Replacing entry door

[rpanic]

Wife and I want to replace the entry door to our house. The door is 42”x80 and is the original wood door to the house that was built in 68. We were going to replace it with a new prehung wood door and my wife found one that she liked $2000 for door and install. Now we are thinking of putting in a wrought iron door and install would be $2500 prehung in iron frame. We live in CA so we don’t have cold weather to deal with, and the wrought iron door would be low maintenance, and is more secure although that’s not really an issue. Wife really wants iron door, the only down side I see is it’s very heavy. If we do go this route we will probably also replace a wood gate with one that matches the door.

Have any of you guys ever switched from a wood to iron door?

Here is a link of the place we are thinking of buying from for example.

http://www.preciseirondoors.com/

 

[herm0016]

42 is the actual width of the door? That is an odd width for a house, as most exterior doors are 32 or 36 inches wide. 42 are usually only used for commercial.

It would appear that the "iron" door is a regular door with a window and has the wrought iron applied to it, maybe warped with steel sheet. The wrought part will make it heavy. are they hung with 4 hinges instead of the standard 3?

if you want to save money and the existing frame is in good shape, you can find a local door shop and they will machine the door to fit in your existing frame.

 

[rpanic]

42 is the actual width of the door? That is an odd width for a house, as most exterior doors are 32 or 36 inches wide. 42 are usually only used for commercial.

It would appear that the "iron" door is a regular door with a window and has the wrought iron applied to it, maybe warped with steel sheet. The wrought part will make it heavy. are they hung with 4 hinges instead of the standard 3?

if you want to save money and the existing frame is in good shape, you can find a local door shop and they will machine the door to fit in your existing frame.

Yes its 42" wide.

There is no wood in or on the door, its a little thicker than a wood door, and its frame is made out of the same material.
Steel Specification AISA 1018 Carbon Steel.
Steel Thickness 109 Mil (0.1094", 2.78 mm, 12 Gauge) structure with 5/8" (0.625", 16 mm) wrought ironwork.
Door Thickness 2" Nominal (1969", 50 mm).

The frame is a little screwed up at some point somebody kicked it in or something, it has a lot of wear and tear.

 

[Humpy]

Those look like nice doors, with good marketing, but are simply a variation of a typical insulated steel door. The weight is unlikely to be a problem. About the only complaint I've had with a steel door is how hot they can get in direct sunlight.

I wouldn't hesitate to make the change if you like the appearance and quality of that particular manufacturer.

 

[rpanic]

Those look like nice doors, with good marketing, but are simply a variation of a typical insulated steel door. The weight is unlikely to be a problem. About the only complaint I've had with a steel door is how hot they can get in direct sunlight.

I wouldn't hesitate to make the change if you like the appearance and quality of that particular manufacturer.

My house faces east and the door has about 6' of overhang so it would only get direct sun in the morning.

 

[herm0016]

Those look like nice doors, with good marketing, but are simply a variation of a typical insulated steel door.

This is what i was getting at.

 

[Subyman]

Price doesn't seem too bad, but it doesn't look to be a fully iron/steel door. The door card looks to be stamped steel with likely a wooden core with the iron work only being the inset in the window. Hard to tell from the pictures. Costly wrought irons doors have a frame made from steel plate that is welded or riveted.

Again though, the price doesn't seem too bad if it looks like a quality door. A metal frame is nice. Most nice custom fiberglass doors unfinished are right around $1k for a 36", so a little over double that for a heavy, odd sized door with install isn't unreasonable.