Two internal doors can look identical on a showroom wall, hang in the same frame and carry the same handle, yet behave completely differently once they are in daily use. One feels substantial and closes with a quiet thud. The other feels light, rattles in the frame and lets you hear every word of a phone call from the next room. The difference is almost always the core: the material hidden between the two face panels.
This guide explains what hollow core and solid core actually mean, how each one performs on sound, fire, durability, security and cost, and how to choose between them room by room or across a whole commercial fit out. Every product count and price quoted below was taken from our own live internal doors range, so you can check it yourself rather than take it on trust.
What the core of an internal door actually is
Before you can compare the two, it helps to understand how a modern internal door is put together. Very few doors sold in the UK today are a single slab of timber.
The layers inside a typical internal door
Most doors are built as a sandwich. A perimeter frame of timber stiles and rails gives the door its shape and takes the hinges and lock. A core material fills the middle. Two face skins are bonded to the outside, and a lipping or edge banding conceals the joint. The finish, whether primed, laminated or lacquered, goes on last.
Why the core decides almost everything
The faces control how the door looks. The core controls how it performs. Mass, stiffness, acoustic behaviour, screw holding, fire resistance and impact resistance are all functions of what sits in the middle. Two doors from our white primed door range can share a face design and differ hugely in performance because of the core specification.
Terms you will meet on product pages
Hollow core, semi solid, solid core, engineered core, particleboard core, flaxboard, chipboard, egg crate and honeycomb all describe core construction. Semi solid sits between the two extremes and is worth understanding, because a lot of budget doors marketed as substantial are in fact semi solid rather than genuinely solid.
Why manufacturers use different cores
Cost, weight and performance pull in different directions. A honeycomb infill is cheap and light but contributes almost nothing acoustically. A dense particleboard core costs more, weighs more and performs far better. Manufacturers such as LPD, Deanta and Mendes offer both because different jobs genuinely need different answers.
Hollow core internal doors explained
Hollow core is the entry point to the market and by far the most common door in UK housing stock built or refurbished on a budget over the last few decades.
How a hollow core door is built
A softwood perimeter frame is assembled, a lightweight infill is placed inside the void, and thin face panels of hardboard, MDF or plywood are bonded to each side under pressure. The result is rigid enough to hang and swing, but the middle of the door is mostly air.
Egg crate and honeycomb infill
The infill is usually a lattice of cardboard or thin board arranged in a grid, or a corrugated honeycomb. Its job is not to add mass. Its job is to stop the thin face panels from flexing, drumming or being dented too easily. It is a stiffening device, not an acoustic or fire barrier.
Where the stiles and rails sit
The timber perimeter is typically quite narrow. That matters because it defines the only zones where you can reliably fix hardware or remove material. Trim past the timber and you expose the void, which is not repairable in any satisfactory way.
Lock blocks and hardware zones
Better hollow core doors include a lock block: a solid timber section built into one stile at handle height so a latch and handle can be fitted properly. Cheaper doors sometimes omit it or make it small. If a door has no lock block, a mortice latch has nothing to bite into, which is the single most common cause of a loose door handle.
Typical weight
A standard hollow core door is light enough for one person to carry upstairs and hold in place while the hinges are screwed. That convenience is real and it is the main practical advantage of the type.
What hollow core doors do well
They are inexpensive, easy to handle, easy to hang on modest frames, unlikely to sag a light lining, and perfectly adequate where a door only needs to divide space and provide visual privacy. In our unglazed door range the most affordable options start at £30.84.
What hollow core doors cannot do
They cannot block meaningful sound, they cannot offer fire resistance, they dent and puncture easily, they hold screws poorly outside the timber zones, and they feel cheap to the hand. None of these are opinions. They follow directly from having very little mass.
Solid core internal doors explained
Solid core is a family of constructions rather than a single product. What unites them is a continuous, dense material filling the whole thickness of the door.
Engineered particleboard core
The most common solid core in volume production is a dense particleboard or chipboard slab. It is stable, consistent, holds screws across the whole face, and gives the door substantial mass. This is the core behind most of our fully finished internal doors.
Flaxboard and agrifibre cores
Flaxboard uses compressed flax straw fibres. It is lighter than particleboard, more stable across humidity swings, and uses an agricultural by product rather than virgin timber. It is a genuine middle ground between hollow and heavy solid cores.
