We are VERY fortunate in that we are called upon to replace A LOT of entry doors every year.
The spectrum across the different types of doors we replace varies greatly.
Sometimes we are called to replace an old wooden entry door that has served its useful purpose over the decades and now is the time for it to be put out to pasture.
Other times we are called in to replace a much more modern entry door which warrants replacing either because it was a door of not very high quality to begin with and now has failed much sooner than one would have originally anticipated or perhaps a faulty installation led to its premature demise, whichever the case may be, it is now time to replace it.
Whatever the reasoning may be for replacing the entry door, one thing that is often asked is what type of material the new entry door should be made out of and what are the differences between the possible options.
Certainly a viable question.
Entry doors are typically made out of either wood, steel, or fiberglass.
Although not as common as they used to be, wood entry doors are still available.
Wood entry doors can actually be more energy-efficient than many people realize, typically have a very classic look to them, and (perhaps weighing heavily on the decision), assuming the wood door is of good quality, are the most costly option of the three.
Steel doors would be the most cost-efficient option, are very highly energy-efficient, and although they can be rendered to provide the appearance (to a certain degree) of a wood door, aren’t generally viewed as the most cosmetically appealing of the three types.
Fiberglass doors are also very energy-efficient, normally fall in between the cost of a steel door and a wood door, and usually resemble a wood door much more closely than its steel cousin.
From a security standpoint, steel tends to surpass both fiberglass and wood in terms of standing up to someone trying to break in (taking tempting larger glass potential access points for someone looking to break and easily open the door from the outside out of the equation of course…).
If anything ever were to happen to a door, the wood option is, by far, the easiest out of the three to correct.
A dent in a steel door or a dent/crack to a fiberglass door is very challenging to fix in comparison.
In choosing which option ultimately makes sense for your particular situation, it all depends on what ideally you are looking for in a door…
If you are looking for a higher end, more traditional-looking door, and do not mind spending the money, a wood option clearly would be your best route.
If you are looking for a solid, secure door that was at the best price point you could probably achieve while still having a “good” entry door option, steel would be the way to go.
If you are looking for a material that looks like wood but may be a bit more energy-efficient than a wood door, fiberglass would be the clear choice.
No matter the option chosen, one thing is for sure, assuming you choose a solid quality entry door out of the three types of available choices and it is installed properly, it will be quite a remarkable contrast to the existing door you have in place which motivated you to begin looking for a new door in the first place.
