| | The front door is your first big chance to make a good impression…or a horrible impression, depending on what your door looks like. Maybe, just maybe, it is time to go shopping for a new first impression.
 Exterior Doors (commonly known as front and back doors) used to come in wood and wood only. Now they come in not only wood, but steel, fiberglass, and composites.
Steel doors are currently the most commonly sold because they don’t warp, swell, or shrink in heat or cold like wood doors do. The core of steel doors is filled with foam insulation and the tough steel exterior will last for years, even under harsh conditions, and require minimum maintenance (hose it off and call it a day). The doors can be painted, and some come with a wood grain look for those who want the appearance of a wooden door.
Fiberglass doors are also made to look as though they are made of wood with a realistic graining, but, unlike wood, they resist warping, swelling, and shrinking from the variants in weather. These doors also have foam in their core to aid in insulation. Fiberglass doors are also resistant to denting, unlike steal doors.
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A Buyer’s Guide to Entry Doors recommends, “when replacing an existing door, measure the door's actual width, thickness (normally 1 3/4 inches) and height (normally 6 foot 8 inches). If you're buying a complete entry system and intend to replace the jamb as well as the door, measure the thickness of the existing jamb, from the inside of the exterior molding to the inside of the interior molding (this equals the wall's thickness). Stand inside and note which side the knob is on. If the knob is on the right, you have a ‘right-hand’ door; if it's on the left, you have a ‘left-hand’ door.”
Installing an exterior door is an odd mixture of simple and complex. Most exterior doors are pretty heavy so it will probably take more than one person to install it. The only tools you are likely to need are a screwdriver, level, hammer, tape measure, caulking gun, and caulk. Always refer to the manufacturer’s instruction manual before installing the door and follow all instructions carefully. Installing your own door is considered rather advanced so it might be wise to ask a professional contractor to do it for you. Back To The
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