UPDATED w/pics 9/26. Getting a new front door. Anyone have experience with Masonite, Waudena Millwork, or Paragon?

[bbhaag]

The time has come for us to get a new front door for our home. I was wondering if anyone had some first hand experience with the brands I listed in the title? I've done a little searching but not much it coming up but from what little I have found Waudena Millwork seems like a pretty solid brand. The issue is my wife and I don't really care for their styles.

The one we really like is made by Paragon and is called Crosswalk. It has a very contemporary design which we like. I just don't know if Paragon is a good brand. I guess my question is does anyone here have any experience with the three brands we are considering? If you do please comment on the quality and let me know how long you have had it.
Here is a pic of the Paragon door we are considering.

 

[Greenman]

I looked at the pic first and wondered why you wanted to replace such a nice door.

I don't know anything about the three brands you mentioned, whenever I replace a front door it comes from https://www.roguevalleydoor.com/

 

[mxnerd]

2018 ranking by sales.

https://windowanddoor.com/article/may-2018/top-100-manufacturers-2018-report?page=0,1

 

[herm0016]

my family was in the door business for about 50 years. Masonite makes most of the hollow interior, fiberglass and steel exterior doors in the country. My Dad helped develop the first steel edge door with a thermal break.

it depends on the door more than the manufacture. Are you getting steel or fiberglass? look for a steel edge and not a wood edge on a steel door. a steel edge door will have better thermal performance and included tapped steel plates for the hinges and plastic or wood for the knob. Steel attachments for the hinges are much better than the small wood screws most doors have. for fiberglass ask what the R value and type of insulation, these will nearly all have wood rails, look for rails that are continues and not a bunch of small pieces glued together. i would avoid a wood door with such a large window.

I have a stave core Douglass fir craftsman style door on my house. i also really recommend schalge hardware over the more common kwikset. the kwikset smart key system is not secure and can be picked by a teenager. you can get pretty good pricing on schalge on build.com or check amazon. Build.com will key them all for you though.



it looks to me like paragon is buying someones slabs and doing the prehanging them selves. This is what our business was. get truck loads of raw doors and make them into whatever frame/window combination the customer wants, then deliver directly to the jobsite a whole package, all the doors, windows, trim and a few other bits on one truck.

they are buying their windows from Ottawa door lite, i recognize some of the styles. ..... ha, that picture is actually from here: https://www.odl.com/doorglass.htm they actually manufacture the windows/window frames.

Paragon is almost certainly using Masonite slabs. i would have to get a close look at the shape of the panel to be sure though.

 

[bbhaag]

my family was in the door business for about 50 years. Masonite makes most of the hollow interior, fiberglass and steel exterior doors in the country. My Dad helped develop the first steel edge door with a thermal break.

it depends on the door more than the manufacture. Are you getting steel or fiberglass? look for a steel edge and not a wood edge on a steel door. a steel edge door will have better thermal performance and included tapped steel plates for the hinges and plastic or wood for the knob. Steel attachments for the hinges are much better than the small wood screws most doors have. for fiberglass ask what the R value and type of insulation, these will nearly all have wood rails, look for rails that are continues and not a bunch of small pieces glued together. i would avoid a wood door with such a large window.

I have a stave core Douglass fir craftsman style door on my house. i also really recommend schalge hardware over the more common kwikset. the kwikset smart key system is not secure and can be picked by a teenager. you can get pretty good pricing on schalge on build.com or check amazon. Build.com will key them all for you though.



it looks to me like paragon is buying someones slabs and doing the prehanging them selves. This is what our business was. get truck loads of raw doors and make them into whatever frame/window combination the customer wants, then deliver directly to the jobsite a whole package, all the doors, windows, trim and a few other bits on one truck.

they are buying their windows from Ottawa door lite, i recognize some of the styles. ..... ha, that picture is actually from here: https://www.odl.com/doorglass.htm they actually manufacture the windows/window frames.

Paragon is almost certainly using Masonite slabs. i would have to get a close look at the shape of the panel to be sure though.

Thank you so much for the detailed response. This is exactly what I was looking for.
To answer a few of your questions we are most likely going with a fiberglass door and the handle set we purchased was the Schlage Century.

So is it a good or bad thing that the glass is made by ODL and the slab by Mosonite and then Paragon just packages it up and resells it?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Check out used architectural recyclers. Nicer doors for less.

 

[herm0016]

Thank you so much for the detailed response. This is exactly what I was looking for.
To answer a few of your questions we are most likely going with a fiberglass door and the handle set we purchased was the Schlage Century.

