The Home Ownership Thread

[jcman311]

Entry doors. Any opinions on Fiberglass vs Steel vs Wood?

Fwiw, the original door we are having replaced was wood and one of the panels cracked so it would be hard to convince me to go wood again.

 

[brokencycle]

Entry doors. Any opinions on Fiberglass vs Steel vs Wood?

Fwiw, the original door we are having replaced was wood and one of the panels cracked so it would be hard to convince me to go wood again.

@SkinnyGoomba is trying to convince me to go wood. Both houses I bought had steel doors, and they were always thin, easily dinged, and leaked. Last house we had we replaced with fiberglass and really liked it. It held up well to Minneapolis weather. That being said, SG's talk of a true mahogany door is appealing though.

 

[Numbernine]

If the sun beats on it during strong periods of the day I would probably go with fiberglass,otherwise wood

 

[FlyingMonkey]

If you're bothered about energy-efficiency, the front door is usually a major weak point. We've got a German-made front door that's like the entrance to a bank vault, with layers of wood and cork insulation, uninterupted gaskets - and a gas-filled triple pane window. It has a steel outer face, and a Douglas Fir inner face. Of course its weight means it has to have awesome hinges too. It's beautiful and technically very impressive. But I wouldn't recommend it on a cost basis... the only equivalent I've seen made in the USA starts at around $8000!

 

[brokencycle]

Does the argon fill actually make a difference? I understand it is quickly becoming the standard, but I don't think it makes much of a difference on R and U factor (though the cost is generally low too).

 

[jcman311]

If you're bothered about energy-efficiency,

Slightly. Start of updating various deficiencies. Too many windows to undertake updating them right now, so the front door efficiency isn't crucial. I think I'm leaning fiberglass. Door faces west, so it might be in a good hot sun... unknown because it could be in the shade from trees (that dont have any leaves right now).
We'll need a new roof, windows, siding in the next couple of years. We'll probably end up spending about 35% of the home's cost on these updates... At least we'll get a good 20 years out of the home... unless I can convince the wife to move to Door County @brokencycle

 

[brokencycle]

Slightly. Start of updating various deficiencies. Too many windows to undertake updating them right now, so the front door efficiency isn't crucial. I think I'm leaning fiberglass. Door faces west, so it might be in a good hot sun... unknown because it could be in the shade from trees (that dont have any leaves right now).
We'll need a new roof, windows, siding in the next couple of years. We'll probably end up spending about 35% of the home's cost on these updates... At least we'll get a good 20 years out of the home... unless I can convince the wife to move to Door County @brokencycle

Too far north for me, but a quick search indicates houses are surprisingly inexpensive unless you're right on the water.

 

[NorCal]

If you're bothered about energy-efficiency, the front door is usually a major weak point. We've got a German-made front door that's like the entrance to a bank vault, with layers of wood and cork insulation, uninterupted gaskets - and a gas-filled triple pane window. It has a steel outer face, and a Douglas Fir inner face. Of course its weight means it has to have awesome hinges too. It's beautiful and technically very impressive. But I wouldn't recommend it on a cost basis... the only equivalent I've seen made in the USA starts at around $8000!

Where did you score the German one?

 

[NorCal]

My son was messing about with the LED remote controller for the underlighting in the Japanese Room and now it's stuck on the rapid colour-cycling mode and we can't seem to change it... checked the battery, it's not that. We wouldn't mind it being unchangeable if it was set on the colour we wanted, but it's like a disco if you turn it on now! Anyone know a simple solution (apart from getting a new RC - they aren't exactly expensive)?

Have you tried a little Donna Summers and some blow?

 

[jcman311]

Too far north for me, but a quick search indicates houses are surprisingly inexpensive unless you're right on the water.

I'm pretty sure it is in the top 5 counties in the US in terms of waterfront, if not #1.
Edit: Ok, not #1 or even top 5. Maybe top 10.

 

[otc]

SW Michigan > Door County

 

[brokencycle]

SW Michigan > Door County

Shots fired.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Where did you score the German one?

Long story but, briefly, we were testing a business model for a passive house component importer and we got extra discounts because of being the first in Canada to buy the doors and windows we did. Even so, the front door was still very expensive.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Best thing you can do for a door is to have a long overhang. Direct sun is quite brutal on anything wooden, plastic, fiberglass or what have you. Think of how many times something too hot to touch will be quenched with water over the course of the summer and that's why you have such issues with pretty much every building material over time.

I have a fiberglass door on my house that is going to be replaced soon enough and the problem with it's survival is direct sunlight for hottest part of the day. The same type of door is on the front of the house, which gets no direct sunlight due to an overhang and it remains in good shape. Historical houses almost always have some type of roof type coverage over doors exposed to sunlight for that reason. Not sure why this is not considered more in contemporary builder type houses.

Real mahogany is pretty good, there is a reason why it is used on boat decks. It's also fairly light so it can be made strong without the remainder of the house being turned into a fortress to hold the door up. Cypress such as yellow cedar (a cypress) or port orford cedar (also a cypress) are also very good for doors, they're both very strong for how light they are and good against the weather.

Those European doors are super impressive.

 

[jbarwick]

I want to replace our wood front and back doors. They are solid but single pane glass. When we bought the house, there was a good half inch gap under both doors letting in air that I had to fix pronto. Our front door only gets morning sun and our rear gets more sun but nothing more than 3-4 hours. I honestly have not looked too much into replacement but I will definitely be interested in this discussion.