PSA: New front doors are $$$$$. Have you bought one?

[aimeedyan]

We aren't digging our front door and have eyed a gorgeous red craftsman style one on another house in the 'hood that we want. This style but a bright red:




Um, they run $1200. For a door.

Have you bought a front door before? Where did you buy it from?

Do you think it's worth spending ~$1k on a front door if it'll make a big impact on your house?

[sailorgray]

I actually think that's pretty good for a door. It's definitely not cheap, but for a door, it's not so bad. We wanted a Craftsman style and it would have been $2100 with installation. We said no thanks and just painted our God awful door a bright red. It's a million times better. We got out door estimate at Lowe's. I do think it's worth it for a door.

[SusanBAnthony]

We have that style, on our rental house, but in bright turquoise. I love it. I has four glass panels at the top instead of just one. The one thing I don't like is the windows are so high up that 1, they don't let all that much light in, and 2 I can barely see out the, to check who is out the door. Just things to keep in mind if either of those matter to you.

No idea on price. I like to window shop pretty doors, but have never actually needed to buy one.

[sjh722]

Mar 23, 2013 18:40:34 GMT -5 sailorgray said:

I actually think that's pretty good for a door. It's definitely not cheap, but for a door, it's not so bad.

Ditto. Front doors can easily be $2k+.

[rugbywife]

We want to buy one but I had no idea they were this expensive...the one I was eyeing at Home Depot cost $800 but maybe that says something.

[aimeedyan]

Mar 23, 2013 19:43:15 GMT -5 neeps said:

I got an unpainted, solid wood front door very similar to that one - it has 4 small windows instead of one large one at the top on craigslist for $100. Best.deal.ever.

Wow, that is the best deal ever! I never thought about stalking craigslist... but I will now!

[goaskalice]

That's beautiful! Actually, front door replacement (a good one) usually is the #1 ROI for all home improvements. Curb appeal is very important when selling.

[sratsey]

Definitely watch CL...if you have a builder's overstock place around you, that's another place to look. When we built our first house we put a solid alder wood doow with sidelights...It was something crazy like $4000. Never again. My dogs destroyed it. Now we have a god awful, builders grade one, but it seems indestructible to their scratching. I think it's absolutely worth it to have a beautiful door. We always got compliments on our old one...people would walk in saying "WOW...BEAUTIFUL Door!" LOL.

[Deleted]

Ooh, I LOVE that door! Great taste

I think it is worth the investment. A nice door really dresses the house up and gives it a lot of curb appeal. If you can afford to upgrade, I would definitely do it.

[Deleted]

I saw a gorgeous one for like $250 at our local habitat resale shop. I would try them too.

[ivy]

We bought a solid mahogany craftsman style door at a builder surplus store for $400 a couple of years ago. It was just a slab so we had to add the notches for the hinges and the hole for the front door as well as stain and seal it ourselves. Fortunately, we were able to do all the work ourselves, but we had a guy who was doing other work on our house at the time quote the door installation and he said he would do it for $250. Still much less than $1200.

If you're just going to paint it, then what about something like this: www.homedepot.com/p/t/203188828?productId=203188828&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&MERCH=REC%2d%5f%2dproduct%2d2%2d%5f%2d202604165%2d%5f%2d203188828%2d%5f%2dN#.UU8KikL3Bok hope the link works!

[TBM]

Mar 24, 2013 8:39:20 GMT -5 @lcap said:

I think it is worth the investment. A nice door really dresses the house up and gives it a lot of curb appeal. If you can afford to upgrade, I would definitely do it.

ITA

I think that a lot of people don't really put enough thought into the impact a front door has/can have.  It is the first impression that people have of your house, so it should make a statement.

[Deleted]

Yup, we got 4 doors (front, side, back, and entry to garage) with storm doors on 3 of them.  We have odd sized doors and had to special order everything.  It cost us almost $5k.

[lys]

We replaced 3 exterior doors and the cheapest one was still over 1K.  Yes, I think a quality, well insulated door is worth the money.  If you are also paying for installation be sure to add that into your cost.

[kris356]

If you don't want wood, we just got a very similar door at Home Depot for $200. It is a steel door and doesn't have the ledge. DH also did the install himself since it would have cost a fortune (we had a 35" door and went to 36" which involved cutting bricks to make it fit).

But there is also this one which is almost identical to the one you posted for $379

www.homedepot.com/p/t/203188829?productId=203188829&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&MERCH=REC%2d%5f%2dNavPLPHorizontal1%2d3%2d%5f%2dNA%2d%5f%2d203188829%2d%5f%2dN

[vic1011]

Doors are expensive! We have a 3/4 view oak clad with red vinyl Andersen door. I think it was $2400?

[aimeedyan]

Mar 24, 2013 20:04:14 GMT -5 kris356 said:

If you don't want wood, we just got a very similar door at Home Depot for $200. It is a steel door and doesn't have the ledge. DH also did the install himself since it would have cost a fortune (we had a 35" door and went to 36" which involved cutting bricks to make it fit).

But there is also this one which is almost identical to the one you posted for $379

www.homedepot.com/p/t/203188829?productId=203188829&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&MERCH=REC%2d%5f%2dNavPLPHorizontal1%2d3%2d%5f%2dNA%2d%5f%2d203188829%2d%5f%2dN

oooh, thanks to you and Ivy for the link! i bet this one painted won't look all that different from a solid wood one painted.