Engineered stile and rail construction
Higher end doors use engineered timber components: laminated cores with hardwood veneer faces and solid lippings. Engineering the components resists the twisting and cupping that afflicts single piece solid timber. Most of our internal oak doors are built this way, starting at £87.75.
Solid timber and framed constructions
True solid timber doors, including traditional ledged and braced designs, are still made. They look and feel unmistakably authentic, but they move with moisture and need more careful fitting and finishing. You will find these in our cottage door range from £55.99.
Laminated cores for fire rated doors
Fire rated doors use specific certified core materials, usually a dense laminated or mineral loaded board, tested as part of a complete assembly. You cannot convert an ordinary solid core door into a fire door by choosing a heavier core. Our fire door range covers 246 certified options from £87.39.
Typical weight
Solid core doors are markedly heavier. Anything beyond a narrow width is a two person lift, and the frame, fixings and hinge specification all need to reflect that. This is the trade off you accept in exchange for the performance.
What solid core doors do well
They reduce sound transfer, resist impact and denting, hold hardware securely anywhere on the leaf, feel expensive, and can be specified with certified fire performance. They also last far longer in high traffic positions.
What solid core doors cost you
More money up front, more weight to handle, a stronger frame and hinge specification, and less tolerance for sloppy fitting. A heavy door on an inadequate lining will drop, bind and eventually damage the frame.
Semi solid: the option in the middle
Semi solid doors use a partial infill, often a denser but incomplete core. They weigh more than hollow core and less than full solid core, and they perform somewhere between the two. They are a reasonable compromise for secondary bedrooms where budget is tight but a hollow door feels too flimsy.
Hollow core versus solid core: the practical comparison
Set side by side, the two constructions diverge on eight measures that actually affect how you live with a door.
Weight and handling
Hollow core wins on convenience. One person can carry, hold and hang it. Solid core needs two people for anything wide, plus a stronger frame. If you are fitting doors yourself across a whole house, this difference is significant.
Sound transfer
Solid core wins decisively. Mass is the primary mechanism by which a door blocks airborne sound, and hollow core has almost none. No amount of careful fitting will make a hollow door quiet.
Fire performance
Only certified fire doors offer fire resistance, and they are always solid core. A hollow core door offers no meaningful resistance and must never be used where a fire door is required.
Durability and impact resistance
Solid core resists knocks, kicks, trolley impacts and pet damage far better. A hollow core face panel can be punctured by a dropped tool or a determined dog, and a punctured face cannot be repaired invisibly. Our guides on dogs scratching doors and cats scratching doors cover this in detail.
Security and privacy
Neither internal door type is a security barrier in the way an external door is, but a solid core door with a proper lock from our locks and latches range gives real privacy and resistance. A hollow core door can be pushed through.
Hardware options
Solid core accepts mortice locks, heavy levers, closers and multi point hardware anywhere on the leaf. Hollow core restricts you to the lock block and stile positions. If you want a door closer or a substantial pull handle, you need solid core.
Trimming allowance
Solid core doors generally allow more material to be removed, and manufacturers state a maximum per edge. Hollow core allowances are small because the timber perimeter is narrow. Our guide to planing a door explains how to work within the limits.
Price
Hollow core is cheaper, and for genuinely low demand openings that is the right call. Across our internal doors, entry level options begin at £30.84 while substantial finished doors sit well above that.
Sound: the difference people notice most
Of all the reasons people replace hollow core doors, noise is the one that comes up most often. It is worth understanding why.
Why hollow core doors sound hollow
Sound energy passing through a partition is resisted mainly by mass. A hollow core door presents two thin membranes with an air gap between them, which is close to the worst possible arrangement for blocking speech. The faces also vibrate, which is why knocking on one produces a drum sound.
Mass is the mechanism that works
Adding density is the reliable way to reduce transfer. This is why acoustic rated doors are heavy, and why a heavier door from our fully finished range of over 350 options will noticeably outperform a lightweight one in the same opening.
The perimeter gap problem
Even the heaviest door leaks sound through the gaps around it. If you can see daylight, sound is passing through. Closing those gaps with proper seals often produces a bigger improvement than people expect, and our guide to draughty doors covers the same principle for air movement.
