I'm also considering steel vs fiberglass. I have spoken to several folks who don't like their steel since it easily dents and cannot be repaired. I understand that Pella makes good windows (expensive) but don't know about their doors.
My problem is I can't find a fiberglass door in the style I want.

I do not know - everybody seems to keep mentioning about dents on steel doors. However, I currently have a steel door which is 20 yo (came with the house), builder's grade, and the family with 2 kids lived there before us. I do NOT see any dents on it, whatsoever.

So, what dents are people talking about? Were the doors of builder's garde built better 20 years ago?

The door I sell is a 20-gauge steel and it doesn't dent. It's so durable, it's crack house approved.:)

Half our sales are fiberglass too. It depends on what you like.

BTW, a quality steel and fiberglass door averages R-15 insulation value. That's better than your exterior walls.

Michael

We live close to the ocean in FL and we would only buy fiberglass doors due to the salt air and extreme heat here. My husband refuses to paint another steel door. -)

I have 3 steel doors and no dents, plus grandchildren coming in and going out whenever they visit.

My front door which must be original, around 25 years old, has a few odd dents, but not too bad...however, I've seen worse, with some doors quite badly dented.

I suspect fibreglass is a more desirable material in this regard.

I disagree that steel can't be fixed, however, once you're prepared to paint it, you ought to be able to patch it with car body filler - and get a very good degree of finish.

The one thing the former owners did well in my place -they were very poor renovators - was paint the front door, they sprayed it glossy black and it looks quite nice, however, it doesn't make a lot of sense, seeing as all the trim, windows etc are all white.

I'm tempted to repaint it white (I have an airless sprayer that'd do a nice job) but the woodwork surrounds are looking old and frayed and it's obviously not as thermally efficient (and home inspector told me sidelights should be safety glass, and they aren't) - and these things tend to be replaced as a whole unit - so I guess I'll just budget for that. I'd like good vinyl low-e sidelights, maybe ones that'd open. We'd get a fantastic through -breeze that'd reduce the need for A/C (another future purchase)

I've been living in Australia for some years, and as far as I know, steel and fibreglass doors are unheard of. I'd actually love to be able to introduce some of that technology, and lower-cost double glazing there too.

It doesn't get that cold in most parts, but it certainly gets hot, and there's not much in the way of mandatory insulation.

Well, after a lot of consideration, I went with the steel door. First, it was the looks of the uniform 3/4 lights on both the door and sidelites, second, I decided that steel door with our strong ocean breezes and winds will be an easier maintenance for us.

The salesman said that although fiberglass is indeed more desirable nowadays, and he was actually trying to convince me to go with it, it is more headache to repaint it regulraly. And I also saw, that paint indeed peels off quite easily from the fiberglass doors. I do not want to repaint the fiberglass in the future, undertaking all the hassle of removing the old paint and covering it with the new layers of paint. He mentioned about some specific chemicals we have to use for FG. So, I was glad I was leaning towards the steel.

It even turned out that FG is cheaper than my steel door (maybe it's because of the glass combination - full + 2 halves (2x1/2) + full vs 3/4 + 2x3/4 + 3/4.

And PELLA is having a sale on all of its windows / doors! I got a 15% discount!