust and chips, is utilized efficiently: either utilized as fuel to power our operations, or repurposed by providing bedding and contributing to composting for local cattle farmers.
Our dedication to minimizing waste extends to the sourcing of our materials. A significant portion of the lumber we use hails from Amish farmers within our county. These farmers adhere to traditional practices, utilizing horses for harvesting and operating vintage 1920s sawmills. Such methods not only contribute to the preservation of heritage techniques but also entail lower environmental impact compared to modern industrial approaches.
Furthermore, our commitment to sustainability is evident in the sourcing of our imported lumber. We exclusively procure lumber from plantation-grown sources, thereby ensuring that our operations do not contribute to deforestation or the depletion of natural forests. By prioritizing responsible sourcing and efficient utilization, Estate Millwork strives to uphold environmental stewardship while delivering exceptional craftsmanship.
To learn more about our sustainability practices click here
