Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 03, 2000 09:58pm | #1

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   First, I am biased towards wood. The steel doors I've seen all have dents large and small. You really don't know how easily a steel door is dented until you have one or worked around them. How you gonna' pop out a dent? But steel doors are less maintainence.

   There has been much said on this board about the selection and maintainence of wood doors for exterior use. Consider your climate, which side of the house respective to north, and other things when choosing a wood door and finishes.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 03, 2000 10:10pm | #2

   *Hi Steve, Personally, I like wood doors; however one thing to take into consideration is that if it is going to face a southern exposure it will certainly receive a lot of ultra violet rays from the sun. Because of this you will need to finish the door with a exterior grade finish, preferably one with a UV blocker.If you plan to install it to an existing door jamb, you will have to mortise the door for hinges. Whenever I do this, I use a 1x2x80" pole refered to as a story pole. I hold the story pole to the hingeside of the jamb and locate the top of the pole where I want the top of the door to be. With the pole in this position I then mark the locations of the existing hinges. I can now transfer these hinge location marks to the new door. You can now make mortises for your hinges. I use a hinge butt mortising template and a router with a mortising bit.Next I install the butts and plane the strike edge of the door with about a 2 degree bevel so the edge of the door will clear the jamb when closing it. Next thing is to hang the door and make whatever fine adjustments you may need, and finally install the lockset and deadbolt. This is a quick description of the process, and I'm sure others may have some different approaches.An easier way would be to buy a pre-hung door and just remove your old door and jamb and replace it with the prehung unit. You can check the archives about hanging pre-hung doors for more info. Hope I helped you out.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 04, 2000 02:26pm | #4

   *Steve:Have used both steel and wood exterior doors for our new homes but personally like the fiberglass skin composite doors. They can be stained to look like wood(sorta') and they don't split, check, and warp like wood. The premium lines are manufactured with square edges and an LVL core. Talk about a solid feeling door! And mucho heavy, too.If you're planning on painting the unit, steel is the least expensive choice, though they do dent easily. Bondo works great on them for dent filling (Bondo works great on just about anything). Therma-tru offers their SmoothStar line of fiberglass as an alternative to steel and warrants the unit to remain dent-free during the construction process(will replace free of charge if damaged) but these are paint-grade only. They are a bit more costly than steel but really look good.Over the past couple of years, we have used mainly Therma-Tru but are now switching to Peachtree due to ordering problems and threshold leaks. Their threshold system depends too much on everything being just right and staying that way during the remainder of the build. It just don't happen that way in the real world, although they would probably be OK for retrofits where you can set it up and walk away.Have also used Premdoor units and they are OK, but my favorite to date would have to be the Peachtree doors. Good threshold and weatherstripping system, units come on time and all in one piece, and good name recognition(at least here in the South).Tips: Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for installation. Caulk doesn't stick well to damp or dusty subfloors, so I use subfloor glue to seal under the threshold(better set it right the first time). Shim properly and use the long hinge screws WHEN YOU FIRST PUT IT IN(don't think you'll get to that later). If the unit has glass, go ahead and put in the plastic plugs that come with the door since they have a habit of walking off. Put in some kind of temp lock(I use cheap passage locks) so the door doesn't beat itself to death flapping in the wind.If you do use a wood door, get it stained and sealed IMMEDIATELY. Don't forget the top and bottom edges(you'll have to pull the sweep to get the bottom. Never could figure out why manufacturer doesn't do this). After sealing, you need at least one coat of a good marine spar poly or varnish. If in a sunny location, 2 coats is better. Tell your customer this door needs sanding and recoating every year(preferably in early spring) or it ain't gonna live long.Won't go into the assorted clad units as these are mucho$$$, although they may be necessary if you have severe exposure and wind conditions. We build in the north GA mountains, and these doors with triple-point locks are about the only thing we have found to keep weather out of the house reliably.Hope I was of some help. Good luck...

2. 
   Steve_Monson | Jul 04, 2000 02:26pm | #3

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   What are other peoples opinion between a steel exterior door or a wooden exterior door.

   I am going to replace a existing door and am not sure which one to get.

   Are there any tips that you can give to make the job easier?

   Thanks.