Simpson Door Company

A Simpson door is a solid wood stile-and-rail door you order in the species, size and glass you want, with matching sidelights and transoms, for the front entry, the rooms inside and a barn door on the shop. It’s for homeowners and builders who want real wood, and Simpson builds the weather protection into the door itself, with UltraBlock standard on the exterior line and WaterBarrier available on virtually any design.

Simpson Door Company is based in McCleary, Washington, and has made doors in the Washington forests since 1912. It started as a door and plywood manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest and makes handcrafted stile-and-rail doors, interior, exterior and custom, with hundreds of standard designs from panel and French doors to decorative entry doors, any of which can be built as a one-of-a-kind custom door.

UltraBlock at the bottom of the door

When a wood front door rots, the trouble starts at the bottom, where the end grain of the stiles sits down at the threshold, soaks up snowmelt and stays wet. UltraBlock fixes that spot. It’s a composite block finger-jointed into the bottom of the door, so the part that takes the water isn’t end grain at all. It reduces buckling and swelling of the bottom rail, keeps the stiles and rails from pulling apart and improves warp resistance, and Simpson’s WeatherSeal process adds another layer of protection over the wood. UltraBlock comes standard on Simpson exterior doors outside the Nantucket Collection and works with virtually any species on entry, side and patio doors, so you get the look of wood with the weak spot taken out.

WaterBarrier for a painted door in the weather

WaterBarrier protects the whole outside face. Simpson puts a moisture-resistant medium-density overlay, a thermoset acrylic latex primer topcoat and PVC glazing beads on the exterior side, so the outside comes smooth and ready to paint, and the inside still shows real wood. Paint on bare wood tends to crack along the joints as the door moves with the seasons, and the overlay covers those joints with a smooth face made to hold paint. It’s offered on virtually any design, raised or flat panels, shaker profiles and divided lites, across more than 100 door and sidelight designs.

Nantucket for a dark door in full sun

The Nantucket Collection is built in Douglas Fir, Sapele Mahogany, Nootka Cypress, Western Hemlock or Accoya. A black or deep-stained front door soaks up heat on the sunny side, and a Nantucket door in factory-primed Accoya is the one Simpson backs for heat under a dark finish. For the dark door that looks sharp on a modern farmhouse, that’s the one to order.

Which Simpson door for which opening

Under a deep covered porch, the standard exterior line with UltraBlock gives you a real wood door with the bottom rail protected, backed by five years of coverage. On an open entry that takes rain and sun, order WaterBarrier, also backed for five years, and paint it any color. For a dark finish in full sun, go Nantucket in Accoya, covered for ten years. At Montana elevation the sun wears a finish down fast on a west- or south-facing entry, and that’s exactly the opening WaterBarrier and Nantucket are built for.

The Simpson collections

The Mastermark Collection is where Simpson puts its best technology: UltraBlock standard, five years of coverage, and patented Innerbond panels backed for life against splitting through, so the panel stays whole through years of dry heated air on one side and winter on the other. The Craftsman Collection takes its lines from Craftsman architecture and furniture, with 36 standard exterior designs in virtually any species, the natural front door for a bungalow or a timber-and-stone mountain home. The Bungalow Series carries that classic look, and the Builder’s Advantage and Selects Series pair handcrafted wood with decorative glass for a real wood entry without going custom. Across the series, doors come up to 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide.

Interior and barn doors

Inside, Simpson makes wood interior panel doors, bifolds for closets and MDF interior doors for a smooth painted finish, and its interior doors carry a ten-year warranty. Simpson also makes exterior barn doors and the Simpson Pivot Door System, so the front door, the doors inside and a barn door on the shop can all come from one maker and match.

Why Simpson

A Simpson door is real wood chosen down to the species, the panel and the glass, with the weather protection built into the door instead of left to the finish. After more than a century of making wood doors, Simpson builds a front door that looks like wood and stands up like it was made for the weather.

Simpson door specifications

Item	Detail
Designs	Hundreds of standard designs or one-of-a-kind custom doors
Species	Virtually any wood species
UltraBlock door thickness	1-3/4” or 2-1/4”
Glass	Tempered; meets ANSI Z97.1 and the CPSC architectural glazing standard
Insulated leaded glass	Triple glazed, clear 1/8” tempered glass on each side of the leaded glass
Coverage	Five years on UltraBlock and WaterBarrier exterior doors, ten on Nantucket in listed species and on interior doors

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Simpson doors good?

Yes. Simpson has made solid wood stile-and-rail doors since 1912, and it builds the weather protection into the door with UltraBlock at the bottom rail and WaterBarrier on the outside face.

What is Simpson UltraBlock?

UltraBlock is a composite block finger-jointed into the bottom of a Simpson exterior door, where end grain would otherwise soak up water. It reduces swelling and buckling of the bottom rail and improves warp resistance, and it’s standard on Simpson exterior doors outside the Nantucket Collection.

Does Simpson make interior doors?

Yes. Simpson makes wood interior panel doors, bifolds and MDF interior doors, along with exterior barn doors and a pivot door system, and its interior doors carry a ten-year warranty.

Solid wood or fiberglass for a Montana front door?

Solid wood, if you want a door that looks and feels like real wood. The places wood doors used to lose to the weather were the bottom rail and a painted outside face, and a Simpson door covers both, with UltraBlock at the bottom and WaterBarrier on the outside, so you get the wood without the old weak spots. For a dark door in full sun, the Nantucket Collection in Accoya is built for it.