To repeat what has been said a number of times before, there are Red Maples (Acer rubrum) in varying cultivars and then there are other cultivars of maples whose leaves turn red in the fall. There are also maples, mostly Japanese maples but other species as well, whose leaves come in red or reddish, some of whose leaves stay red and some turn green. The TRUE Red Maple is the A. rubrum, so called, as far as I know, because the flowers, which are very early before the leaves, are very red, as are the early stages of the samaras. Any other tree, if of another variety of maple (Norway, silver, etc.) MAY have the word red somewhere in its name, or have red leaves all summer or in the fall, but it will NOT BE a Red Maple, although it may be a red-colored maple, for example, the above mentioned Crimson King Norway Maple. Sorry for the lecture, but it's a pet peeve, and so you got the rant....

Painting can be much more difficult than staining. It depends on who the craftsman is. Painting a 6 panel door must be done according to the manual or it will look terrible. If you choose to paint them, email me and I'll send you the "how to paint a 6 panel door" instructions. Staining it requires knowledge too. The pine should be pre-treated (conditioned) prior to staining since it's a porous wood that absorbs stain unevenly. All paint stores sell the conditioner. After staining, apply at least two coats of varnish or ceramathane with the door is in a horizontal position to prevent runs. If you spot a run after a minute or so, trying to tip off those products creates more of a mess. If you decide to paint, the first coat should be a quality underbody primer. Please.....don't skip the primer. That seals the door and sets it up for the final two coats of paint. An ordinary latex paint will look clumsy on a door. You should learn how to paint with the Waterborne finishes (Muralo Ultra) (BM Impervo) (SW Pro Classic) or a urethane product like Cabinet Coat trim enamel.. Those will provide a hard, porcelain-like finish, which is what performs best on a door. You will also need a high quality brush. A 2" angle sash is best for most hands. Or, you can do like me and use an angle sash to paint the panels, then switch over to a 2 1/2" flat sash brush for the stiles and rails. I wish I had the picture of Moonshadow's doors. She did a magnificent job with Cabinet Coat on hers. My doors are done in Pro Classic and unless you've had some practice with it, it can be very, very difficult to get a professional finish. Michael Here is a link that might be useful: I found Moonshadow's doors

I'm resurrecting this thread...have a slightly different question in addition to all of the issues already discussed. I'm going to order from Conestoga I think. I'm replacing white thermofoil doors which are 20 years old and haven't really faded, but there are a few where a candle or the toaster got too close and caused some minor melting....Most people think they look nice, but in my mind they are still "cheap". The uppers are 42" I'm going to stick with white and just buy doors to match the existing boxes which are fine. Also, I have granite and it's hard to find someone willing to remove it to install complete cabinets. My question is....will a mapleframe/mdf center FEEL like a real wood door? Will it feel different than my thermofoil? I'm talking in terms of both surface and the weight in your hand as you open and close it. Will the outside edges and the panel raise etc be sharper than thermofoil? If I get mdf center will I still have the defined edges I am looking for. If you've had thermofoil you will know what I am asking. I'm toying with getting 5 peice mdf...but don't want to lose the wood look or feel... I think the mdf center is my best bet. My husband is what I like to call..anal...pretty sure he will be bothered by cracks, but he doesn't want the fake plastic look either. Pretty sure all wood is not a good choice for me, too bad because I love wood... The style I am leaning toward is https://www.cabinetjoint.com/cabinet-door/monarch-square/  but I am also toying with shaker style. Wondering if the shaker trend is headed out....Also considering doing a grey island by applying end panels. Guess I could start a new thread for those questions.

I own a collection of all wood Marvins - no clad for me either due to being a historic property. Most of mine are the VG fir exterior and interior upgrade, but I do have one pine unit that was my first order (learned my lesson). I also looked at the Lowen products closely and my neighbors house is done with them. Lowen are nice, but have less options then Marvin and a very very limited dealer network. If things go south with your Lowen dealer, there is likely not another one in your state. The basic Marvin pine units are a mixture of solid pine and finger-jointed pine - if you read their architectural specs you will see this in small print, but not in the consumer catalog. In my experience the exterior trim, sill, etc were all finger jointed pine. My pine unit was primed outside and clear stain grade inside so the inside faces are solid or at least thick veneers. The jamb is also solid and cover up what lies beneath. Marvin's VG fir exterior and interior are a huge up-charge as you've seen, but the wood is solid without veneers (except if you get interior screens etc). Here in the NW a moist climate - finger jointed pine will rot for sure. From my experience, moisture kills pine and kills the glue in finger joints even worse. I had to replace some out just the other day - 12 years old - and painted/caulked every 2 years. Also, not entirely related, but since this is a historic property if you must match the existing brickmould/casing and Marvin doesn't have that profile you need without going to their Signature level, you can always get the windows without brickmould/casing (jambs only) and have your carpenters trim out the window with casing you can get reproduced locally at a nicer lumber yard. There is usually a ~$100-150 charge to replicate a knife for a trim profile, but you'll be ahead of signature costs and can have enough made to fix up any other windows with damage. Go fir here too. Finally, be careful if you are getting very large operable windows that are at or near the limits of their sizing chart - suggest mulling together two or more smaller units to create a similar total dimension.