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Posted by Ed Pawlowski on November 19, 2009, 10:43 pm
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> Subject says it all. Missus says we need to replace the front exterior
> door to our house with a pre-hung new one. Not sure which to get for
> replacement.
> Security, insulation value, service life are main considerations.
> Suggestions?
I put in a steel door about 10+ years ago. It was free (someone bought the
wrong door and could not return it) and it does a pretty good job. If I
was buying a door, it would not be my first choice though. Real wood is the
best for appearance, but I'd give a good look at fiberglass.
If you are using a storm door with a steel door, do not paint the door a
dark color if it gets hot. It can get hot enough to burn you from the solar
heat.
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Posted by Roger Shoaf on November 20, 2009, 4:14 am
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> Subject says it all. Missus says we need to replace the front exterior
door
show/hide quoted text
> to our house with a pre-hung new one. Not sure which to get for
replacement.
show/hide quoted text
> Security, insulation value, service life are main considerations.
> Suggestions?
I am not fond of steel for residential applications. Fiberglass might be OK
but my best recommendation is a quality wood door.
If you look at some hundred year old houses with the original doors you will
get an idea of what the term quality is all about. If however you go the
BORG and buy a thin skinned particle board filled "solid core" door, good
luck.
Look in your phone book for a mill work shop in your area and talk to them.
They can set you up with a well built door and frame and good hardware. I
mentioned hardware because if you do decide on getting a good door, it is
going to be heavier than a cheap one so you might opt for a nice set of ball
bearing hinges.
If you have some concern that some nare-do-well will decide to kick your
door, the mill can set you up with a 1/4 steel back up plate that can go
between the stud and the jam. This will, in my estimation, increase the
force required to kick open the door by 4 or 5 times.
You might also think about the kind of weather stripping you want. I kind
of like the solid bronze strips, if and only if, you get a door thick enough
to not interfere with the latch plate.
Also do not forget to paint or seal the top and bottom of the door. This is
where the moisture that swells doors enters the wood and if you seal the
pores of the end grain your door will stay stable with the changes in
humidity.
--
Roger Shoaf
About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.
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Posted by aemeijers on November 20, 2009, 9:45 am
Roger Shoaf wrote:
show/hide quoted text
>> Subject says it all. Missus says we need to replace the front exterior
> door
>> to our house with a pre-hung new one. Not sure which to get for
> replacement.
>> Security, insulation value, service life are main considerations.
>> Suggestions?
>
> I am not fond of steel for residential applications. Fiberglass might be OK
> but my best recommendation is a quality wood door.
>
> If you look at some hundred year old houses with the original doors you will
> get an idea of what the term quality is all about. If however you go the
> BORG and buy a thin skinned particle board filled "solid core" door, good
> luck.
>
> Look in your phone book for a mill work shop in your area and talk to them.
> They can set you up with a well built door and frame and good hardware. I
> mentioned hardware because if you do decide on getting a good door, it is
> going to be heavier than a cheap one so you might opt for a nice set of ball
> bearing hinges.
>
> If you have some concern that some nare-do-well will decide to kick your
> door, the mill can set you up with a 1/4 steel back up plate that can go
> between the stud and the jam. This will, in my estimation, increase the
> force required to kick open the door by 4 or 5 times.
>
> You might also think about the kind of weather stripping you want. I kind
> of like the solid bronze strips, if and only if, you get a door thick enough
> to not interfere with the latch plate.
>
> Also do not forget to paint or seal the top and bottom of the door. This is
> where the moisture that swells doors enters the wood and if you seal the
> pores of the end grain your door will stay stable with the changes in
> humidity.
>
I agree that solid wood is the prettiest, and a fine wood front door can
be a work of art. And if I had a mansion, or even a small house built to
mansion standards (like the houses doctors and lawyers and other
professionals commonly had in many small towns 50-75 years ago), I would
go that route, because nothing else would look right.
But having said all that- for those of us that live in more-modern
cookie cutters, with no covered front porches or mature trees to provide
weather shielding, wood doors are a non-starter. With or without a storm
door in front of them, they are a maintenance PITA. I'd go with a
high-quality steel door with a good finish, properly installed, every
time. If I was rich enough, I'd take the brand-new door slab to an auto
body shop and have a baked-on finish applied, then install it. The
reason many people have trouble with the finish on steel doors, IMHO, is
that the thing usually gets painted last in the construction process,
after the factory primer has had a chance to weather and get dirty. That
is why on high-end custom houses, they use temporary doors until the
punch list phase.
Never dealt with fiberglass doors, so can't express an opinion on them,
other to say that I hope they hold up better than old boats and RVs,
which usually look pretty sad after 10 years or so.
aem sends...
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Posted by Tony Hwang on November 20, 2009, 10:01 am
Patrick Cleburne wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> Subject says it all. Missus says we need to replace the front exterior door
> to our house with a pre-hung new one. Not sure which to get for replacement.
> Security, insulation value, service life are main considerations.
> Suggestions?
Hi,
If you can afford, quality wood door is the best. It'll outlast you.
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Posted by Dymphna on November 20, 2009, 2:07 pm
Where do you live. I have had wood doors in the north, where
temperatures change dramatically - where they would no longer shut or
lock because of swelling. It still happens some with the frames of
fiberglass, but wood door - not up here.
--
Dymphna
Message origin: www.TRAVEL.com
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> door to our house with a pre-hung new one. Not sure which to get for
> replacement.
> Security, insulation value, service life are main considerations.
> Suggestions?