Making your home more inviting with a new front door

Your front door is one of the first things visitors see when they approach your home. If the door is drafty or not opening properly, it’s time to make some improvements.

“Replacing your front door can be a great investment both in curb appeal for your home and energy efficiency,” said Angie’s List founder Angie Hicks. “For example, replacing an old door with a steel door could give you as much as 125 percent return on your investment.”

In addition to steel, doors come in a variety of materials including wood, aluminum and fiberglass

“Your standard fiberglass door with a lifetime warranty and installation is going to be somewhere around $1,000, $1,100,” said door sales manager Chuck Morgan. “If you want to sexy it up a little bit and put some decorative glass in there, that same single door could be as much $3,500 or $4,000.”

“Even if you are on a tight budget, you can invest in improvements for your front door,” Hicks added. “For example, you can add new weather stripping that will help your energy efficiency and it could cost as little as ten dollars. If the actual structure of your door is in good shape, but you’re just not happy with the way it looks, a fresh coat of paint and some new hardware can really brighten it up.”

Another way to update your home’s look at a fraction of the cost is to install decorative glass into your current door.

“Most doors, 99 out of 100 doors, there is nothing wrong with them,” Tim Quigley, door company owner, said. “Unless there is some kind of a rot or the frame is broke, you can use your existing entry way. In less time and certainly less cost and less mess, update that entry way to a very elegant enhancement for the house. To update your entry way, if you do it the traditional way you are looking at about a four hour job, typically minimum to take a door out and put a whole new door system in. When we are doing it, it’s anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.”

Angie’s List says installation is key when replacing a door. Everything comes out when you replace a door, including the door jambs and threshold, so it’s critical the door is hung and framed correctly. If not, you’ll see air leakage leading to higher heating and cooling bills.