Door core types compared: honeycomb, tubular chipboard, solid timber and particleboard

Honeycomb (paper or aluminium)

A hexagonal paper or aluminium grid sandwiched between two skins. It is the lightest option — a standard 80x210cm interior door body often lands between 18 and 26kg — and the cheapest per unit at volume.

• Light: one person can hang it without a lift
• Low acoustic performance: 18-22 dB typical, so not suitable where privacy matters
• Poor screw-holding at the edges: hinges need solid blocking or a reinforced lock block
• Common in Middle East and African volume projects, and in budget European ranges

Tubular chipboard

A honeycomb-like grid of chipboard tubes under the skins — the standard construction for European interior doors. Heavier than paper honeycomb, much better at holding screws, and cheaper than solid timber.

• Weight: roughly 28-35kg for a standard leaf, still manageable with two fitters
• Acoustic: 24-28 dB, adequate for apartments
• Hinges and locks can be fixed anywhere in the tube direction
• This is what most 'solid core' European doors actually contain — ask for the core drawing

Solid timber block or stave core

Softwood staves glued edge to edge and sanded flat. The heaviest and most expensive common core, and the only one that behaves like solid timber when you cut into it.

• Weight: 35-45kg and up for a standard leaf — needs three hinges and a solid frame
• Acoustic: 30-35 dB, the best of the four
• Machines cleanly: ideal for grooves, glazing cut-outs and oversized doors
• Watch moisture: staves must be kiln dried to 8-10% or the door will cup

Particleboard / MDF solid core

A solid slab of particleboard or MDF under the skins. Heavy, dimensionally stable, and the usual choice for fire-rated and acoustic-rated doors because the density is uniform.

• Weight: 40-50kg — treat as a heavy door for hardware and installation
• Fire: the easiest core to certify to 30/60 minutes because there are no voids
• Acoustic seals work best against a dense, non-porous core
• Cost sits between tubular chipboard and solid timber

Matching the core to the market

There is no single best core — there is a core that matches the price point and the building code.

• US residential: hollow or honeycomb is normal for interior; solid core for fire-rated garage entry and apartment corridors
• EU residential: tubular chipboard is the default; solid timber for premium and for oversize leaves
• Middle East and Africa: honeycomb dominates volume projects; solid core for hotel corridor doors where the acoustic and fire spec is enforced
• Hotel and healthcare: particleboard or solid timber, both for fire rating and for impact resistance against trolleys