Custom home or Tract/Development Home? Brand of Fiberglass or Wood Door? Where are you building? Pictures or elevations? Is this door to be under a porch? What size door? Glass in the door or all wood or fiberglass?

I can only talk about my own experience:

- My first house had a red-painted fiberglass door. It was a solid door, and I never really thought about it. It just worked.

- My current house has a wooden door with three leaded glass piers. It's a beautiful door, but it does swell with the weather and sometimes requires a bit of a push to open.

I've had both. My preference is a high quality fiberglass door as it avoids the swelling issue mentioned above.

See first post.

The quality fibreglass doors I've seen are impressive. But unfortunately on a higher-end home, at least in our community, they're not acceptable. Ditto the steel clad doors that were once every builder's first choice. Instead, the money goes into custom wood entries, starting at C$7,000 for a single.

solid wood, may require refinishing every few years if exposed to rain, sun. But questions posed by mill workman are the decision-makwrs

I have a Pella stainable fiberglass door with 1/2 lite glass and wrought iron going on Origianl gel stain was done by Pella. It is a south facing door we bought prehung to replace a cheap metal builder grade door. Here is the link to it. It has withstood a lot of rain and wind very well. The finish is starting to show signs of wear and it is time to restain.

We went with wood trim and matched the paint color to the cladding they had that we ended up not using. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2584558/pella-fiberglass-entry-door-being-installed-today

Are we talking Douglas Fir doors?

Its quite stable and resists weathering so I went this route. Its the one exterior wood component I don't mind maintaining once in awhile.

The answer to your question depends on your climate and whether the door will have some protection from the elements e.g., a porch or (gasp) a storm door.

In our coastal Virginia climate, wood doors don't perform well, but they perform better if protected by a porch.

You will need to periodically re-paint or re-stain either a FG or wood door.

If you're considering a composite door, I suggest you check out Plastpro doors--In my opinion they are better engineered than Therma Tru doors and in our market they cost a little less, too.

We went with a fiberglass door. I originally was going to have it stained onsite, but decided to get the factory finish instead. It was a little pricier, but I figured that would be my best option for durability. And I love the way it looks. This was one of those special touches I splurged on, love the look and the functionality of the speakeasy door!

@chellefnp

What brand is your door? It looks nice.

@Charles Ross Homes

Do Plastpro server NYC area?

Do we order online and ship?

These days costs have gone up like anything, are they less even now compared to Therma Tru doors?

I am looking for something like @chellefnp has in the picture for my new house with sidelight on both sides.

Hi, HU,

If you go to the PlastPro website, you should be able to find a dealer near you who can help you with pricing and availability.

HU, what?

"are they less even now compared to Therma Tru doors?"

Should be a few dollars less and considerable less quality, as Therma Tru is not truly considered high quality either...............................

Mine was from GlassCraft. I still love it as much as the day we installed it, and it looks just as good.

I would go with a high quality gel stained/painted fiber glass door. It will be heavy duty, energy efficient and you will not have to worry about the long-term issues of a wood door.