What does NSF stand for?
What brand are you looking at?

Oh my goodness, see what happens when I post from my phone?! MDF is what I meant to type.

MDF should be cheaper and a more stable door. And since it is being painted why use wood?

I heard mdf dings and dents more easily. Is that not accurate when comparing mdf to wood veneer with solid core?

Well, our painted doors are solid MDF, and I think they look great! They painted up so nicely (our builder uses oil based trim paint) and are really heavy and thick. Haven't noticed any dings yet. They just feel heavy and "right" to me!

What manufacturer are you looking at?

We are thrilled with our MDF doors as well. Wood warps and cracks and we were painting so we didn't need wood. Ours have wood stiles and rails and MDF panels. They look fantastic. In fact, a friend who has really great taste is building and she walked through our house over the weekend. She had lots of questions but one was - "who made your doors? I was very impressed with those!"

We did thicker doors on the 8' doors and standard depth on the 7' doors. Ours are Masonite (not the molded but the MDF stile and rail) but Trustile makes some that are similar and very pretty as well.

I think the MDF baseboards can be an issue but doors aren't as much - not so many things bang into them (vacuum cleaners, etc.).

We haven't had any nicks yet and if we do we will just fill and paint . . . no big deal. I think the instability of wood and warping etc. makes them not an ideal choice, at least from what I have read.

A lot of the denting issue relates to the wood you are using. Pine dents easily, for instance, and is common on doors.

We also went with rail and stile construction MDF and those suckers are very heavy. The outer edge is all wood, just the interior panels are MDF. They feel and sound so much better than the 1960's era hollow core doors we had :)

I'm not a big fan of the molded MDF, the lines aren't as crisp. We went with shaker sticking on the doors, so truly square edges were important to us.

i am finding an incredible amount of conflicting info. on this debate when i do online searches. some say mdf doors won't last--any comments on their potential longevity?
thanks, everyone.

I can tell an MDF door whether painted or stained in a heartbeat. I'm old fashioned I guess but I think a door should be made of wood.... solid wood not hollow core. They just feel right to me!

In our previous house we used solid wood doors that were really nothing special just stain grade solid pine) after 27 years of a crazy active life raising 4 sons every door in the house looked, felt and swung as good as the day they were installed.

Here's a photo that includes what was perhaps the most used/abused door in the house .... the corner pantry! Those of you with sons can imagine how much use this door saw with 4 teenage sons at once in the house! :)

Anyway here it is.. original stain and all after 27 years of constant swinging and being knocked into. No one can convince me that MDF door would have held up as well and still looked as good so we're going with wood in the new house.... no reason not to.

Hmm... in our new house the doors and trim will be white, and we were planning on going with solid MDF. They look great in the house we are in now, and they are cost effective.

If you go with a real stile and rail door, one that has crisp detailing, it is really hard to tell the difference.

Mine are combo wood and MDF, painted with Fine Paints of Europe and hung on bearing hinges.

I have seen contractors who are there to do other work (plumbers, electricians, etc.) practically hugging my doors: touching them, opening and closing them, etc.

The crisp detail, the solidity, the installation/hardware and the paint job are what tell, with a painted door.