Go with solid core wood doors for interior. They're a lot more expensive than hollow core and more work to install (they usually come unfinished and without pre-drilled holes) but they will last decades, are much better at sound dampening, and can be repainted or re-stained.
this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2025
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Thank you for your suggestion. Actually, I prefer to buy solid wood doors, but my husband thinks they are a bit expensive and wants to buy WPC doors.
I thought solid core doors were better for sound dampening and they were very much not.
Really? Aren't solid wood doors soundproof?
They conduct sound better than hollow core IME. Soundproof doors have an insulation layer of sound deadening material in them.
Our house has a mix of hollow core and solit wood doors and I really like the weight and solidity of the wood doors. They may be cost prohibitive though.
Thank you for your advice. After reading this, I am more inclined to buy solid wood doors.
I have only one renovation rule, If you use it everyday. Spend the money.
This sentence makes a lot of sense
Some things to consider... kids. The hollow doors are easy for them to break when fooling around or angy. The solid ones slam much louder. The better sound dampening of the solid ones can be good if you don't want to hear thier music. But bad if you want to be able to yell "dinner" up to them. Also, if you knock, you may not be able to hear them answer as easily.
And bonus advice, if you have the interior walls open, put insulation in the walls between the masterbed room and any other room. It reduces sound transfer through the wall, which is nice for a variety of reasons...
My doors are made of MDF with aluminium frames. They were more expensive than the low quality wood doors offered here, but they are sturdy and lasted well over the years.
Good luck with your renovations!
Thanks so much for the advice and good luck! Your MDF+aluminum doors sound very solid. I'm just curious, how good are they at soundproofing? Better than a regular solid wood door?
I am satisfied with the sound isolation from the MDF doors. If you can find heavy, solid wooden doors, I think they would offer even better sound isolation. I chose MDF because I didn’t like the quality and design of the wooden doors sold near me. It’s also important to have good installation and seals around the doors for soundproofing.