Doors are a little harder to explain than windows. I needed to use a lot of pictures. I only used these pictures to illustrate certain points to you guys. I AM NOT ENDORSING ANYTHING on the websites where the pictures came from. Please ignore the URLs :) The time has come….get ready for… A NOTE ON PRICING Door Pricing is literally ALL OVER THE PLACE. It depends on the Material of the door itself, the color and or grain of the door, the style, amount of glass, and quality. If your not sure about a price you got PM me with the specs/price and we'll talk about it! A NOTE ON SECURITY This is a topic that a lot of my customers inquire about and I tell them all the same thing – if you want to be safe pick a door (Any Material) with NO GLASS. Pretty much any Exterior Door will offer a similar level of security. More importantly, if someone REALLY wants to get in, they’re going to get in. There are four basic types of doors on the market today! Fiberglass Doors are becoming the most popular type of entry door in the marketplace.
Even in high-end homes and neighborhoods you will see Fiberglass Doors. From a price stand-point these things can range from $1,200 installed for a simple back door with a little glass to $8,000 to $10,000 for a double entryway with full stained glass panels. You generally will see Steel doors applied to certain situations – Back Doors, Side Doors, Garage Doors, and anywhere there is a fire-rating requirement. A lot of people think Fiberglass Doors are more expensive than any other type of door…and this is not really the case. Steel and Fiberglass Doors are pretty much in the same range. (Give or take literally less than $100 for the same style Steel or Fiberglass Door) Vinyl Entry doors make up the smallest piece of the Entry Door Market. They are generally seen as “low end” solutions but they are growing in popularity. You can still by solid wood doors but they require maintenance. This should not be a surprise. We generally only sell them in areas that are higher-income.
They are a “premium” product in the business. That said, there are manly high-grade Fiberglass Doors that (visually) give solid wood doors a run for their money. I’m not going to spend much time on Wood Doors just for the simple fact that if you can afford a solid wood door and it’s maintenance there is not much “quality” discussion to be had. As far the material itself goes the days of cracking, chipping, and bulging Fiberglass Doors is pretty much over. The main thing is that the door is Fiberglass on at least 5 sides. As you can see there is no damage to the skin of the door itself but the door’s support system is exposed wood. Many factories sell doors like this. You have this nice Fiberglass skin that will never rot or mold but the edge of the door will be wood. Basically This IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT. This is what you want the sample to look like The edge of the door to either needs to be a composite material or Fiberglass. You also want solid foam filling as seen in the photograph.
You want the THICKEST gauge Steel skins you can find. You want BELOW 25 gauge used in the door’s Steel Skins. Lesser chance of denting and waving. Cut-away of a Steel Door should look like This THE FOLLOWING INFO GOES FOR STEEL AND FIBERGLASS DOORSYou should see a sample like This. I see new doors (less than 3 or 4 years old) with a ROTTED frame (this is actually called a brick-mould) If you don’t see something like this ask about getting the brick-mould CLAD, CAPPED, OR WRAPPED.You should see something with a composite backing like This. What you should not see is ANYTHING WITH WOOD. I DON’T CARE IF IT’S PRESSURE TREATED. IF YOU WANT TO USE A LOCAL FACTORY PLEASE POST YOUR STATE AND OR MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREA Here is a list of all the Door manufacturers that I have complied. As with my Window Megapost,these are factories, not retailers. NOTE Also unlike my Window post, most doors are available nationally. Windows cannot be shipped over certain elevations because the glass units will fail via the pressure change.
But door factories ship their doors all over the country with the glass units installed locally. So unless otherwise specified, you can get these doors anywhere. NOTE Some of the companies on this list provide components to other companies the list. This is something that makes this process a little more difficult than my window post. For example, Plastpro supplies several of the companies on my list. ProVia (Entry Doors, Patio Doors, and Windows.) ThermaTrue (Entry and Patio Doors) WeatherKing (Entry Doors, Patio Doors, and Windows. Polaris (Entry Doors, Patio Doors, and Windows) Albany Doors (Entry Doors. Located in Washington State.) HOW TO FIND A GOOD CONTRACTOR , and Google/Bing reviews.These should be given without question. Above all else you must like them and be comfortable :-) Alrighty guys…this is it for today. I’ve been working on this for a couple hours and I’m running out of steam. Doors are much more complicated than windows in a couple places so it’s a lot more involving.
(Plus many of these websites are terrible!) As with my window post this list will always grow. I will add anything I find as I find it. Anything anyone suggests that meets my requirements I will add. EDIT Too many edits to count EDIT - STORM AND SCREEN DOORSUsually less than half the price of anything Pella or Andersen and a better/longer warranty. They are easy to install and available everywhere. They've been around a long time. HomeProducts Audiences Resources News About Contact Click here to return to the Sign up or log in to customize your list. Here's how it works: Anybody can ask a question The best answers are voted up and rise to the top I want to use the Kevo lock on my front door and have my back doors have the same physical key (even though they clearly will not have electronic keying). To do this, I need to replace the cylinder on my Andersen doors with something that is compatible with Kwikset SmartKey -- either a SmartKey cylinder if possible, for "higher" security, or a standard Kwikset cylinder that the SmartKey locks can learn.
I can't find any information on what cores, etc, are compatible with Andersen doors or where to source them. To answer the question: It is almost certainly possible to get a replacement cylinder for your Andersen door which accepts the Kwikset keyway, and have it keyed to accept the same key you're now using on the front door... or reset the front door to respond to the key the new cylinder ships with. My storm door uses a Euro-style cylinder, which is uncommon in the US but a good locksmith ought to be able to handle this request. As others have said, though, I'd replace the SmartKey cylinder while you're at it. They were a nice idea, but they really have proven to be less secure than I'm comfortable with. A replacement cylinder should be cheap, and rekeying it doesn't add that much cost. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google Sign up using Email and Password Post as a guest By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.