Threshold gaps and undercuts
The floor gap is usually the largest leak. Reducing it helps acoustically, but it can conflict with ventilation requirements and, on fire doors, with the certified gap dimensions. Never alter a fire door threshold to chase acoustic gains.
Where sound matters most at home
Bedrooms adjoining living rooms, home offices, bathrooms and en suites, teenagers' rooms and any room used for music or media all benefit from mass. These are the openings where upgrading first gives the best return on money spent.
Where sound matters commercially
Meeting rooms, consulting rooms, interview rooms, teaching spaces, hotel bedrooms and any space where confidential conversations happen need specified acoustic performance. In these settings a lightweight door is not merely disappointing, it can be a data protection and dignity problem.
What a door alone cannot fix
If sound is travelling through a stud wall, a shared ceiling void, service penetrations or a suspended floor, upgrading the door will disappoint. Diagnose the path before you spend. Wall treatments from our acoustic wall panel range address the wall element, with full panels available from £63.
Pairing doors with wall treatments
The best results come from treating the whole partition. A dense door, sealed edges and absorbent or mass loaded wall surfaces work together. Our wall panelling collection and the wall panelling guide explain the options.
Fire performance: where the core stops being a preference
This is the one area where core choice moves from taste and budget into life safety, and where the honest answer is that you should be guided by a competent professional rather than by an article.
Hollow core doors are not fire doors
A hollow core door has no certified fire performance. It cannot be upgraded, relabelled or made compliant by adding seals or heavier hinges. If an opening requires a fire door, it requires a certified fire door assembly.
What FD30 and FD60 describe
These designations refer to tested resistance periods for a complete door assembly under test conditions. They are not a property of the leaf alone and they are not something you can assess by eye. We stock over 150 FD30 fire doors from £87.39 and 8 FD60 fire doors from £257.75.
The whole assembly is certified, not just the leaf
The leaf, the frame, the hinges, the intumescent and smoke seals, the latch, the closer and the glazing system are all part of the tested arrangement. Substituting any component with something uncertified can invalidate the whole installation. This point is covered further in fire doors: what, why and where.
Intumescent and smoke seals
Intumescent material expands under heat to close the gap between leaf and frame. Smoke seals address cold smoke at ambient temperature. Both must be the specified type, correctly located, unpainted and undamaged.
Hinges and closers
Fire door assemblies require appropriate hinges, and we list over 50 fire rated hinges from £8.99. Where a door needs to be held closed, a suitable closer is part of the arrangement, with options from £95.50.
Things you must never do to a fire door
Never wedge or prop it open, never fit a floor stop that holds it open, never block the threshold gap, never fit adhesive hardware, never remove the closer, never cut or plane beyond the certified allowance, never fit a cat flap or letter plate, never reglaze it yourself, and never paint or fill the seal groove. Our article on a fire door slamming explains how to address noise without compromising function.
Glazed fire doors
Where vision panels are needed, the glazing, beads and seals are all part of the certified system. We list over 50 glazed fire doors and over 20 black fire doors.
Who to ask before you specify
Requirements vary by building type, use, occupancy, storey height and escape strategy, and they change over time. Confirm what your building needs with your local building control body, a fire risk assessor or a competent professional before ordering. Do not rely on a blog, ours included, as the basis for a compliance decision.
Where hollow core doors still make sense
Hollow core has a legitimate place. Dismissing it entirely is as unhelpful as specifying it everywhere.
Airing cupboards and storage
A cupboard door that opens twice a week and shields nothing but towels does not need mass. Spending the saving on the doors that matter is the smarter allocation.
Low traffic secondary rooms
A spare room used a few nights a year, a box room or an attic space rarely justifies a premium door. Match the specification to the actual demand.
Rental refurbishments on tight budgets
Where a landlord needs a full set of tidy, functional doors, hollow core with decent hardware delivers a big visual improvement per pound. Fire doors, of course, remain a separate and non negotiable question determined by the building.
Temporary and phased works
During staged renovations, inexpensive doors keep rooms usable and protect openings while other trades work. Our clearance doors from £53.00 are useful here.
Internal doors that are purely decorative
Where a door screens a recess or dresses an opening and never needs to perform, the cheapest sound option is the correct one.
