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This Old House
Oct. 29th, 2017 08:12 pmWe were able to cross our annual home reno project off the list - a new front door!
How we lived with the old door for so long, I don't know. It looks so bad. The previous owners of our house painted it with house paint instead of getting it professionally painted. Since we bought the house in 2003, the paint has constantly peeled off, the window cracked and the coating on the door knob was delaminating.
I posted to LJ's The Question Club last year asking for advice on doors. I just could not believe how complicated a door was, nor how expensive. We thought we would just go down to Home Depot or Windsor Plywood and pick up a door, easy peasy! Nope!
- Doors have to be painted and the stores don't do that
- The box has to come out, which means the trim needs to come out
- If you buy your own door, you need the kit to drill a hole for the lock
- If your house is old enough, it may no longer be a standard size
And so on and so on. The two contractors we had come out quoted us too much money and one didn't sound sure that he could do it. We went with the company that fixed our garage window this summer. They custom made the door, painted it and installed it for $1500. It's true we could have scraped off the old paint, repainted it and saved a bundle, but there was no fixing the broken window and we wanted new locks anyway. It was also a chance to change the style of the door. Might as well go for new and have it last the next 25 years.
The only downside was all the noise and some odor from silicone applied to the outside of the house. The bedrooms were full of birds and as late as 11 pm last night the windows were open and the fan going to mitigate the odor of the silicone. Fortunately it was really windy last night and the weather unusually warm for October. If we redo the windows, I'll definitely have to get a bird sitter.
Next year's project - who knows. It could be new windows or a fence. Personally I would be happy with a mailbox that doesn't rust.
How we lived with the old door for so long, I don't know. It looks so bad. The previous owners of our house painted it with house paint instead of getting it professionally painted. Since we bought the house in 2003, the paint has constantly peeled off, the window cracked and the coating on the door knob was delaminating.
I posted to LJ's The Question Club last year asking for advice on doors. I just could not believe how complicated a door was, nor how expensive. We thought we would just go down to Home Depot or Windsor Plywood and pick up a door, easy peasy! Nope!
- Doors have to be painted and the stores don't do that
- The box has to come out, which means the trim needs to come out
- If you buy your own door, you need the kit to drill a hole for the lock
- If your house is old enough, it may no longer be a standard size
And so on and so on. The two contractors we had come out quoted us too much money and one didn't sound sure that he could do it. We went with the company that fixed our garage window this summer. They custom made the door, painted it and installed it for $1500. It's true we could have scraped off the old paint, repainted it and saved a bundle, but there was no fixing the broken window and we wanted new locks anyway. It was also a chance to change the style of the door. Might as well go for new and have it last the next 25 years.
The only downside was all the noise and some odor from silicone applied to the outside of the house. The bedrooms were full of birds and as late as 11 pm last night the windows were open and the fan going to mitigate the odor of the silicone. Fortunately it was really windy last night and the weather unusually warm for October. If we redo the windows, I'll definitely have to get a bird sitter.
Next year's project - who knows. It could be new windows or a fence. Personally I would be happy with a mailbox that doesn't rust.
