New Entry door, steel or fiberglass?

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

Chuck Gedraitis Knives

Joined
Dec 10, 1998
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I have to replace my front entry door and I can't decide wether to go with fiberglass or steel? My carpenter says go with fiberglass because the steel can get dented.

What's better? Is one more energy efficient? I know that I can paint the steel door, how about the fiberglass one? :confused:
Thanks,
CHuck
 
I doubt there's an efficiency difference as long as each is insulated. Personally, I'd only consider wood. And not the hollow cardboard door-shaped things either - they don't insulate or block noise.

Sorry if that's not entirely helpful, given your question, but why not? A stained wood door definitely looks better and solid wood insulates just as well.

Guess it depends on the style of home. Spanish? Mediteranian? Ranch? A trailer?

Our's is a 1904 Victorian, so I only use natural and authentic materials on our restoration projects - no plywood, no drywall...

Best Wishes,
Bob
 
A properly made fiberglass reinforced door is very dimensionally stable and relatively light weight in comparison to strength. It can basically be painted very easily. As always, most things depend on how well it is made. I know a lot of ways of making a bad one out of fiberglass but so I do also of steel.

TLM
 
We went with fiberglass to replace our steel doors, because when the dogs scratch hell out of the doors, we got rust (I was too lazy to fix the scratches and paid the price). Its my understanding that the fiberglass is easier to paint.
 
We faced this choice for the front door about a year and a half ago. We went with fiberglass. It was (relatively) very expensive, meaning more than the similar wood door we were favoring before we even knew about fiberglass. Ours has two decorative glass windows and is finished like wood.

There is a great difference in insulating properties (on paper of course, I haven't run scientific tests) in favor of the fiberglass. Additionally, they are impervious to changes in temperature and, especially, humidity which is a big factor around here in the summer. Things can swell and shrink so much that before we replaced them too, some of our old (inexpensive) wood interior doors simply wouldn't close fully when we got really high-humidity days.

I highly recommend the fiberglass. I wouldn't go back. :thumbup:

By way of example:

http://www.thermatru.com/
 
It really depends on what type of look you want. I have seen some really nice simulated wood fiberglass doors with glass windows etc. If that look would be good on your house then go for fiberglass. If a plain old painted steel door would look fine by you, then I see no reason not to go that way.

BTW, I wouldn't worry too much about dents. I mean my guess is that any hit hard enough to dent a steel door would also do some damage to any other type of material too.
 
I like steel for the shear strength and durability and that my building is residential above a commercial store (front door= faces vandalizm) On houses, I prefer wood, for the warmth and beauty
 
don't know if you bought your door yet, but I used to work in doors and windows at home depot (millworks :barf: )

Fiberglass is by far the way to go.

Somewhat better insulation, because of the properties of the actual fiberglass. (steel and fiberglass doors are insulated with the same foam)

The real kicker is the dent resistance, steel doors dent, ding, rust, scratch etc. Anything you can do to your car door you can do to a steel house door.
 
What kinda metal door are we talking about here? I'm using a 1.5hr fire rated door that you'll probably break your foot on before denting
 
The typical steel door, especially for a purely residential application is something like 20 or 28 gauge sheet steel over a foam insulation, with a wood block for the lockset.

We used to ding them all the time at work, unintentionally.

Fiberglass won't show a scratch either, or rust.
 
Fiberglass sounds like the better choice to me.

But of the 2 I would pick the 3rd wood. I just love the look. :)
 
Chuck Gedraitis Knives said:
I have to replace my front entry door and I can't decide wether to go with fiberglass or steel? My carpenter says go with fiberglass because the steel can get dented.

What's better? Is one more energy efficient? I know that I can paint the steel door, how about the fiberglass one? :confused:
Thanks,
CHuck
Click to expand...

In my opinion both are technologically sound on the market right now. Either would be a great choice for energy efficiency and both can be made to look like real wood depending on what look you're going for. Steel might be better at protecting from break-ins if you are concerned about this kind of thing. I got my steel door from conservation construction of houston. It's a franchise like anderson or champion but had better prices. My door is one solid piece of steel making it better for protection too. Check around for prices for sure. You want to get the best door for the best price.
 
I went fiberglass that came primed only. I took it to a local body shop and had them spray it like car. Turned out beautiful.
 
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