Shopping: Exterior Doors

Way back when, I somehow came across the Crestview doors. I drooled, I dreamed. I could never probably justify spending that much on a front door (unless I won the lottery). Luckily, there are some other options. Therma-Tru has a new-ish line out called Pulse. They have some doors that are similar to some of the Crestview doors but they are way less expensive and are available in steel or fiberglass with a number of different glass options (instead of wood). It sounds like there are also decent wood looks as well as a number of special order colors, but we just wanted it in white so we could paint it what ever color we wanted (once it was warm enough to do so of course...).

The Therma-Tru doors were an easy sell. When I brought them up to our contractor he immediately said they were great doors and how he's installed many of them over the years. He may have actually said hundreds, but I can't quite remember. The fact that they came in fiberglass or steel was a big bonus too. In the harsh Minnesota seasons, especially winter, we want to make sure that whatever we install is going to hold up to the elements and protect us from the freezing cold in the winter months. Lowering the cost of heating our house in the winter is definitely a bonus.

The Pulse line has 5 different window options and a few of them the windows are available centered or to the left or right. In the end, I let Bill pick the front door. I think I could have been happy with anything that wasn't what we currently had (Menard's/Home Depot special). And I wanted it to not be all about me, as things around her may tend to be. I did of course have a couple favorites (Ari & Echo Lite). He went with the Ari and then I made the executive decision to go with the Solei for the back door to get as much light in as possible because we have a tiny little back entry way with zero light (we're actually installing more lights, so that will help too).

Therma-Tru Pulse Line

While clear glass would be ideal for these doors, we opted to go with the granite style. We have no front entry way and the front door leads immediately to the middle of our living room, so I wanted to maintain some privacy. The back door really does not need that same level of privacy, but I wanted to keep it consistent. I feel that this even more important because of the size of our tiny house. In reality, there is probably a decent area that you can stand in our house and see both doors. Plus, with the basement on the way to being finished, we will probably be walking past that back door a lot more.

As of right now, the front door is installed. It still needs to be finished on the inside (just the trim), but it's already so much better than the old door. Because it was professionally installed, there is no slight breeze coming through when the wind blows just right, even without a screen door. We are planning on storm doors, we just don't have them yet. And I'm really, really hoping they don't "take away" from the look of the door, especially the front door.

Doesn't it look so wonderful...? Obviously there are some things left to address, but we'll get there... some day...

Read about how we picked out our lockset.

While this isn't the best before and after, it is quite the difference. And obviously, the trim still needs to be done on the inside, as I mentioned before. The extra light has been wonderful though.

Right now the back door (Solei) isn't installed. It's ordered and the contractor has it, but he is waiting until they are done going in and out the back door with all the big stuff so it doesn't end up scuffed, dented, or whatever. That will hopefully be within a few weeks here. I seriously can't wait. The current backdoor is badly warped and really hard to open and close and it only gets worse as the days go by.

Coming soon... insulation and new door knobs for inside.