New front door...expensive!!!

[SeansMom]

Our front door needs to be replaced (it is a wooden door, with window panes in the top half which all leak). We replaced the front porch last year and the contractor suggested a door with side lights (lites). WOW, they are EXPENSIVE! Adding side lights (lites) over doubles the expense.

I wish I could post pictures here (feeling techie challenged today), but my goal is to add "curb appeal" to our house, and the front door would REALLY add to the appeal. I just don't know how to justify it.

Anyway, mosty venting unless anybody has faced the same issue and has a great solution!

 

[pklein09]

I guess my first question would be do you have to add sidelights? My front door has them and they're okay, but if you have windows near your front door that look out onto your porch and you can see who/what is out there, I don't know that I would spend the money. (Boy, that was a run on sentence!) I feel your pain with $$$ going into the house - we replace 2 hvac units and a hot water heater 6 months ago .

I would add a nice front door, but no sidelights. Paint it a color to match your house, pick nice hardware, and put a door knocker on it for decoration.

Best of luck!

 

[SeansMom]

I guess my first question would be do you have to add sidelights? My front door has them and they're okay, but if you have windows near your front door that look out onto your porch and you can see who/what is out there, I don't know that I would spend the money. (Boy, that was a run on sentence!) I feel your pain with $$$ going into the house - we replace 2 hvac units and a hot water heater 6 months ago .

I would add a nice front door, but no sidelights. Paint it a color to match your house, pick nice hardware, and put a door knocker on it for decoration.

Best of luck!

I hear you...and wish I could easily post a pic. It's not that we would have to have the side lights added, but rather that it would really increase the visual impact. Our front door/front porch extend forward from the house, and they would really add to the look. I've been looking online for something "instead" but not finding tons. Plus, that side of the house gets tons of weather so I really want fiberglass (not a wood door), so I am being picky. I haven't gotten the courage to take the plunge, though, as it seems like so much to spend on a door.

 

[RachaelA]

We put the door in ourselves and painted it ourselves and saved over $1000 (that was off the price of the door assembled and painted not even including having it installed so it would have been even more of a savings). We got full sidelights on both sides. I guess you do have to be somewhat handy though.

 

[pklein09]

I hear you...and wish I could easily post a pic. It's not that we would have to have the side lights added, but rather that it would really increase the visual impact. Our front door/front porch extend forward from the house, and they would really add to the look. I've been looking online for something "instead" but not finding tons. Plus, that side of the house gets tons of weather so I really want fiberglass (not a wood door), so I am being picky. I haven't gotten the courage to take the plunge, though, as it seems like so much to spend on a door.

Okay, I have a better idea of what you mean. Could you do a door and put full-length shutters on either side for the visual impact? Would shutters fit with your home's architectural style?

 

[QVCshopper]

A few years ago, we had a new front door put in. We got a faux wood Pella door with a window. It really lets in a lot of light and looks really nice from the outside. We had it installed, bought it at Lowes on sale. I think it was aroud $800, which didn't seem too bad. You might want to look into something like that.

 

[Pigeon]

My last house had lights on either side of the door and I didn't like it at all. It looked nice, but I didn't like the lack of privacy. I could have put up curtains or blinds, but that sort of defeats having the lights in the first place. And one of the lights cracked about a week after we moved in, without us doing anything to it--residual stress fracture.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

I don't know, but is there still a tax credit for energy efficient improvements? Last year I think it was 30% of the cost of the item (not labor.) Not sure though if a door with side lights would qualify, something to check into.

 

[GoofyforDisney3]

We just purchased a new front door, so here are my tips/suggestions:

1) shop around. There a bunch a different brands that are just as good as other more expensive brands. Pella is a good door and one of the best, but there are other that are just as good and cheaper.
2) research the different types of doors. We bought a fiberglass door because they are more energy efficient.
3) Stock doors are going to be much cheaper (normally) than a special order
4) Do you need a transom? Those normally are more expense to install if you don't already have one. The header of the door has to be rebuilt and that really adds onto the cost.
5) Paint the door yourself. The prefinished doors are often 1/3 to 1/2 more in price than if you get it bare and paint it yourself. The door we bought ended up being about $800 cheaper.
6) Don't just assume any one store has better prices. We ended up finding exactly what we wanted at 1/2 the price at Home Depot than Lowe's. Mainly because of the brand.
7) Normally the less glass you have, the cheaper the door. To just have the small square windows at the top are typically several hundred less than a 1/2 to 3/4 glass.

What ever you decide, make sure you are 100% happy with it. You look at that front door more than you think.

 

[Swimalie]

My last house had lights on either side of the door and I didn't like it at all. It looked nice, but I didn't like the lack of privacy. I could have put up curtains or blinds, but that sort of defeats having the lights in the first place. And one of the lights cracked about a week after we moved in, without us doing anything to it--residual stress fracture.

The house I grew up in had them as well and I didn't like the lack of privacy. If someone ran the door bell, I couldn't walk up there to see who it was because they'd see me. My mother in law has one with an oval of glass in it. She has the same issue and lives alone. She wishes she hadn't put in a door with so much glass now. Total lack of security.

 

[TaraPA]

Ugh I hear ya - just this week we replaced our front double doors and the exterior french doors in the basement - and they were only SIX years old to begin with! (Pella warranties on both ran out at 5 years of course!) Front doors have an arched transom too so the new doors (different brand) had to be custom cut to fit - grrrrrr......cha ching cha ching cha ching! Thankfully we have a good friend who works for a millwork company that offers several brands of doors so he really helped us out. I wish we would have talked to him when we built the house 6 years ago - the builder convinced us that Pella was the only way to go - and we've had nothing but headaches with the doors and windows since day one. Here's hoping these new doors last a long, long time!