So is it a good or bad thing that the glass is made by ODL and the slab by Mosonite and then Paragon just packages it up and resells it?

yes, its the normal way for door companies to do business. No problems. just want to make sure you know what they are doing. they should be more clear about it on their site, its a little misleading to say they manufacture doors.

we have a century handleset with the andover / addison rose combo inside and for all the other exterior doors. bronze on the front door and just brush nickel on the rest. and the encode deadbolt. very happy with the setup. feels solid when you open a door.

i would have done levers, but we are foster parents and have to child proof everything and levers are a pain for that.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Depends on the neighborhood......
Here are some pictures of my front door --

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Depends on the neighborhood......
Here are some pictures of my front door -- View attachment 8799

Cheyenne mountain?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Cheyenne mountain?

You da man!! You have to admit -- that is one hell of a front door!!

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

You da man!! You have to admit -- that is one hell of a front door!!

Yep, kinda slow though when you need to go.

 

[bbhaag]

yes, its the normal way for door companies to do business. No problems. just want to make sure you know what they are doing. they should be more clear about it on their site, its a little misleading to say they manufacture doors.

we have a century handleset with the andover / addison rose combo inside and for all the other exterior doors. bronze on the front door and just brush nickel on the rest. and the encode deadbolt. very happy with the setup. feels solid when you open a door.

i would have done levers, but we are foster parents and have to child proof everything and levers are a pain for that.

Thanks again for all the insight and advice. We ended up going with the Crosswalk by Paragon door with the full light glass and the Schlage Century handle set. We opted for a two sided color. A custom black on the exterior(Sherman Williams Tricorn Black) and then stain matched on the interior to match the existing woodwork. We also went the same for the frame. Tricorn Black on the exterior and stain matched on the interior. We both thought this would look more finished.
So the distributor told us it would be 8-10 weeks before the door was ready. I took some before pics and will take some after pics to show everyone. This was a very expensive front door so I can't wait to show everyone and get their opinion on how it looks.

 

[bbhaag]

So the door was installed this morning and as promised I will post some pics. It turned out absolutely beautiful. Even the installers said it was one of the nicest looking doors they have seen. While we were at it we decided to update the lighting on the exterior of the home as well. The new lighting compliments the look of the new door very nicely.
Anyway, on to the pics. Sorry about the quality in advance. My Moto has an awful camera. In person the door and lighting really pop.

This is the before pic. Even though it is a Therma-Tru door we really didn't like the dated oval glass design, wood grain look, and dated handle set. The lighting was very out dated as well even though the house was constructed in '08. The guy who built was older and somethings really show that.

This is how it looks now with the new door, handle set, and lighting installed. It really changes the whole look of the front of the house and IMO really brings a more modern feel and look as you approach the house. Again sorry for the bad pics but this is the best I could get.

 

[nisryus]

Looks very nice!

 

[bbhaag]

Looks very nice!

Thanks! We really like the way it turned out as well.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Looks nice, I guess, but that step-up looks like it can be a doozy, especially as you get older.

 

[BoomerD]

Not a fan of big glass in doors. Too easy for someone to break the glass and unlock the door.

 

[bbhaag]

Looks nice, I guess, but that step-up looks like it can be a doozy, especially as you get older.

Thanks, we think it looks nice. The step into the front door isn't to big of a concern. I'm 40 and my wife is 37 so it isn't a problem. This is not the house that we will get older in. 10-12 years tops and then we will sell it and down size. It's also to large of a home (4000+ sq.ft.) for any older couple to seriously consider purchasing it when we list it for sale.
This is a house for people raising a family and generally those types of people are young enough that they can step up 6 inches without much trouble.

Not a fan of big glass in doors. Too easy for someone to break the glass and unlock the door.

Really? I didn't know people had that concern when looking for a door. At least around here having a full lite front door isn't a security concern.
So do you have steel security type doors on your house because you are worried about people breaking the glass and getting in? I've seen those and this is jut my opinion but they are very ugly.

 

[BoomerD]

Thanks, we think it looks nice. The step into the front door isn't to big of a concern. I'm 40 and my wife is 37 so it isn't a problem. This is not the house that we will get older in. 10-12 years tops and then we will sell it and down size. It's also to large of a home (4000+ sq.ft.) for any older couple to seriously consider purchasing it when we list it for sale.
This is a house for people raising a family and generally those types of people are young enough that they can step up 6 inches without much trouble.

Really? I didn't know people had that concern when looking for a door. At least around here having a full lite front door isn't a security concern.
So do you have steel security type doors on your house because you are worried about people breaking the glass and getting in? I've seen those and this is jut my opinion but they are very ugly.

I agree the steel security doors are butt-ugly. My house has a full panel-type door. No glass at all. I wouldn't mind having something like a 1/4 lite...with a nice bit of glass at the top, but otherwise...

 

[JEDIYoda]

Beautiful door!! Bullet proof glass I presume??

 

[bbhaag]

Beautiful door!! Bullet proof glass I presume??

LOL no what is it with you guys??? I'm not sure what kind of neighborhoods you and Boomer live in but around here having a full lite front door is not a security concern.

Anyway, thank you for the compliment on the front door. We are enjoying it very much and are really happy with the way it looks.