Buying a new entry door

Tags: Home Improvement, Doors, Home, Entry Doors, Entry Door
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We haven't had doors made but we have used this company to make several screen/storm doors: http://www.coppawoodworking.com/

We wanted something very low profile so they wouldn't interfere with the lines of the house. We've been really happy with their doors. I know this doesn't answer your question but I thought it might help if you decided to buy storm doors seperately.

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4k sounds high to me but maybe not with included storm doors. I'd shop around a bit.

Listening intently as we need to replace both of our entry doors as well.

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Super-helpful so far, people, keep it coming!

I'm starting to get a mental handle on this though I have a ways to go. (Love those storm/ screen doors, boomer, they're gorgeous.)

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Quote:

A 36-by-80-inch (.9 by 2 m) wood door can cost $275 to $3,500, depending on the type of wood, construction, finish and glazing. Paneled single fiberglass doors start at about $600, steel at about $200.

http://www.ehow.com/how_110384_choose-entry-door.html

A quick search online and I can find many steel entry doors for sale as low as $140, which is where I'd expect the low end to start given that you can buy an automobile in America for the prices being quoted for a simple door.

I'm not saying a sub-500 door is the way to go (after a quick search I would consider something like $800 a good deal for a door in the US), just that in comparison it seems that $2,000 is well in the upper range of prices for a steel door.

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@Robert Gentel,

Quote:

just that in comparison it seems that $2,000 is well in the upper range of prices for a steel door.

...don't forget that soz was including labor and locks when she posted the estimate.

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@Robert Gentel,

It looks like it's the successive markups that are so crazy. Have a look, these guys have a list price of over $1,000 (on sale for over $700) for this door that looks an awful lot like this door for $137 wholesale.

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@panzade,

panzade wrote:

...don't forget that soz was including labor and locks when she posted the estimate.

I thought she said labor was $200, which sounds about right for American labor to install a door (it's pretty easy, I did it as a teen in half an hour when I locked myself in a room and had to take the door off its hinges to get out).

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@Robert Gentel,

It's locks and stormdoors too, not just the door itself. But yeah, I think it's definitely at the high end for the materials (i.e. steel rather than fiberglass or wood).

The company is itself high-end -- the doors are made locally, have a lifetime guarantee, etc. These doors are mid-to-low range for what they carry. Their wood doors are whoo tres expensive.

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@Robert Gentel,

Quote:

I thought she said labor was $200, which sounds about right for American labor to install a door (it's pretty easy, I did it as a teen in half an hour when I locked myself in a room and had to take the door off its hinges to get out).

Taking an interior hollow core door off it's hinges and replacing an entry door are very different tasks.
Although master carpenters in the midwest make an average of $25 an hour soz would be wise to hire a company that provides a warranty and of course covers the workman with workman's comp so she doesn't run the risk of a missing digit being covered by her homeowner's.
In addition, interior and exterior door trim will probably need replacing, unless they are removed without any damage.

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@panzade,

Doors are definitely a big deal to replace, which is why I still have my drafty, patched-to-the-hilt, 100 year-old door hanging. To replace it with something comparable would cost a lot and probably involve replacing the frame, at this point.

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@FreeDuck,

Quote:

probably involve replacing the frame, at this point.

....there ain't no probably about it. To get the energy savings you deserve from a tight weatherproof door you have to replace it with an integrated unit.

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@panzade,

That makes sense (that it is much more involved than an interior door) I hadn't thought about needing to replace frames. But it still sounds like $200 in labor is about right to me.

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any news on the front door?

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Buying a new entry door

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