Changing the front door

[OzSome]

Hi there, I am looking at replacing my front door and I want it installed. I checked with Pella Door and I got quoted for over $3,000 installed and no hardware. If I added hardware, it will cost me over $4,000.

I tried to check Rona Revy but that place is useless. Everytime I go there, I have to stand in front of their desk looking for someone to help me. Nobody shows up after 15 minutes I just had enough. Then I saw a guy who works on a different department and he paged someone but noone showed up again. I was told they were probably on a break. So, I figured maybe because it was a night time. I came back today (Saturday) and damn, i had to wait again. Someone paged the person working in that department and someone finally showed up. I asked a question on what do they charge for door installations and he pointed me to go the Greenhouse so I did. Guess what?? Nobody there so I thought the heck with it and no more Rona for me.

The question I have is, is there any place someone recommend here that I can talk to or called? I will check Home Depot probably next week.

[FurnaceFace]

We had called around and got someone to come out and give us a quote on a storm door and a new man door for our garage. The quote we got was $1800 or something stupid like that. I think the best approach is find some friend with skills and get them to install the door. We have yet to do anything with ours. I think I'll wait until our garage door falls completely off the hinges and then maybe replace it.

[Nancy]

It depends. If you get a door that is a different thickness than the one you have now, then you have to replace the entire jamb (and trim) which is a lot of labour. If you replace it with a nearly identical door (same thickness and dimensions), then you may be able to do it yourself without any hassle. I replaced a plain Masonite steel door with a masonite door with a full height glass insert, and it was no big deal to do myself. My house is fairly new, so this was easy to pull off, though.

[schnee]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Hi there, I am looking at replacing my front door and I want it installed. I checked with Pella Door and I got quoted for over $3,000 installed and no hardware. If I added hardware, it will cost me over $4,000.

I tried to check Rona Revy but that place is useless. Everytime I go there, I have to stand in front of their desk looking for someone to help me. Nobody shows up after 15 minutes I just had enough. Then I saw a guy who works on a different department and he paged someone but noone showed up again. I was told they were probably on a break. So, I figured maybe because it was a night time. I came back today (Saturday) and damn, i had to wait again. Someone paged the person working in that department and someone finally showed up. I asked a question on what do they charge for door installations and he pointed me to go the Greenhouse so I did. Guess what?? Nobody there so I thought the heck with it and no more Rona for me.

The question I have is, is there any place someone recommend here that I can talk to or called? I will check Home Depot probably next week.

I stopped to Rona for the same reasons.. If the store experience is always poor... I'd be even more weary of who they contract installations to.

If you're not up for tackling it yourself... I'd try Home Depot.

[ken0042]

For box stores and service I would recommend Totem. But like going to Home Depot, the time to go is weekdays; during the day if you can. That is when you get the older guys who are semi-retired working. They usually have the answers for you.

Option 2 is look around at houses under construction, look for a place that is at the windows and doors stage, and talk to the guys doing the work. You might be able to find somebody who can do the job on the side. Just be forewarned that dealing with Joe Contractor does involve risks; and you would be better insulated from those risks by dealling with a bigger company like Pella.

[photon]

Home Depot isn't any better in that respect, service is still terrible.

Like Nancy said, if you go the same size it's pretty easy (though getting it to hang just right and close just right can be challenging), but if you want a different thickness or even a bigger door (32" -> 36" is popular for older houses), it can be a lot more work since you have to replace the jamb and maybe make the opening bigger and fix any problems with the exterior that causes (cut the siding, fix the stucco, whatever).

For the actual door, check out Tim's Reusables and that Habitat for Humanity place in the NE, I've seen some awesome doors there for crazy low prices (esp Tim's).

$3000, wow that's crazy.

[octothorp]

Agreed on Home Depot. I ordered some custom windows there, and had to wait for about half an hour to speak to someone to place my order, waited six weeks for my windows to arrive, only for them to be made wrong (they put on nailing fins when I had specified none). So they reordered them, and they just arrived this week, again with nailing fins.