When hollow core is the wrong answer
Any fire rated opening, any room needing acoustic privacy, any high traffic route, any door taking a closer, any door in a commercial or public building, and any opening where a heavy handle set is planned. In these cases the saving is illusory.
Where solid core earns its money
If you have a limited budget, upgrade selectively. These are the openings that repay it first.
Bedrooms next to living spaces
The single highest value upgrade in most houses. A heavy door on the bedroom nearest the television transforms how the household functions in the evening.
Home offices and studies
Calls, concentration and confidentiality all depend on the door. If you work from home, this opening deserves the best door in the house.
Bathrooms and en suites
Privacy is the point. Pair a solid core leaf with a proper privacy set from our over 60 bathroom locks from £6.64 or a matched bathroom handle set.
Hallways and high traffic routes
Doors on the main circulation route absorb the most abuse: bags, buggies, furniture, pets and children. Solid core simply survives longer.
Media rooms and music rooms
Low frequency energy is the hardest to contain, and mass is the only tool the door itself offers. Combine a heavy leaf with sealed edges.
Kitchen to hallway openings
Cooking noise, appliance noise and smells all travel. A dense leaf with good seals makes an open plan layout feel more controllable.
Offices, meeting rooms and consulting rooms
Commercially, these openings almost always carry a specified acoustic and often a fire requirement. Lightweight doors are rarely acceptable.
Schools, hospitals and hotels
High occupancy buildings combine heavy use, strict fire strategies and acoustic expectations. Certified solid core assemblies are the norm across all three.
Retail and hospitality back of house
Doors on service routes take trolley and crate impacts daily. Specify solid core and protect the leaf where impact is concentrated.
Weight, frames, hinges and fixings
Choosing a heavier door changes decisions elsewhere. Getting this wrong is the most common reason a good door performs badly.
Why weight changes your frame choice
A light lining that carries a hollow core door happily can flex and pull away under a solid core one. Check that the frame is properly fixed back to the structure. We list over 30 products in our internal frames and linings range.
How many hinges
Light doors are commonly hung on a pair of hinges. Heavier doors usually need three, and fire door assemblies follow their own certified arrangement. Our door hinge range holds 358 products, including over 20 butt hinges from £5.61 and over 40 concealed hinges.
Hinge positioning
Position matters as much as quantity. Our guide on where to fit door hinges walks through setting out, and stopping doors squeaking covers what happens when hinges are stressed or dry.
Fixing into plasterboard studs
Screws into plasterboard alone will not hold a heavy door. The frame must be fixed into timber studwork or suitable packing. Skip this and the door will drop within months.
Two person lifts and site handling
Plan for the weight. Doors stored on edge, leaned against walls or dragged across floors get damaged before they are ever hung. Store flat and clear, and carry with two people.
Latches and locks in a solid core
A solid core takes a mortice latch cleanly anywhere on the leaf. Our locks and latches range runs to 723 products from £1.92, and matched handle packs start at £8.99 across 286 options.
Architrave and finishing
A heavier door deserves a properly finished opening. We list 16 products in our architrave range, and the guide to door architraves explains profiles and proportions.
Door stops and protection
A heavy leaf swinging into a wall does real damage. Our door stop range holds 39 products from £10.88. Note that stops must never be used to hold a fire door open.
How to approach regulations and standards
Building requirements are the area where confident internet advice does the most harm, so we deliberately keep this section short and point you to the right people.
Why we do not print requirement figures
Requirements differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, differ by building type and use, and are revised over time. A figure copied from an article could be wrong for your building or out of date by the time you read it.
Fire safety
Whether an opening needs a fire door, and to what performance, depends on the building and its escape strategy. Ask your local building control body or a fire risk assessor.
Sound
Acoustic expectations vary by building type and by whether the work is new build, conversion or refurbishment. A qualified acoustic consultant or your design team should set the target before doors are ordered.
Accessibility
Clear opening widths, hardware type, opening force and threshold treatment can all be relevant, particularly in non domestic buildings. Do not adopt a single figure from an article. Take advice specific to your project.
Ventilation interaction
Sealing a door tightly can affect ventilation paths. Never obstruct ventilation serving a gas or solid fuel appliance, and involve a registered engineer where appliances are present.
