How to Choose a Replacement Door for Your Home
Choosing the best replacement door for your home offers you a chance to improve its appearance, safety, and energy efficiency.
Nowhere is it written that your new door must be just like your old one, and today's options give you many exciting choices to mark the entry to your home.
No matter what look you want for your door, you can find it in virtually any material.
Popular door enhancements include windows, woodgrain, paneling and other details, and hardware that can be incorporated into any door to give it an upscale look.
Choose Wood, the Classic Choice Three of the most popular door materials include wood, steel, and fiberglass.
Wood is the most common material used for doors.
It has a built-in appeal that many other door materials try to replicate.
A solid wood door, especially when it is made of hardwoods and set in a sturdy frame with intricate carvings and moldings, is the gold standard of doors.
While some cheap doors use layers of wood veneer over an engineered wood core, this construction is used in pricier doors as well to make wood doors more energy-efficient, as the insulated core can have a high R-5 insulation value.
While the wood used to create the rails and stiles that comprise the frame is laminated, the frame is more resistant to warping so that the door always fits right and tight.
These techniques raise the price of a wooden door, but make the door long-lasting and make your home more beautiful and comfortable.
Choose Steel or Fiberglass for Durability and Security In contrast, steel doors can cost less than wood while offering properties such as durability, security, and low maintenance.
All of them have an inner frame made of wood or steel, along with high density foam for insulation.
The best doors have a 24 gauge or lower steel skin and a frame that makes it more resistant to dents or dings and a surface texture that replicates woodgrain.
Buying a steel door system can be more cost-effective, while reducing energy costs and adding value to your home that buyers like if you decide to sell your place.
However, there are downsides.
Steel can dent, which detracts from its appearance; you can fix minor problems with an auto body repair kit, but bigger dents may require you to replace the door again.
Testing bodies from Consumers Reports have found that they did not perform as well as wood or even fiberglass doors.
Fiberglass doors also offer a practical alternative, as their appearance mimics real wood with minimal upkeep.
They stand up to the weather and to burglars, plus have a foam core for high energy efficiency.
Using Glass in your Replacement Door Regardless of which door material you choose, you can make your new door look like a million dollars if you add glass panels or even side panels that introduce interesting styles, colors, and textures to the mix.
To improve energy efficiency, the panels can comply with Energy Star requirements and have low U-factors and low Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC) that guarantee low heat transfer and high sun blockage.
If they are made of security laminated glass, they are also more resistant to break-ins, as even piercing the glass with a hammer to create enough room to reach in would be time-consuming.
When you want a stylish yet energy-efficient replacement door, deal with a reputable door and window contractor that can offer you the choices you want.
Nowhere is it written that your new door must be just like your old one, and today's options give you many exciting choices to mark the entry to your home.
No matter what look you want for your door, you can find it in virtually any material.
Popular door enhancements include windows, woodgrain, paneling and other details, and hardware that can be incorporated into any door to give it an upscale look.
Choose Wood, the Classic Choice Three of the most popular door materials include wood, steel, and fiberglass.
Wood is the most common material used for doors.
It has a built-in appeal that many other door materials try to replicate.
A solid wood door, especially when it is made of hardwoods and set in a sturdy frame with intricate carvings and moldings, is the gold standard of doors.
While some cheap doors use layers of wood veneer over an engineered wood core, this construction is used in pricier doors as well to make wood doors more energy-efficient, as the insulated core can have a high R-5 insulation value.
While the wood used to create the rails and stiles that comprise the frame is laminated, the frame is more resistant to warping so that the door always fits right and tight.
These techniques raise the price of a wooden door, but make the door long-lasting and make your home more beautiful and comfortable.
Choose Steel or Fiberglass for Durability and Security In contrast, steel doors can cost less than wood while offering properties such as durability, security, and low maintenance.
All of them have an inner frame made of wood or steel, along with high density foam for insulation.
The best doors have a 24 gauge or lower steel skin and a frame that makes it more resistant to dents or dings and a surface texture that replicates woodgrain.
Buying a steel door system can be more cost-effective, while reducing energy costs and adding value to your home that buyers like if you decide to sell your place.
However, there are downsides.
Steel can dent, which detracts from its appearance; you can fix minor problems with an auto body repair kit, but bigger dents may require you to replace the door again.
Testing bodies from Consumers Reports have found that they did not perform as well as wood or even fiberglass doors.
Fiberglass doors also offer a practical alternative, as their appearance mimics real wood with minimal upkeep.
They stand up to the weather and to burglars, plus have a foam core for high energy efficiency.
Using Glass in your Replacement Door Regardless of which door material you choose, you can make your new door look like a million dollars if you add glass panels or even side panels that introduce interesting styles, colors, and textures to the mix.
To improve energy efficiency, the panels can comply with Energy Star requirements and have low U-factors and low Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC) that guarantee low heat transfer and high sun blockage.
If they are made of security laminated glass, they are also more resistant to break-ins, as even piercing the glass with a hammer to create enough room to reach in would be time-consuming.
When you want a stylish yet energy-efficient replacement door, deal with a reputable door and window contractor that can offer you the choices you want.
