Review on 42X84 Rustic Hardwood Barn Door Slab - Unfinished Knotty Alder Solid Wood by Tim Sterling

This arrived in a just a few days and consisted of the components needed to assemble a complete door.-The Bad - Compared to oak or maple, Knotty Alder is a relatively soft wood. You can mark it with your thumbnail if you really want to so I was pleased to see that it arrived with only one damaged part. The damage was minor enough to be easily repaired with some wood putty. The other (minor} problem was that all the boards had marks left by the manufacturers' depth planer. These marks run across the grain and are not very obvious but will visually "pop" if/when the wood is stained. So I sanded all the boards (both sides) with a random orbit sander followed by a finishing sander for a better finish. To the manufacturer - I know it's expensive but if you replace the knives on your planer with a helix head system you can achieve a better finish. (My two cents)The Good - Everything fit. All components were present with a few extra screws instead of a few missing screws as we have probably all experienced with other "some assembly required" products. This is solid wood, not a thin easily scratched veneer over MDF. That means that if you need to sand out some small scratches or imperfections you will not sand through the veneer and reveal the particle board underneath.If you are going to stain this door before finishing I would recommend you stain it before assembly. When the door is assembled there are small decorative grooves running the length of the door that are much easier to stain before assembly rather than after. I sanded, stained, assembled and then sprayed it with lacquer. I have a spray gun for the lacquer so it was easy to get an even coat on the assembled door. If you decide to brush on the lacquer before assembly be aware that the boards fit together with a tongue-and-groove system and if you allow any lacquer to puddle on the tongue or in the groove you will need to be sanding or chiseling before final assemble in order to have a good fit.Hope this helps.