[photon]

Lol, nice.

I've ordered windows from Lux before and was happy with them (they were inexpensive vinyl sliders for a rental unit though, no idea about their higher quality stuff).

[BuzzardsWife]

4,000 dollars for a door?? wow! its been a long time since ive bought a door..but i didnt know they were so much money

[DAN0383]

An average basic front door should cost you $300 MAX, the install should be around the $600 range, but really, they are easy enough to install yourself, just need some shims, door/window expanding foam and a couple other minor things.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by ken0042

For box stores and service I would recommend Totem. But like going to Home Depot, the time to go is weekdays; during the day if you can. That is when you get the older guys who are semi-retired working. They usually have the answers for you.

Option 2 is look around at houses under construction, look for a place that is at the windows and doors stage, and talk to the guys doing the work. You might be able to find somebody who can do the job on the side. Just be forewarned that dealing with Joe Contractor does involve risks; and you would be better insulated from those risks by dealling with a bigger company like Pella.

Good advice. Rona sucks. Totem is much better. But I don't think you want to buy your doors there. Kinda funny that Rona owns Totem.

As for going to houses under construction at 'window and door stage', fyi, that is also known as framing stage. In other words, the builder orders the windows and doors and has them delivered the day that they get installed and it's the framer that pops them in.
I've been using Supreme and All Weather ('Windows and Doors') and as an FYI for how much builders pay, I recently had to replace the slab (just the actual door) in one of my projects and the slab alone was $800.

Are you just looking for the slab or are you wanting to replace the entire jamb?

[OzSome]

I can feel the draft already on my front door and already replaced all the weatherstripping but still feel the damn cold draft. It hasn't been changed it was built in 1979 so definitely to replace it. I need the whole tthing, door and the frame that's why it cost $3,000 to $4,000 at Pella. I was actually thinking it will only cost about $1,500 max installed so I was shocked when she told me how much. Mind you she did say Pella is one of the most expensive place. I might try All Weather and if i can afford it then I'll go for it. I am done with Rona and never ever step on that place again when it comes to doors.

[KielC]

http://www.windsorplywood.com

[chris lindberg]

You can tell a lot about a person by which colour door they have, choose wisely.

[sadora]

Originally Posted by OzSome

I will check Home Depot probably next week.

I've had similar experiences at Home Depot. Good Luck!

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by chris lindberg

You can tell a lot about a person by which colour door they have, choose wisely.

Neighbors across the street have a blue door, what does that mean? They also installed a storm door if it makes any difference...

[chris lindberg]

A blue door might mean, emblematic: serving as a visible symbol for something abstract, "a crown is emblematic of royalty"

An old saying "The kingdom of joy is protected from all evil by a red door"

In early America a red door was a sign of welcome, a red door that usually meant travelers would be able to spend the night.

Rumor that a red front door was used in the under ground railroad.

The Feng Shui believe the red door is the Mouth of Chi

Egypt, sheep blood on door so evil would pass

Church doors used to be painted red to represent the blood of Christ

In Scotland after you paid off your mortgage you painted your door red

I also remember hearing something about changing your front door was not a good thing to do, something about lost voices from your home?

[photon]

Or maybe a blue door means they like blue...

[ok, ok,....I get it]

Originally Posted by chris lindberg

A blue door might mean, emblematic: serving as a visible symbol for something abstract, "a crown is emblematic of royalty"

An old saying "The kingdom of joy is protected from all evil by a red door"

In early America a red door was a sign of welcome, a red door that usually meant travelers would be able to spend the night.

Rumor that a red front door was used in the under ground railroad.

The Feng Shui believe the red door is the Mouth of Chi

Egypt, sheep blood on door so evil would pass

Church doors used to be painted red to represent the blood of Christ

In Scotland after you paid off your mortgage you painted your door red

I also remember hearing something about changing your front door was not a good thing to do, something about lost voices from your home?

Is smoking crack a good thing to do?

[worth]

I'm pretty sure the old saying is "Any customer can have a door painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black."