Find me a pre-hung arched interior door.  It should be a full arch,
not an "eyebrow".  To be clear: the top of the door itself is curved,
not just a panel of the door.  The door should be smooth finished,
painted white or paintable, and as inexpensive as possible.  I'll need
delivery to Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

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Request for Question Clarification by ericynot-ga on 26 Nov 2002 13:47 PST

I have found a source for you, but it's on the West Coast, so shipping
will add quite a bit to the cost. However, if you're interested I'll
need some more concrete specifications from you (exact dimensions,
wall thickness, door sketch, etc.), and I'll be happy to get more
information and pricing from them.

Alternatively, if you would prefer to deal directly with them, I could
post their contact information in the form of an answer. I have spoken
with them by email and telephone, and they say your project, as
described in your original question, would be no problem to supply,
but told me to encourage you, because of the shipping issues, to
exhaust your local possibilities before coming to them.

Regards,
ericynot-ga

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Clarification of Question by jamesbell-ga on 27 Nov 2002 00:32 PST

As I've not had much luck here I'll take any info I can find.  I only
need one door, so I'm not too worried if I spend $100 shipping a $300
door.  Also if shipping gets to be a problem I work in the
transportation industry and could get it delivered easily enough that
way.

As far as detailed specs go, I'd like a 6'8" door (standard) for use
on a 4" thick interior wall (standard 2x4 wood construction), ceilings
are 10' (but I don't want a giant 8' door).  As mentioned before it
should be interior, painted/paintable white and smooth finished. 
Other interior doors in the house are standard masonite 6 panel doors,
so if I have a choice, matching one of those is better.  The door will
stand pretty much alone though, so matching other doors is not
critical.

JB

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Request for Question Clarification by ericynot-ga on 03 Dec 2002 10:39 PST

Hi jamesbell,

I finally heard back from my West Coast source today (the holiday
slowed things down some). Here's their quote:

(1) 3'0" x 7'0" x 1 3/8" vertical grain Douglas fir door (paint/stain
grade), with six panels, half-round top, 4 3/4" flat interior jamb,
approximately 100 lbs.

Cost: $1,000, plus approximately $200 for shipping, no tax would be
charged.

Time to build: 8 - 10 weeks

This is more than you had mentioned spending, so it may not be an
acceptable solution. It would cost less to do a flat (no panels) door,
but I didn't ask them to price that since you seemed to want the
panels.

If this is of interest, let me know and I'll post contact information.
They do have a good website, and the guy I've been working with there
is most helpful.

ericynot-ga

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Clarification of Question by jamesbell-ga on 03 Dec 2002 19:05 PST

Wow, $1000+$200 is pretty steep, about 8 times the price of all the
other interior doors.  This sounds like a custom-made door and while
I'm sure it's a good price for one, it wasn't what I was after.

jamesbell,

Sounds like a nice interior touch. 

Unfortunately, "inexpensive" is probably not an appropriate search
term, particularly if you want an arched door encased within an arched
door frame. Even if you can find ready-made, pre-hung, flush panel,
paint grade doors like this, I would guess that you will spend upwards
of $300 per door, due to the difficulty of manufacturing the curved
door jamb. That's why you mostly find doors with curved upper panels,
encased within standard-sized rectangular frames.

Here's one manufacturer with a photo, although of poor quality, of the
general style of door that you might be looking for:

Select Interior Door
http://www.sidl.com/pg2.html

You might want to contact this New York door company for additional
information and a general idea of costs.

How wide is your door opening? How tall are your ceilings? How much
arch do you want? An average 36" wide by 80" tall interior door with a
36" radius hemispherical arch might look more like the interior of a
ship than a residence. Ask for some scale drawings before ordering
your door.

Keep in mind that a curved door frame is going to take additional
time, materials, and expertise to:

- frame the rough opening
- drywall around the arch
- hang the door
- trim the arched frame

These steps could easily exceed the raw cost of the door. Be prepared
to spend more than you think.

I think your best bet will be to call custom door manufacturers (and
wholesalers) in your area and see what they have to offer. Have them
mail you a catalog, or better yet, visit their shop in person and ask
for a tour. Take a rough sketch -- with dimensions -- of what you want
to do.
 
Drive through any upscale custom home development near you (with homes
under construction), and look for the the builders' signs out front.
Jot down their phone numbers and give them a call. Most custom
builders will know if doors like this are available locally, and they
should also know of good finish carpenters that can do a professional
installation for you. It's just my opinion, but this is not a
do-it-yourself project.

Hope this helps,
huntsman

> Unfortunately, "inexpensive" is probably not an appropriate search
term,

Sorry, I meant that I know there are $3000 (exterior) Mahogany arched
doors, that's not what I'm after.

> How wide is your door opening? How tall are your ceilings? How much
arch do you
> want?

This is for new construction with 10' ceilings.  So we can take a 6'8"
door, or an 8', and any reasonable width.  In other words for the
right door, we can change the planned wall it's going in.

> It's just my opinion, but this is not a do-it-yourself project.

I couldn't agree more!  But our builder is tired of looking for us and
we'd still like to have it.  After dozens of catalogs and hours
searching the web I figured an expert might locate one.

JB

Hi Jamesbell

You might want to check out this 1 door manufactures website:
www.madawaska-doors.com
They make any size, any design, any wood, type of doors. Although they
are Canadian, I know they ship doors all over North America. I have
ordered doors previously with them and I am surprised with how
inexpensive they are and how good of quality they are.  They are the
top custom door manufacture in Canada.  With how low the Canadian
dollar is compaired to the US dollar, you just might be pleasantly
surprised at the cost to you.  Almost 99% of all building supply
dealers (lumberyard stores) are part of some type of buying group, and
with Madawaska shipping doors all over North America, chances are that
your local building supply store will be able to order a door for you.
On their website, they have a questionaire to fill out and they will
let you know who the local dealers are in your area that they deal
with.If there is none in your area, have your local lumberyard check
into it for you.  What you probably won't be able to do, is go to your
local big box store as the inexperienced clerk who is making $5./hr
won't be able to help you. This is where experience counts.