Listed buildings and conservation areas
Listed building consent, conservation area rules or an Article 4 direction can restrict what you may change, including internal joinery in some cases. Ask your local planning authority before ordering.
Who signs the work off
For notifiable work, your building control body or approved inspector is the authority. Keep certificates, data sheets and product labels so the installation can be evidenced later.
What each core actually costs at Doors2Floors
Rather than quote industry averages, here are real starting prices from our live range. Prices and stock change, so check the collection page for the current position.
Entry level doors
Our most affordable white primed internal doors begin at £30.84 across 82 products. This is the price point where lightweight construction dominates.
Clearance and end of line
Our over 20 clearance doors start at £53.00 and often include heavier constructions at budget prices, which makes them worth checking before you commit to hollow core.
Mid range finished doors
Fully finished oak begins at £87.75 across over 290 oak doors. Laminated options start at £75.00 across over 20 laminated doors, and shaker styling begins at £106.50 across 9 shaker doors.
Fire rated doors
Certified fire doors start at £87.39. That is a modest premium over a plain finished door, which is worth remembering when a fire door is genuinely required.
Glazed doors
Glazing adds cost and weight. Our over 280 glazed doors start at £107.25, with over 110 clear glazed, over 20 frosted glazed, 7 reeded glazed and 5 tinted glazed options.
Hardware budget
Do not forget the ironmongery. Our door hardware department holds 2954 products, including over 2,500 door handles, over 210 handles on back plates and over 280 pull handles. Our door handles guide helps you match them.
Whole project arithmetic
Multiply the door price by the number of openings, then add frames, architrave, hinges, handles, latches and finishing. The gap between a hollow core set and a mixed specification is usually smaller than people fear, because you only upgrade the openings that need it. Our guide to the cheapest internal doors works through the budgeting.
Fitting costs
Labour is a real part of the total and is broadly similar for either core, though heavier doors take a little longer and often need two people. Our article on internal door fitting costs covers what to expect.
The replacement cycle argument
A punctured or sagging hollow core door gets replaced. A solid core door in the same position often does not. Where a door is likely to be replaced more than once, the cheaper option stops being cheaper.
Styles available in each core type
Core and style are largely independent choices. Almost any look can be had in either construction, though the very cheapest doors cluster at the plain end.
Flush and smooth faces
The simplest and most affordable face design, available in both cores. Flush doors suit modern interiors and are the workhorse of budget refurbishment.
Panelled designs
Moulded panel faces are pressed into the skin on hollow and semi solid doors, and can be genuinely routed or applied on solid core. The difference is visible at the edges and in the depth of the mouldings.
Shaker and contemporary grooved
Clean lined designs read as more expensive and tend to be offered on heavier constructions. Browse our shaker doors for the current selection.
Cottage, ledged and braced
Traditional constructions are inherently solid. Our cottage doors cover this territory, and the stable doors guide looks at the related ledged designs.
Glazed designs
Glazing brings light into internal spaces and is available across both cores, though the glazing bead and rebate quality tends to be better on heavier doors. Our French doors guide covers pairs.
Traditional versus modern
Style choice should follow the house. Our comparison of traditional and modern internal doors and the round up of popular internal door styles both help here.
Finishes and colours across both cores
Finish affects perceived quality as much as core does, and it affects how much work you have to do after delivery.
White primed
The most popular choice in UK homes, ready for a topcoat. See our over 80 white primed doors and the guide to the best white internal doors.
Fully finished oak
Factory lacquered oak arrives ready to hang with no finishing work. Compare the options in our oak doors value guide and the white versus oak comparison.
Black and dark finishes
We list over 110 black internal doors. Dark finishes show dust and marks more readily, which makes a durable solid core face a sensible pairing.
Grey and painted tones
Our over 60 grey internal doors suit muted schemes. The round up of the best grey internal doors covers current favourites.
Walnut and darker timbers
We stock over 30 walnut internal doors. Our oak versus walnut comparison explains how the two read in real rooms.
Laminate faces
Laminate offers strong wear resistance and colour consistency, which suits high traffic and commercial settings. See our over 20 laminated doors.
Unfinished doors
Our over 80 unfinished internal doors give complete control over colour and sheen, at the cost of site work. The pre finished, unfinished and primed guide compares the routes, and painting an interior door covers technique.
