Wood Front Door - setting myself up for work?

[jennipurrr]

My front door is in very bad shape. Its about 50 years old, hollow wood that has layers peeling. So, DH and I agreed our Christmas present to each other is a new door.

We've been on the hunt. I've narrowed it down to two doors. One is a standard new fiberglass door with decorative glass in it and it comes with the frame. Energy efficient, about $300, plus installation which is $234 from Home Depot.

The other door is much more beautiful. It is from the Habitat Restore and is also new, but was donated. It is solid wood, mahogany, frosted glass and also comes with the frame. It is unfinished...I love the idea of it looking natural (since it is so beautiful) so I would stain it and put a protective layer on it. It is $200, but after the stain, poly and elbow grease I would say the price is about the same as the other door. Then we would have to find someone to put it in. We may be able to get my Dad to help DH with this...but likely will have to pay someone.

The issue...the internets say that wood front doors have to be maintained. Is this going to be a lot of work? Anyone have a wood door? Did I mention it is beautiful? And it comes from the restore, so its helping the earth and Habitat. But, ugh, I do not want to have to be maintaining it. I take a benign neglect approach to house maintenance.

[CathyA]

Is it in a protected area? Will there be a storm door in front of it?

[iris lily]

The solid wood doors in my neighborhood are 150 years old and still going strong. The stormer doors themselves are big solid wood doors themselves, huge and heavy and hideously expensive to re-create. My front door is an original wood paneled door. We've been here 22 years and have painted it 2X, but I will say that our front is actually a protected "side" entry and that helps wear and tear on the door.

But that said, I would go with whatever fits the era of your house. A contemporary replica of a 50 year old door from Home Depot may not be a bad thing. While a modern door stuck on Victorian house is just wrong, a modern door put on a modern house seems right.

I always vote for replicating what the house had in the beginning. Respect the architectural integrity of your house and its era. Doors are key architectural statements. My parents had a 1960's ranch, a very simple one, and they put in a hideous wood door with an "art glass" window that was mass produced, probably in China. Perhaps this is not what you are talking about, but I found their improvement to be pretty awful.

For example, on my hobby house I yearned for a front window (the tiny house HAS only 1 front window!) with multiple small panes because I think it looks more charming. But the original window, 135 years old, was 4 over 4 panes (I wanted 8 over 8.) As much as I wanted to romanticize the exterior and make it look more "cottagey", it would not have been doing a service to the house.

If the wood door you like fits the era of your house, then go for it. Probably a door door WILL take more maintenance than fiberglass.

[IshbelRobertson]

Any wood door will be more high-maintenance, but where I live we are unable to replace any doors or windows with 'replacement' UPV types. We live in a conservation area - so changes must be approved and in keeping with the age of the houses.

I'd go for the wood!

[fidgiegirl]

We have two wood doors and they are not showing any wear because they both have nice screen doors. I would think if it is not getting wet, it would be fine. We love our storm door that has the screen that rolls in and out. Hard to describe, but when we lower the glass, we pull down the screen, and when we close the screen, it is by raising the glass.

[jennipurrr]

It is under covered porch area, so it is fairly well protected. One person helping us said a storm door may warp a wooden door from the heat...so we are still on the fence about a storm door.

Iris, our house is a ranch built in 1960. The current door which is original, is just completely plain white (no window) and super flimsy. I would like something more substantial and some light in that part of the house from the door, which is why I am looking at ones with windows. But, I know what you mean about sticking a door that is completely out of style with the house. The ones I have been looking at are all fairly plain, the glass part, which kind of goes with the style of the house. I've seen all sorts of crazy sort of leaded glass stuff that is not what we are looking for.

The one at the Habitat Restore looks like A76G on page 9 of this link - http://www.pella.com/_layouts/1033/pella/Documents/wood-entry-doors/ClassicWoodED.pdf

[fidgiegirl]

Well, you do live in quite a different climate than I do, so I can't speak to how good of an idea it would be for you. :)

Beautiful door!

[sweetana3]

We had a lovely solid wood door in our 1939 house. I stripped and repainted it and the whole complex frame around it. I would go for the wood to match the quality of the house. If the house was new, I would go for the steel or fiberglass unless the house was high end.

[rosarugosa]

Jennipurr: Is the siding on your house wood, vinyl or something else? If you have vinyl siding and windows for instance, then I think that it would make sense to go with the fiberglass door, given your comments about disliking home maintenance so much.

[lhamo]

I would probably go for the wood -- I like coming home to something that is old and beautiful, as well as functional. It would make me smile to have a special door. When my sister and I built a house together several years back, we splurged on a stained glass light we found at an antique place for the upstairs loft. It was expensive and not very functional, but we both loved it, and it is now a lovely old touch in a relatively new home.

But another thing to consider is the risk of "smash and enter" type burglaries in your neighborhood -- a glass paneled door is definitely a higher risk on that front. Probably small, but maybe something else to consider.

Good luck with your decision! You should post a picture after the new door is installed. I'm sure whatever you choose, we'll all think it is beautiful :)

lhamo

lhamo

[jennipurrr]

Our house is mostly brick, with wood trim. One day I would like to replace the wood with vinyl to reduce the need to paint and care for it, but its not on the horizon.

We ended up buying the wood door. It is much nicer than anything in our price range. The person that did repairs to my house earlier this year came by and is going to install the door on Thursday, when it is a bit warmer outside...yippee. He did burst my bubble that it not mahogany as the girl at the restore thought (she is a volunteer, so I can't exactly hold that against her!). Its a fir door which is apparently about $400 new. Oh well we still got a bargain at $175, which is what I paid after I found a coupon haha. And he is charging $150 to put it in which is also a little lower than the big box price. Plus he told me he hasn't had much work lately, so I am glad to give him some directly...I am not sure how much of the big box labor price goes to the laborers but I imagine its only a percentage.

I'll take a pic when we get it installed, stained and poly'ed!

[iris lily]

That door will look very nice in a brick facade. Good for you!

[jennipurrr]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/528927_10100767991725495_27431285_52153061_1997273 749_n.jpg

I finally got the door finished! At first the weather was too crummy, either too wet or cold and then things got busy. Over the last few weeks I found time to stain it, paint the trim and do polyurethane coats. I am super happy with it! So much light comes in my house now...things are a lot brighter.

[catherine]

I think you definitely made the right choice! It looks great, and you saved it from the landfill and it has character and elegance.

[JaneV2.0]

I'm glad you went with your instincts; it works every time. Your new door is lovely.

[fidgiegirl]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!!

[nswef]

That looks wonderful. Don't you just love having so much light?

[jennipurrr]

Thanks guys! I am really pleased with how it turned out. I was a bit worried that I would end up messing something up since I had never stained wood before, but I just followed the directions and it turned out really well. Slowly but surely I am becoming a bit more handy around the house, haha. And then the other day, a neighbor was outside and said she was thinking about getting a new front door and she had looked at all the doors in the neighborhood and liked ours best :)

[iris lily]

It looks very nice!

[Mrs-M]

Wow! Absolutely stunning, Jennipurrr! You did the right thing. Great choice. As far as work (maintenance) goes, if the door is prepped and finished properly, the end result will last for years.