Hahahaha, fooled you. Not 60s music here.
I’m sitting here at my desk at work futzing around. I have to go look at new front doors for my Dad’s house. Somebody tell me what companies to go look at online for decent (not art/architectural) front doors.
I’m gonna take some pics Monday and post them of the demo so far on the roof perimeter so youse guys can see the house I’m dealing with.
Replies
Theo,
Some like Thermatru, I shy away from them, but this is from my experiences over 10 yrs ago. Stanley was bought out by Masonite, they're decent. Pella and Andersen have entry doors, tho a tad more.
What are your plans for the place? Might help advise quality ($) of doors for it.
Fibreglas/steel. Not much money separates them. Choose the right one for your application. Is the exposure south?
The door shops that fab these are important and often a crap shoot. They take the doors, fab the frames and assemble. There's room for some error there.
Best of luck.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
North, will have a full view storm door over it. Marvin is considered somewhat high end, no? They have some nice designs. The house is a very long low 1950s ranch.
Now what the heck is this thread doing in the Tav?
eh?
(ps - good luck with the door hunt!)
DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
I put it there, not wanting to appear as an uninformed idiot in front of anyone other than the Tavern dwellers!
Too late now m'dear! (LOL!)
the "powers that be" have moved this to Gen'l Discussion - and IMO, appropriately so!DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
I'm gonna be excoriated.Ah well, time to learn my doors.
that'd have to be LA Womwan....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I'm gonna be excoriated.
WTB... NOT! c'mon now, door selection for a replacement - what a universal, readily "relate-able" topic!
FYI: My Mom's front door in NE WI is a solid wood and leaded glass in a std 1-0, 3-0, 1-0 configuration. It's a beauty, but the wood takes a beating in that climate...and requires regular maintenance. Whereas on the rear of the house, she has a std steel exterior door (3-0, 6-8) from BB that's worked fine for past 10+ years and benefits from it's elevated position above grade and the alcove'd location it sits in. In other words, it doesn't "sit" in the mass quantities of snow she gets there, and I'm sure that's been a beneficial factor in its longevitiy to date.DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"
what Calvin said..
Pella here is a not a good choice because of service..
Stanley offers a decent bang for the buck..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I'm in the process of attempting to repair another steel door with sidelights. Most all the door companies buy plain six panel blank doors. If glass is to be installed, they cut a hole in the blank. The blanks are usually galvanized and primed. When they cut the hole, raw steel is left on the edge of the cut out. The glass inserts are well caulked where they meet the door but water can often get in by running down the glass. There is also condensation that forms on the backside, of the exterior skin, of the door. The combination causes many steel doors to rust from the inside out. I like fiberglass doors. Many styles, some look like wood.
I also look at the door sill. Some have adjustable thresholds. This often means holes under the weatherstrip and can be another leaking problem. The ones with wood inserts often warp, besides, hardly anyone adjusts them. I take extra care in caulking any joint. This means all along the attached trim, jamb extensions, etc. Pan flashings under the sill will help protect your sub-floor and framing should the door area leak. Another thing I am doing is, soaking/drizzling supper glue on the end grain cuts at the bottom of the jambs and trim. The end grain wicks moisture and the bottom few inches often rot quickly.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
theo... i like ThermaTru.. but most of the big names are good
it's good to deal with a company that has their own door shop, most of the big lumber companies do..
some things to think about:
try to avoid the applied plastic moldings, they don't hold up well
steel is generally a better choice than the fiberglass.. especially the premium steel lines
look for, or spec, features like "no-rot jambs" and you can get moldings "factory applied" like pvc.. again.. no rot, no split
the adjustable sill is a standard with us
also , do you want it double bored ( dead bolt & knob ) ?
almost every item on the door can up upgraded... steel painted hinges can be brass, or polished chrome, etc
my standard door would be :inswing, 6-panel colonial, 3/0 x 6/8, Premium steel, dbl bored, no-rot jambs, oak insert adjustable threshold, with applied 5/4 x4 pvc casingMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
OK, thanks all. This helps me research. I need to get the technical stuff down while of course, the immediate appeal for me is what I can do with one visually.If you use a fiberglass or steel door, and you don't have a lot of shelter under the roof, is it still a good idea to use a storm door?So a six panel door isn't aesthetically gruesome on a 50s ranch house? They are classic enough that they might work with almost anything? I realize that in searching for an special aesthetic, I might be venturing into a price range my Dad isn't interested in.I'm gonna take pics of the house starting this week, so you guys can see what's going on. I'll get one of the door up sometime tonight, maybe this afternoon, if I can get the images off my camera onto my work computer. The cable modem at home is having problems. Very annoying.
OK here we go, first pics of my Dad's house to be posted. One of the almost whole house from the street (it's 96 feet I think), one of the 30 year old addition, and a couple of the door I'm dealing with.
Those are really big, sorry. I'm at working trying to use Picasa. I'll shrink up future pics from home.
Yea - now I remember.