Pine and softwood
We list 6 pine internal doors for period and rustic schemes. Softwood dents more readily, so it suits lower traffic positions.
Specialist door types and what core they use
Some door formats effectively decide the core for you, because the mechanism sets a weight limit or the certification sets the material.
Bi-fold doors
Folding gear has a weight limit, so bi-folds are usually lighter constructions. Our 15 bi-fold doors start at £131.35, and how bi-fold doors work explains the mechanism, with more inspiration in our bi-fold door ideas.
Pocket doors
The cassette and track determine the maximum leaf weight, so check the kit specification before choosing a heavy door. Our 4 pocket door systems start at £298.99.
Room dividers
Large glazed dividers are heavy by nature and need substantial framing. Our 17 room dividers start at £498.06.
Sliding doors
Sliding gear also carries a weight rating. We list 16 sliding door kit systems, and the correct pairing of leaf and track matters more than the core alone.
Ladder doors and specials
Unusual formats such as our 2 ladder doors follow their own construction logic. Check the product page rather than assuming.
Fire doors
Certified fire doors are always solid core and always specified as an assembly. See the full fire door range and our article on fire door materials.
External doors for comparison
External doors are a different discipline again, built for weather, security and thermal performance. Our over 90 external doors start at £86.79, with 18 composite external doors from £725.00 and over 30 glazed external doors. Our guide to door U values covers thermal performance.
How to tell what core your existing doors have
Before you buy replacements, work out what you already have. Five quick checks will usually settle it.
The knuckle test
Knock firmly in the centre of the door face, then near the edge. A hollow core door produces a noticeably different, drum like sound in the middle. A solid core door sounds broadly the same everywhere.
The lift test
Lift the door slightly on its hinges or take it off. Weight is the most honest indicator. If one person can carry it comfortably up a flight of stairs, it is almost certainly hollow or semi solid.
Look at the edges
A hollow core door usually shows a narrow timber lipping over a thin face. Where a keyhole, letter plate or old hardware has been removed, you can sometimes see straight into the void.
Check the hinge count and screw grip
Two hinges and short screws suggest a light door. Three hinges, longer screws and a firm grip suggest something denser.
Look for a certification label
Fire doors normally carry a label or plug on the top or hanging edge. If you cannot find any evidence of certification on a door you believe to be a fire door, have it assessed rather than assumed.
Measure the thickness
Thickness alone does not prove core type, but combined with weight it is informative. Our guides to measuring a door and internal door sizes cover the dimensions you need before ordering.
A specification checklist you can actually use
Work through these questions per opening rather than per house. It produces a better result for the same money.
Is this opening subject to a fire requirement
Establish this first, because it removes all choice. Confirm with building control or a fire risk assessor, not with an assumption.
Does anyone need acoustic privacy here
Bedrooms, offices, bathrooms and consulting rooms usually yes. Cupboards and utility spaces usually no.
How much traffic does the door see
Count openings per day honestly. High traffic justifies mass and better hardware.
What hardware is planned
Heavy levers, closers, pull handles and multi point locks all point towards solid core. Check the fixing zones before you order.
Can the frame carry the weight
Inspect the existing lining. If it is thin, poorly fixed or already flexing, budget for upgrading it alongside the door.
What is the finish strategy
Decide between factory finished and site finished before ordering, because it changes both cost and programme.
What documents will you need to keep
For fire and acoustic doors, retain product data sheets, certification evidence and installation records. On commercial jobs this is usually a contractual requirement.
Who is fitting it
A heavy door fitted badly performs worse than a light door fitted well. If you are unsure, use a competent joiner.
Common mistakes to avoid
These are the errors we see most often in customer enquiries and returns.
Assuming a heavy door is solid timber
Most heavy doors are engineered, not solid timber, and that is usually a good thing. Engineered cores are more stable. Read the specification rather than inferring from weight.
Buying every door on price alone
A whole house of the cheapest available door means the bedroom next to the living room gets the same door as the airing cupboard. Vary the specification.
Over trimming to fit
Removing more than the stated allowance weakens the door, exposes the core and voids the warranty. On fire doors it can invalidate certification entirely.
Ignoring the frame and lining
A premium leaf in a flexing lining will bind, drop and disappoint. The opening is part of the product.