 

[Bell30012]

I suggest that you go on Craigslist looking in materials. I bought a complete double front door pre-hung for $300. It did take me all weekend to install it. Keep in mind I lean more toward the Tim Taylor end of the scale than the Bob Villa.

 

[semo233]

We replaced our front door about 3 weeks ago.
The fiberglass door we wanted was $1800 and they wanted $800 PER SIDE to factgory finish it! The door we chose requires a very specific stain technique to make it look like wood, but we found a painter who would do it for $200.
That's $1400 in savings right there!

We went with the sidelights because we really needed to add light to our front hallway. Some sidelights can be frosted, letting in light, but not vision.
Adding a peep hole to your front door would let you see who was outside, but not let them see you and would save quite a bit of money.

Check out re-use-it stores. You may find a brand new door that would fit your needs. I did a google search for used building supplies and found several near me! Many of the products there are brand new, but could not be used for a specific project.

 

[Bob NC]

(Pella warranties on both ran out at 5 years of course!) Front doors have an arched transom too so the new doors (different brand) had to be custom cut to fit - grrrrrr......cha ching cha ching cha ching! Thankfully we have a good friend who works for a millwork company that offers several brands of doors so he really helped us out. I wish we would have talked to him when we built the house 6 years ago - the builder convinced us that Pella was the only way to go - and we've had nothing but headaches with the doors and windows since day one. Here's hoping these new doors last a long, long time!

Somebody gave you some bad information. Pella has never offered a 5 year warranty. IF you really had Pella doors, the warranty would have been 10 years, no ifs ands or buts about it.

Did you actually have Pella come out and look at your door and tell you the warranty was only 5 years?

 

[TaraPA]

Somebody gave you some bad information. Pella has never offered a 5 year warranty. IF you really had Pella doors, the warranty would have been 10 years, no ifs ands or buts about it.

Did you actually have Pella come out and look at your door and tell you the warranty was only 5 years?

Pella has been out to our many times over our doors & windows. They told us that their regular warranty was null and void because our contractors finished & installed, not Pella, and they were at fault for poor installation. Which I don't argue with, the contractors that built our house sub-contracted the window & door installation - and Pella was able to show us exactly the errors they made (they are no longer in business of course!).

Pella did replace 2 windows that were defective on their terms, that had nothing to do with the installation, and dealing with them over those 2 windows was a nightmare. It took 9 months & many service calls to get it taken care of. That was why we choose to go with another brand for the new doors.

 

[Bob NC]

Pella has been out to our many times over our doors & windows. They told us that their regular warranty was null and void because our contractors finished & installed, not Pella, and they were at fault for poor installation. Which I don't argue with, the contractors that built our house sub-contracted the window & door installation - and Pella was able to show us exactly the errors they made (they are no longer in business of course!).

Pella did replace 2 windows that were defective on their terms, that had nothing to do with the installation, and dealing with them over those 2 windows was a nightmare. It took 9 months & many service calls to get it taken care of. That was why we choose to go with another brand for the new doors.

Can't believe you would disparage a Pella product AND the warranty all while not mentioning that the cause of the problem was not the product, but the shoddy install by your builder.

 

[TaraPA]

Can't believe you would disparage a Pella product AND the warranty all while not mentioning that the cause of the problem was not the product, but the shoddy install by your builder.

I just explained why - that 2 windows were found to be defective by Pella & they gave us the run around for 9 months. Our local service rep was rude, didn't return calls & only did so after we filed a claim with the BBB (one of several against our local Pella distributor I might add). They had determined immediately they were at fault & needed to replace the windows right away - but they failed to show up for a few service calls, then would show up & not have the right peices, then put us back in the "queue" for a service call in 6 weeks, then send a different rep who still didn't have the needed parts. We went round & round & round with them. It took 9 months to do something that should have been handled much more quickly, and had we not been on them every few weeks ti may have taken longer. I have never received such poor customer service in my life, and I will spread that around!

And I never disparaged the warranty - I simply stated that of course it ran out right before we needed to actually replace the doors. I would say that about any item with any warranty - it's Murphy's Law that it would happen that way!

 

[Bob NC]

And I never disparaged the warranty - I simply stated that of course it ran out right before we needed to actually replace the doors. I would say that about any item with any warranty - it's Murphy's Law that it would happen that way!

Honest, all I am saying is that your Pella warranty did not "run out" before the defects showed up. The warranty was not in force because of the poor installation.

If the doors had been installed properly, you would have had 5 years remaining on your warranty.

 

[kimgg]

We found our door on craigslist also. We bought it from someone who did not want the door their home came with (they wanted more privacy) - it is gorgeous triple pain full glass in just the style I love. I only had to look for a week or so before I found something I liked.

It was $300 bucks.

 

[SeansMom]

We found our door on craigslist also. We bought it from someone who did not want the door their home came with (they wanted more privacy) - it is gorgeous triple pain full glass in just the style I love. I only had to look for a week or so before I found something I liked.

It was $300 bucks.

I've looked on CL, but no luck so far. Plus, we're pretty rural so have a less dense population posting, but it's a fab idea and I will continue to look this week-end.

I found one door at a clearance type center, but of course without the side lights. Frustrating!

I hear what people are saying about privacy, but we've actually lived with a clear 1/2 pane window for 18 years, so I guess that's a non-issue for me. If I didn't want to open the door for a stranger I just wouldn't, and everyone else who comes to my home is friends or family .

SO...the search continues.....