Doors

[k3am]

How much would you pay for material cost on a front door? This is a single door, no side panels or extra stuff on it, just a front door. 

And would you prefer fiberglass or wood knowing the door has full sun exposure on the outside and a dog that will scratch on it from the inside if it's owners are on the outside. 

ETA: I know nothing about doors - and don't particularly care - but I know that the door that our designer suggested is more than my cheap little heart wants to spend. But maybe it's totally reasonable? 

[simpsongal]

I don't think I'd do wood unless there's a significant cover over the front or a storm door. And sounds like you know wood is a bad idea.

I'd think a door like that would run $1500-2000? Don't go w/Home Depot/Lowes, it's worth paying a little extra for quality. I have two friends who went budget on a new front door and they're not holding up well at all.

[lavenderblue]

Is getting a steel door an option? That is what I went with and am very happy with my decision. My dogs scratch on the door and there are no marks at all. Plus, if I recall correctly, fiberglass doors are more prone to damage in extreme weather/temperatures and full sun exposure would fall in that category.

[Susie]

What style are you thinking?  Glass lights or no?  More glass is going to increase the price.  We did a more splurgy 3/4 glass front door with 2 side lights last fall, but at our last house we had no side lights and did a fiberglass door with a 6-light craftsman style door from Therma Tru.  My dogs don't tend to be door scratchers, so I can't speak to that, but I was happy with it.  Both houses that I've owned have had a porch roof over the front door which shields them from excessive sun exposure and rain.

We need to replace our garage exterior door still, and we will probably go a similar route.

[k3am]

In terms of full sun, it will only be in full sun a portion of the day - mornings since we're eastern facing).

lavenderblue , steel is theoretically an option, but DH is concerned about denting, valid concern or not. No one in my family is particularly gentle on anything and clumsiness is a huge factor in two of us.

Susie , I'm kind of leaning towards more glass than less, just because the dog can't scratch it. (He REALLY can't stand if we do any kind of yard/housework without him.)

The designer is recommending a very high quality wood door for $8k, not including installation costs. We happened to be on vacation with a friend who knows someone who owns a door shop a couple hours from us, and the price for this specific door is on par with what they'd charge. And we don't want maintenance. 

I just don't think DH or I care enough about a door to pay $8k for one. I found this one at Home Depot online at $2k and fiberglass. I am not stuck on the idea of this specific door or buying at Home Depot vs a local vendor, but most of the local vendors don't show pricing online. This door is more just to say hey look, there are definitely options we like at a price we can stomach. 

We have a call with them tonight that's probably a "come to Jesus" talk for all parties involved. We're fine on splurging on high ticket items where they think they're going to provide value (I let DH go wild on appliances, for example, and my tile choice isn't going to be cheap), but not EVERY item can be a splurge. But I honestly don't know enough about doors to know if this is an area where we should be splurging. 

[TR]

We had a wood door (it was here when we bought the house) and it was gorgeous, but didn't have the proper overhang and ended up warping and rotting. We replaced a few months ago with a steel door, no glass and I think the door itself was $2000ish?

Keep in mind if being able to see out will make your dog's behavior better or worse. We went with no glass because of cost, but were only considering having it in the top 25% because otherwise the dogs would be insane.

[k3am]

TR, that's a good point. We would definitely be doing a frosted/opaque glass. Doggo has cataracts, but not sure if frosted would be enough. The door itself isn't in an area he hangs out in much - he prefers the couch by the window. But the current door is 1/2 glass, and while he's big, he's not a horse, so I don't think he's able to look at it (aside from when he's jumping on/gouging it.)

I remember thinking my mom was crazy for getting carpet samples to bring home to make sure she could match the carpet to the golden retriever, and now I'm realizing she was just a dog lover who understood how often she was really going to vacuum. (But also she was crazy in the best way.)

[deadwing]

May 17, 2024 15:26:49 GMT -5 k3am said:

TR, that's a good point. We would definitely be doing a frosted/opaque glass. Doggo has cataracts, but not sure if frosted would be enough. The door itself isn't in an area he hangs out in much - he prefers the couch by the window. But the current door is 1/2 glass, and while he's big, he's not a horse, so I don't think he's able to look at it (aside from when he's jumping on/gouging it.)

I remember thinking my mom was crazy for getting carpet samples to bring home to make sure she could match the carpet to the golden retriever, and now I'm realizing she was just a dog lover who understood how often she was really going to vacuum. (But also she was crazy in the best way.)

Your mom sounds smart! Meanwhile I have a plum and charcoal area rug and two fawn colored dogs. Guess how often you can tell my rug is dark colors?

I don't know what a typical door should cost, but I'd balk at $8k too.

[orval]

I have a door similar to this one:
www.lowes.com/pd/Therma-Tru-Benchmark-Doors-Craftsman-Simulated-Divided-Light-Right-Hand-Inswing-Ready-To-Paint-Fiberglass-Prehung-Entry-Door-with-Insulating-Core-Common-36-in-x-80-in-Actual-37-5-in-x-81-5-in/1000157897

It is not my front door, but a basement door. I also have a set of double doors (no windows) also off my basement but same styling.
They have been just fine for at least 5-6 years so far. I painted them myself, but I would definitely pay to have it painted.
Our front door is the same wood door that came with the house - we have lived here for 23 years and it is also just fine.

[SusanBAnthony]

An 8k door is on the higher end but definitely not the top of the high end.

Look at what the frame is made of.

Ask what water performance it is rated for.

Decide if you need a water rating (it probably isn't required by code, but depending on the overhang and your climate, you may want it)

Personally I would probably get the wood door but I'm kind of an architectural nerd and I like wood 🤷‍♀️

[k3am]

We’ve been trying to get an appointment with the door company our designer works with, but their hours suck and they’re not open weekends.

DH and I dropped by the highly esteemed Home Depot and looked at their doors and think we will be perfectly happy with a door in the $1.5-$2.5k range.

We did chat with the designer on Friday afternoon and we’re going to try to get through structural and into permitting and then worry about what areas are more of a splurge than we’d like, but I’m 100% sure the front door is one of them.

DH brought up what would happen if we got a door that needs maintenance.. he would not do it, I’d balk at the cost of paying someone to do it and insist on doing it myself, and 20 mins in realize I should have paid someone and insist on pushing through. Then pointed out our existing front door, that is wood, that I insisted on painting and how shitty it looks. 🤭 (In my defense, it doesn’t look any worse than it did when we moved in and DH was adamant we’d be buying a new door within a year.. 6 years later… same door.)

[dr.girlfriend]

We went on the ThermaTru website and played around. Things I thought I wanted (e.g. factory paint) were RIDICULOUSLY expensive and not worth the cost.

I'm happy with what we got -- the things I most wanted (half glass and glass sidelights) were not that expensive. We painted it afterwards and I wish I had a tiny thing of paint to touch up (where the wreath hook scratches or the lock shifted a little) but no one else would care. And honestly I know the color so I could get touch-up paint and am just too lazy. :-)

[sandandsea]

We have a wood door with full morning sun and I can now visibly see light coming through the door some days and it needs to be replaced. I’m assuming it’s the original and our house was built in the 90s. It was varnished for the first 20 years and has been painted the last 10. Because ours is a weird sized double door our only replacement option is wood but I wish we could do something else (not steel because of denting).

[k3am]

We have two contenders.. Both significantly less than $8k, one coming in the $1k range, one that you have to get a quote, but I assume is in the $4k range.

DH wants as much glass as possible, since our entry way is very dark, unfortunately it's hard to tell how opaque the glass actually is from either listing.