Fitting hardware into the void
Screwing a latch or handle into a hollow section guarantees failure. Locate the lock block first.
Mixing certified and uncertified components
Swapping in a spare hinge, latch or seal on a fire door assembly can undo the certification. Use the specified parts.
Forgetting the threshold gap
Chasing a quieter door by sealing the floor gap can conflict with ventilation and, on fire doors, with the certified arrangement. Take advice.
Leaving doors to acclimatise incorrectly
Doors delivered into a wet, freshly plastered house can move. Store flat in a dry, ventilated space. Our guide to stopping doors swelling explains the mechanism.
Neglecting maintenance
Both cores last longer with basic care. See cleaning and maintaining oak doors and maintaining painted doors.
Frequently asked questions
Is a solid core door always better than a hollow core door
No. It is better on performance and worse on cost and handling. For a cupboard or a rarely used spare room, hollow core is the rational choice.
Can I make a hollow core door quieter
You can improve it by sealing the perimeter and reducing the threshold gap, and those steps are worthwhile. You cannot give it the mass it lacks, so the improvement will be partial.
Can a hollow core door be turned into a fire door
No. Fire performance is a property of a tested assembly. There is no legitimate upgrade path.
Are semi solid doors worth it
Often yes, as a middle option for secondary bedrooms. They feel considerably better than hollow core for a modest premium.
Do solid core doors need three hinges
Usually. Follow the manufacturer instructions for the specific door, and follow the certified arrangement on fire doors.
Will a solid core door damage my existing frame
It can, if the lining is light or poorly fixed. Check and upgrade the frame where necessary before hanging a heavy leaf.
How much can I trim from each type
Solid core doors generally allow more, but the figure is set by the manufacturer for that product. Never assume, and never trim a fire door beyond its stated allowance.
Which core is better for a bathroom
Solid core, for privacy. Ensure the room is properly ventilated so the door is not exposed to persistent high humidity.
Which core is better with pets
Solid core resists scratching and impact far better, and it cannot be punctured the way a thin face panel can.
Do I have to replace every door at once
No. Upgrading the two or three openings that matter most is often the best value decision a household can make.
Are hollow core doors acceptable in a commercial building
Rarely. Fire, acoustic and durability expectations in non domestic buildings usually rule them out. Confirm the requirements for your specific building.
What about glazing in a solid core door
Perfectly normal. The glazed aperture reduces the mass locally, so a heavily glazed door will not match a solid one acoustically.
Does the finish affect performance
Not acoustically or structurally, but a tough factory finish resists wear better than a thin site coat, which matters in busy positions.
Can I mix cores in one house
Yes, and you should. Matching the face design and finish keeps everything looking consistent while the specification varies behind the scenes.
Why buy your internal doors from Doors2Floors
Range depth
We list 710 internal doors, 246 fire doors, 282 glazed doors and 2954 hardware products, so you can specify a whole project from one supplier.
Brands we stock
We supply 502 products from LPD, 258 from Deanta, 40 from Mendes, 16 from BCD, plus 16 items from Carlisle Brass, 848 from Atlantic UK Hardware and 153 from Zoo Hardware.
Experience
Doors2Floors has supplied doors and flooring to homes and businesses across the UK, which means our advice comes from what actually works on site rather than from a brochure.
Accessories in one place
Frames, architrave, hinges, handles, latches, closers, stops and over 120 items in our accessories range mean fewer suppliers and fewer delays.
Honest specification advice
We will tell you when a cheaper door is the right answer. Over specifying a cupboard door helps nobody.
Next steps
Walk your house or your floor plan and mark each opening as high, medium or low demand. Put the money into the high demand openings, use lighter doors where nothing is asked of them, and treat every fire rated opening as a separate exercise governed by your building, not your budget.
Start with our full internal doors range, compare the fully finished and unfinished routes, and read our guide to choosing the right door for your home and our overview of internal door materials. If you are furnishing a whole modern property, choosing the best internal doors for modern UK homes is a useful next read.
Product counts and prices in this article were taken from our live range and are subject to change. Fire door and building regulation requirements vary by building, use and location, and are revised over time. Nothing here is a compliance assessment. Confirm what your project needs with your local building control body, a fire risk assessor or another competent professional before you order.