Interior oak doors

[Nix32]

I'd like to replace our white interior doors with oak ones. My joiner tells me they need protecting with a type of matt varnish to stop them getting grubby, but his quote feels high.

I can see pre-finished doors for sale - are they the same thing?

you will have to find out from your potential suppliers if they are talking about solid oak doors (rare and expensive) or doors with an oak veneer over scraps of softwood and chipboard glued together (politely referred to as "engineered core")

Sadly, it'll be the oak veneer doors. I'll be looking for doors with as deep a lip as I can find. It's the finish that bothers me - I don't want to have to paint/treat them, but I want to protect them. Ideally I'd like to buy them already treated, but I'm not sure if that's what 'pre finished' means.

I have just had oak veneered doors installed. It is the "pre-finished" ones that you want. These are already treated. Most doors (mine included) will need the joiner to plane them to fit your facings and flooring - you need to seal the edge once the joiner has finished. It's very easy - use a wood finishing oil and buff it in. You then repeat as needed every few months.

If you get the pre-finished ones you still have some finishing to do after the fitting. How many are we talking about? You need to check the manufacturers warranty as some oils breach that; most seem to recommend Osmo or similar. It's very simple to do yourself, just time consuming.
I had solid doors in my last place and had to opt for veneered doors here - you don't notice the difference day to day but you definitely do when fixing and if you're looking for the tell tale signs.

@ostrom What will I need to repeat every few months - sealing the edges or treating the whole door?

Are you pleased with your doors?

@Loofah01 What sort of finishing would we need to do?

@Loofah01 We've got 11 doors to replace. Time consuming isn't what I was looking for! My joiner is saying he can spray them with something, but he's quoting almost double my previous quote so I want to see if sourcing them myself would be better.

I have the oak veneer pre finished doors. They've been in for about 6 years and we've never done anything to them during that time. They needed a bit of trimming etc. to fit and I think the joiner sealed the edges but there was no extra cost for this

@Nix32 - just oiling the edges, definitely not treating the whole door. The only work my joiner said I need to do was to oil the edges where he has had to plane them to fit (and it is only the non-hinged long edge) - it takes me about 15 minutes a door. I have got the Palerno Oak Veneer Pre Finished Doors from XL Joinery. I have had my lounge & dining door in for 4 months and only done it once - the joiner had to do a lot of work to make them fit (joy of an old bungalow with sloping ceiling). He said they were the best quality veneer doors he had fitted in a long time. I have also just had my bathroom and bedroom door fitted and waiting for the remaining 5 doors to arrive next week. I am VERY pleased. Happy to post a photo.

It's only a door oil (I used Osmo matt door oil but they do their 'original which is basically wet look) and you brush it on using at least two coats. It stinks for a couple of days but then you're done. Same applies if you get pre-finished doors, where the chipping cuts the door to fit it he should finish the now bare exposed wood.
TBH, spraying is a LOT faster and he's liable if he buggers it up so it's a bloody good option even if pricey

@Nix32 - happy to PM my costs for the doors if that would help & my joiner quote too. It was all new to me when I started (first home and first renovation).

veneered-door makers usually say you mustn't use oil or wax on them. I guess it attacks the glue and makes the veneer fall off, but I don't know.

Satin varnish is fine, and unless you apply numerous coats you can't see it on the surface.

We have the treated ones, along with the skirting and architrave

Not done a thing to them in 8 years and they still look like new!

That's really helpful everyone, thank you.