I need a new main entrance door, professionally installed by by a contractor or installer who can guarantee a seamless and professional installation, and can handle anything they run into. The old door is pretty good quality but probably as old as the house.

What better brands do you guys recommend ? And generally do you go with installers recommended by the dealer or reseller or find your own ?

What is your experience and what can you recommend brand-wise ? The old door is a standard size, so no custom work needed, but I don't want just anyone installing it, since I used to install my own outside and inside doors in my old house and it never worked out, and following the directions is no solution, I discovered that installing doors is a serious skill with some combination of experience, knowledge, and black majik.

What is your guys experience, and what do you recommend ?

I will be following thread for door recommendations.

I have a normal wooden 25 year old front door. I have made security improvements with a long plate that encompasses both the knob and the deadbolt and 12 long screws to secure that into the frame. I think I personally would like to upgrade to a steel door for further security. On the inside, I also use a Materlock door bar to help prevent kick ins. These things may or may not be what you are looking for, but I am curious of recommendations you get.

My Jeld Wen door has been good. Decorative glass in upper half. 8’ door? No issues for 20+ years.

I’m shopping for one now. ProVia is the gold standard around here, but expensive as hell. My trusted contractor has recommended Therma-Tru, which is likely what I’m going with at a much better price point.

-Rob

We went with Miliken Millwork.
Extremely happy with their product. We had a local independent installer install the door.
I had one small issue with our door (that was actually not an issue) and Milikken sent a rep from Cincinnati (about 2 hours away).
The door has been in for 12 years and still looks and functions great. Just slap a new coat of paint on it every couple of years.

Therma Tru makes really nice fiberglass composite doors that look and can be stained exactly like wood.

https://www.thermatru.com/

I dont like Jeldwen at all. The frames are thin and if you notice the hinges are not flush with the jams.
That being said that is from Home Depot. The quality might be better from other suppliers.

Our old house had a fiberglass/wooden front door that had glass and decorative wrought iron bars. Made locally at a company called TriSupply. It was literally just pop out the hinge pins and install the new door. Tri supply was the original supplier for the build.

We had the same company build us a new bigger home and this time the builder used Durango doors in Austin. We got the Reilly. https://durangodoors.com/build...sized-single-doors-2

SOLID. Metal door. Oversized. The glass opens. Very nice.

We used a lot of Therma Tru front entry doors in our custom homes. There are several other manufacturers of quality fiberglass doors including Pella. The most important thing to consider with fiberglass doors is their exposure to the sun which can degrade the finish faster than if it’s not exposed.

A good carpenter can install a standard door in a few hours. Contact your local building supply house (not a big box store) and see who they can recommend. Sometimes they even have an in house service who can turn key the project for you.

You probably already know this but make sure they use 3” (or longer) screws to screw the hinges into the framing.

We just went through the ending of this a week ago. We decided to get a Jeldwen door from Lowe's 3 months prior. The rep came to the house, got the measurements, sat down with us and went over all the things we wanted. We paid a good chunk for it $6k plus and never really got a real receipt of the paperwork but got emails, as that is how they do it now we were told-no big deal it was Lowe's right? Anyway, we wanted it built with certain criteria-fiberglass, hurricane window for side light and door, composite jambs, etc., due to weather in Florida.

Everything seemed to be going ok until the door was delivered the prior day from Lowe's delivery. The door was wrapped in cardboard on the sides only, with no support framework and had a lot of movement inside the wrapping/cardboard. The installers came the next day and started to remove the casing around the door in my home prior to checking the delivered door. They opened the packaging and found that the door,jambs and side light were all separated,actually more like ripped apart, as the only thing holding it together was the screws in the threshold and top of the jamb and the cardboard wrapping. I took some pictures as did the installers. The installers said they could replace the original casing but when I asked how, because they were damaged/destroyed, from prying them off, I got the shoulder shrug. I told them I would take care of it.

Needless to say we wanted a refund. That took another 2 weeks only after speaking/bothering several district,state and corporate managers. I called everyone. On top of that, when we got the refund, somehow another $820 was added onto the original bill of which no one was able to figure out why and we didn't even know it as it wasn't on any bill. After tracking down the store manager of the store we ordered from, speaking with numerous Lowe's district, reps and area managers, we were finally told it was a glitch and they couldn't figure out why that charge was there. That took several days to get back the $820. I saved every email and the names of the company people I spoke with by phone with time stamps.

I told the numerous reps, managers, etc., we never received any real receipts and the emails were not easy to follow and never got a complete itemized bill for everything. Just numerous emails with bits and pieces. Needless to say, we won't be using them again.

I even spoke with a Jeldwen rep who said the cardboard wrapping was from a third-party delivery company and they would never ship a door that way but then I asked her why did it have Jeldwen printed all over the cardboard? No answer.

Funny enough, I went to Home Depot a day or two ago and noticed someone had special ordered a door/side light combo like we did and it was on a pallet,framed out to secure it, so it couldn't get damaged. It was a different manufacturer though.

Sorry to rant but make sure you stay on top of your project every second. I am sure I am not the rule but the exception but it doesn't help when no one knows what the other company/person/etc. is doing.

First, you need to decide on the material.

Wood, fiberglass, or steel.

The next decision is budget.

All three have advantages and disadvantages.

They all come in various price points.

Don't buy from a big-box store.

A lumber yard has better quality.
Even with the same brand.

Speed Queen

quote:

Don't buy from a big-box store.

A lumber yard has better quality.
Even with the same brand.

This!

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
Speed Queen

You drunk the Kool-Aid! But I digress as I'm researching front doors as well.

JP

Therma Tru fiberglass front door. Have steel doors by them in other places throughout house and shop.
Most local supply houses have a list of installers.

I have fiberglass, steel, and vinyl sliding doors from Provia. Excellent quality.