Although I guess you are using a contractor, measure the door carefully as it may be an odd size, and may havew some bearing on what door you pick. The way realestate is going up in that area, I bet if it were property rehabed, it could be worth kuite a bit of $$$. I also remember you saying though that some day whatever proceeds would be split with your probably non-participating cibling(s).
BTW - I'm in Raleigh.
Yes, real estate here is damn incredible. I'm not sure I could ever buy here. Really annoying to realize that I can't afford to buy the house I grew up in!I had a thread earlier in the summer about whether this house is worth rehab, and I got lots of useful input. I'm going to start another one in the next day or two to let everyone know what tack we're taking on it, but essentially, I'm administering and researching for my Dad what he wants to do. With none too subtle pressure from myself. Hoping to not spend more than he ought to.We've gone ahead with a program of exterior work in part because the town finally nailed Dad on a "maintaining a blighted property" charge. The day the moving van got here with my stuff, I had to attend a meeting with the town building inspector to respond to the neighbors' petition of complaint about the property. Talk about a welcome back to town!I'll be down in the Triangle area lots. Gotta shop!!
Hi you
Doesn't look all that bad. Really! Being that its a simple house, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of intricate areas to deal with. Just your basic long time ignored areas. My guess is that door's a standard size or close enough to get a standard one in easily enough.
Looks like a whole lot of window and door replacements. Rotted wood repairs and painting. Seems like it could be right up your ally. You need an "organized" list of everything that you want done interior and exterior. And we all know how organized you are. That's what you do for a living.
I'd think you have a budget? Right?
That's where I'd start. Do a take off list of all the high priced items you'll need and what you think the high priced repairs will be as well so you can at least get an idea of where to start. How expensive you want that front door to be. Will you be selling the house? Living in it?
A quick flip or living in it a few years then selling? It matters.
Is it possible to "pay" a contractor that you trust to come up with a list for you? Or an engineer? Then you could give that very list to possible contractors to bid on your job.
I'd do my own list first...then pay an engineer or contractor to turn it into what could be used for bidding.
Good luck...too bad I didn't live closer.
Be well
andy....oh shi...I better use spell check...bye~~lolCreation arises, is sustained for awhile, and then things change. That’s the dance.
That front door hole looks like you might be able to get a door with a sidelight in there. Might be an option worth looking into.
That door looks fine to me--and you can tell your neighbors I told you so!
Seriously, I think I'd fill up the porch brick to brick and floor to header with a whold new unit--possibly with a transom above and either two side panels, or one panel. I'm all for symetry myself.
The layout on the interior will determine what you CAN do.
Don't forget to look at Simpson doors when searching.
Good luck."Kinky for Gov. of Texas"
STEEL DOORS WITH EPS CORE ARE JUNK AND WILL RUST.... DOORS WITH URETHANE COORS RARELY RUST. IN 25 YEARS I HAVE SEEN ONLY THREE!!!! URETHANE IS THE WAY TO GO..
You wouldn't really order a door off the internet, would you?
Good Lord, no, I wouldn't. I just wanted to look at pictures while I was stuck at work. I'm going to the building supply company the contractor is sending me to and I'm going to pick the one I want and he's going to order it.Sheesh!(This is why I put the thread in the Tavern, where more of you know me than out here in the open Wild West of General Discussion.)
Edited 10/15/2006 1:58 pm by Theodora
You might be surprised.... In another thread I wrote about one of my eccentric neighbor's who DIYed part of their home build - some parts of the project were very messy... Anyway, they ordered their front door, appliances and countertops off the internet - and who know what else - later the wife told me that they work at home (computer people) and most of their shopping is done on line, so they don't have to go out that much... UPS truck has a regular route to their door.
>> This is why I put the thread in the Tavern, where more of you know me than out here in the open Wild West of General Discussion << Can't say I know you, although I know "of" you, and I know you have been posting here for a long time and your questions and comments are usually well grounded.
Only reason I asked is just that there are just some things that I gotta look at first hand before purchasing. OR - at least with a building supply, if it shows up and it's damaged or whatever, all you gotta do is pick up the phone and say "get this thing outa-here!"
Besides.. things can be entertaining in the "Wild West"... :-)
Points well taken...I'm a librarian, so for me, it's all about the information. Not even really a DIYer anymore since I don't own a house anymore. But I've been around BT long enough to have respect to ask the reasonable way to go about things.I like hands on shopping too. Even doors, which you can't try on.
Does this door make me look....? --- never mind... :-) BTW - I membered you were a librarian and I'm thinking you relocated not too long ago. My SIL is a librarian. The kids drive here bonkers...
Matt, I just moved from Oregon to western NC to Boone (my hometown) three weeks ago. To take a job, and also to deal with my Dad's house up here, which has been in sore need of rehab for many years. He's lived in Durham 20+ years and never really dealt with the house up in Boone. Administering its rehab is my new project. Thus the door issue.
Are ya gonna take a break and come see us in Memphis at MEMPHEST?
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=77851.946
(hint: the correct answer is..."YES"!) <g>DUM SPIRO SPERO: "While I breathe I hope"