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How To Select the Right Front Door For Your Home

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Oak

It is summertime and you have been out mowing your lawn and planting flowers throughout your yard and you happen to notice that your front door to your home has lost its appeal. Finding the right front door for your home is tough.  For starters, entry doors must be durable enough to withstand wind, rain, scorching sun, and would-be intruders, yet handsome enough to make a good first impression. Unfortunately, meeting those needs is a tall order for many front doors.

Whether we are describing your current front door or you just want to trade a solid door for one with glass panels that offer more light, you’ll find there are plenty of options available. There are new wood doors that resist the elements better than earlier versions, as well as metal and fiberglass ones that look like wood but provide greater security and often cost less. The sky is the limit. Finding the right door is where it gets tricky.

Most manufacturers offer dozens of door styles, and you’ll find a broad selection at lumberyards, home centers, and door dealers. Some manufacturers let you specify the types of panels and glass options you want. But these doors have to be specially ordered and may take two to eight weeks for delivery. (By then, summer is over).  At Better Way Home Improvement, we are going to try to narrow the search and help you select the right front door for your home.

SELECTING THE RIGHT MATERIAL FOR YOUR FRONT ENTRANCE DOOR

Perhaps the most important decision when selecting your front door is the type of material your door is made of.  Most manufacturers combine several materials; for example, many fiberglass and steel doors have wood frames. It’s the surface material that most affects appearance, durability, security, and price.

Wood doors are the most common.

Versatility and beauty are their strong suit. Natural-finish stock and custom wood doors come in oak, cherry, walnut, mahogany, maple, fir, and pine. You’ll also find paint-grade doors in several softwood varieties, such as pine and western hemlock. Many stock wood doors are a sandwich of wood-veneer skins over an engineered-wood core. This configuration minimizes the expansion and contraction that cause warping. At about $200 or so to start, they’re a low-cost alternative to solid-wood doors. Look for tough, furniture-grade veneers at least 1/16 inch thick; anything thinner damages too easily.

A steel door is your best bet if security and durability are top priorities.

Steel units are stronger than wood or fiberglass doors, and they won’t crack or warp. Any dents or dings on these doors can be pulled and puttied with an auto-body repair kit. Steel doors can be painted to any color that suits you and best compliments your home.

Steel doors are the most affordable. Prices start at about $150 for a 3-foot-wide x 6-foot 8-inch-tall paneled door without hardware or glazing.  All steel doors have an inner frame made of wood or, for greater strength, steel. The cavities within the frame are filled with high-density foam insulation. Premium doors typically have a 24-gauge skin and a steel frame, though some offer heavier-gauge steel (represented by a lower number). The surface usually is smooth or has an embossed wood-grain pattern. Most steel doors are coated with a baked-on polyester finish that requires periodic repainting.

Fiberglass-composite doors are another affordable, tough and maintenance-free option.

They are a smart choice for harsh or humid climates. They mimic the look of wood with wood-grain texturing and can be stained to match oak, cherry, walnut, and a variety of other woods. Beneath their molded surface is a framework of wooden stiles and rails, including wood edges for the lock set. Voids in the framework are filled with polyurethane-foam insulation. Fiberglass-composite doors carry long warranties.

Aluminum doors, like steel units, use an insulation core covered by a metal skin.

Unlike other door systems, however, aluminum versions are sold exclusively through dealers. Each is custom-built to your opening. Manufacturers offer all types of options. Aluminum doors come in dozens of styles and colors, with smooth or wood-grain finishes. They have a baked-on enamel finish, so they never need painting and won’t rust — which explains the 20-year warranties that are common. You can also match the color and style of your door with an aluminum storm door. At prices that start at about $600, aluminum doors are the most expensive choice after solid wood.

Shopping for doors can be a confusing process. Better Way Home Improvement can help you choose the best options for your home. During our FREE consultation, we can suggest the best design, fit and functionality for your new entryway. Contact Better Way Home Improvement for your next front entrance door installation project.  Visit our door installation page now to learn more.

 

Ten Simple and Affordable Home Improvement Projects

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Great use of color in livng room

10 Simple and Affordable Home Improvement Projects

1. Every home has different improvement needs and not all projects will suit all homes. The best way to begin your home improvement project is to identify where improvements can be made  or where you want to make some changes. Once you have accomplished this step, use design magazines for guidance and go online to look for the solutions you need. The internet offers a vast amount of resources.  The ability to surf the world wide web for a legitimate purpose is not only feasible, but save a lot of time and money conducting research. That being said, here are some generic home improvement projects that do not cost a lot of money and which can be done in most homes.

2. The kitchen is the heart of the home and the one room that everyone uses. Because of the heavy use it is subjected to it can become tired looking and worn out very quickly. A rejuvenated kitchen will brighten up what whole house. You don’t need to spend vast amounts on new appliances and cabinets. Go to manufactures’ websites and you will often find that you can buy new doors for your cabinets and appliances at a fraction of the cost of replacing them. Alternatively, a few simple things such as changing cabinet hardware and applying a fresh coat of paint or stain to the woodwork can be very effective in giving the kitchen a new look.

3. Light fixtures can be economical and changing them is usually not difficult. New lighting can give a room a completely new look. Eco friendly lights will give you the satisfaction of reducing your carbon footprint as well as lowering your electricity bill. Use simple easy to clean designs for light that are in places where cleaning them is difficult and not easy to do often.

4. Floors bear the brunt of all the traffic in the house and they can become worn looking very quickly. Replacing flooring with new ecofriendly materials like bamboo is not only good for the environment but also not as expensive as you may think, especially if your DIY skills allow you to do the installation yourself. Carpets too have to put up with a lot of heavy use and can become dirty very quickly. If you rent a carpet shampooer and buy the cleaning agents required, you will be able to give new life to your carpets at a fraction of the cost of buying new ones.

5. Bathrooms are places where wear shows quickly. A few simple inexpensive things such as replacing chipped tiles, putting in new towel racks and changing a worn toilet seat can give the room a fresh look. If your budget extends to a new sink, that’s even better.

6. Your front door is the first thing a visitor sees of your home. A worn out door with chipped paint and broken or loose handles creates a negative impression. A fresh coat of paint and some new hardware can give the door a new look which is another way to brighten up your home. If your budget is large enough, a few new lights on the front porch can make an even bigger change to the look and vibrancy of your home.

7. An attic can be more than just a place to store things you don’t need but don’t have the heart to get rid of. Conduct an inventory of all that you have there, be ruthless in getting rid of junk and then put up shelves to hold what is left and what you think you will collect in the future. Partition off this area and you will find a large open space that you can use as you want.

8. Don’t ignore the outside of the house. New vinyl siding can do so much to completely alter the curbside appeal of your home! This is a great small investment that yields a high return!  The maintenance of vinyl siding is so minimal when compared to a wood lined home that the investment of time is already returned while you live in your home.  The cost to maintain vinyl is the cost of the power washer rental to blast it every couple of years so that it will look as new as the day you applied the vinyl siding to your home.

9. If you don’t have a big yard, why not install a few flower boxes? You can buy then at garden supply stores and they are not expensive. Most are easily fitted below windows and the scent of flowers and the bright colors can infuse warmth into a home.

10. It is hard to imagine but it almost springtime!  Plants are a small investment that make a huge impact on the improvement of a home.  Get creative, add some colorful plants that compliment the color of your home and the largest cost there will be your personal labor.  Have fun with it!

We tend to not really notice changes in things we see or come into contact with every day. Look around your home carefully and you will find areas that need improvement. Most of these fixes are simple jobs that don’t need a large wallet but will change your home of the better.