Shopping for a door

[pinkytoe]

We are getting ready to put our house on the market and are in that expensive but inevitable time of having to replace or repair things. Two of our exit doors had some rot at the bottom. Valiant attempts were made to repair or buy used but realized we would just have to get new doors as plan A wasn't working. Shopping for doors turned out to be an interesting cultural lesson about all the various styles that are in vogue, ie keeping up with the Jones' doors. Just as the salesman said, all the doors in new rehabs are upscale and mostly modern. Mid century modern with glass panels or sliding rustic "barn" doors are what people want now. I told him that styles keep changing so that people will keep buying stuff and he laughed. Just then, a young woman came in and asked to see their sliding barn doors. Rustic she said. It was tempting to spend a little more to play the game, but in the end we went with basic, non trendy doors. The next guy can blow his money on trendy doors.

[iris lilies]

Ohhhhhhhhh, doors.

I weep for the facades of historical homes around here that have been "improved" with new trendy doors that sit like ugly carbuncles. OMG. It hurts my eyes.

We have an historic code, but people still think they don't need to pay attention to it. My neighbor 'round the corner put an Arts and Crafts door on her modest Victorian row house, it is a clash of generations. And I am sure she spent more money on it than a simple panel door which would be appropriate for her house. Sure I could have turned her into the code police, but it was too late, the deed was done. Fortunately, there isn't a lot of that in my immediate neighborhood.

Over in the 'hood where I have a large flower garden, I have to look at a big 3 story Victorian brick house. They installed an historic code a few years ago, but not soon enough to keep that rehabber from pulling out the 120 year old oak double front doors and put in one from Home Depot with an oval "lite." How I loathe "lites."

[JaneV2.0]

I have the typical seventies' door--well, maybe not typical--red-orange with floral carvings. Some day I'll replace it with a panel door with three panes across the very top. Very plain and serviceable, and not particularly evocative of an era. I'm not over-fond of "trendy," but I like the barn door concept, as it allows for more floor space. Any sliding door, really. My grandmother's house had sets of paned-glass sliding doors (pocket doors?) on either side of the main hallway. Hers was a great old house.

[iris lilies]

I have the typical seventies' door--well, maybe not typical--red-orange with floral carvings. Some day I'll replace it with a panel door with three panes across the very top. Very plain and serviceable, and not particularly evocative of an era. I'm not over-fond of "trendy," but I like the barn door concept, as it allows for more floor space. Any sliding door, really. My grandmother's house had sets of paned-glass sliding doors (pocket doors?) on either side of the main hallway. Hers was a great old house.

Jane, are you going to make me weep too? Please, if your door is original to the house, and I can picture some florid 70's carved doors that are, do not replace it with something you think is less ugly. Please just buy another house. Someday, someone will want that original door and it will be at the bottom of a landfill. 70's architecture is not all that far off from being loved and embraced by the historic preservation crowd.

[catherine]

Jane, are you going to make me weep too? Please, if your door is original to the house, and I can picture some florid 70's carved doors that are, do not replace it with something you think is less ugly. Please just buy another house. Someday, someone will want that original door and it will be at the bottom of a landfill. 70's architecture is not all that far off from being loved and embraced by the historic preservation crowd.

I love your passion for architectural and design integrity, IL! In fact, sometimes I'm sorry that we ripped up our shag carpet and painted over our wood paneled 70s walls. We also had lovely metallic floral wallpaper for years before I painted over it. I do still have the original door, though, although there's nothing special about it. No floral carvings.

How about those wrought iron banisters? Will they ever be cool again?

[JaneV2.0]

There is weather-stripping damage at the bottom, and it's one of those lovely seventies' doors with panes of amber-colored pebbly glass inserts--very convenient if you want to break in--so I'm inclined to replace it with a paneled door--haven't those been around for at least a century? On the off chance that the new owner wants the door, I'll store it in the garage (or donate it to Habitat for re-use). I've already removed foil wallpaper. There's a fine line between "re-muddling," as a realtor once called it, and living forever in a period piece.

[iris lilies]

I love your passion for architectural and design integrity, IL! In fact, sometimes I'm sorry that we ripped up our shag carpet and painted over our wood paneled 70s walls. We also had lovely metallic floral wallpaper for years before I painted over it. I do still have the original door, though, although there's nothing special about it. No floral carvings.

How about those wrought iron banisters? Will they ever be cool again?

Hey, remember our thread about sitting in the same place and soon you are trendy again? I rest my case.

That super cool actor, Jospeh Gordon Levitt, bought a vintage early 60's house in the LA area where everything was perfectly original. Early 70's houses are not far off.

I don't believe that builders or architects ever installed the god awful wood paneling I'm thinking of, but there was some lovely wood paneling done in the 60's and 70's in high end houses.

[pinkytoe]

The irony here is that we removed the original mid century stair step pane front door when we first moved in years ago. Now they are in great demand. But that was back when we cared about being trendy and such doors were not appreciated. Makes me think twice about all the antiques I am shedding lately.

[Teacher Terry]

When we ere young we had a 60 yo house that someone had painted the woodwork and front door that was very intricate. I spent years stripping it and staining etc so restore thinking we were going to live there forever but in the end we had to move for my career. The door was beautiful. We live in a 66 yo home now-a ranch but the door is nothing special. No clue if it is original or not.

[Gardenarian]

We're door shopping too. I'm having trouble finding one wide enough to fit our space (40" ).

Not going trendy, but we have an extremely dark entry way and I want a door with glass -no, not the little oval etched glass - just the six or nine panes on the upper half of the door. All the other doors in our house have glass, and are original. I think the previous owners installed the solid door for safety reasons, but I'd rather have some light.

[JaneV2.0]

That's the reason I want a line of small panes at the top--the hall needs some light.

[SteveinMN]

Over the last five years, we've replaced six entry and screen doors on our house and my mom's (excluding a garage door). High-quality attractive doors are expensive!

DW cannot have enough light in the house (I think she'd live in a fishbowl if it were possible). To compromise my interests in insulation and security and her interest in as much light as possible, we compromised. The big panes of glass are backed by security film which makes it very time-consuming -- if not almost impossible -- to break through the glass to access door hardware or climb in. Security glass is an option on many doors, but we went aftermarket (a few companies sell the film and it's a DIY project to install if you have any dexterity at all). Worked for us....

[Alan]

This must be the time of year to replace doors. We've just recently (within the past 3 months) replaced two garage doors and two entry doors. The old garage doors were thin, builder grade doors and the new are triple insulated with glass panes across the top. After 20 years it's amazing how much light they bring into the garage. The two entry doors are both on the rear side of the house and are mostly glass with blinds between the double panes of security glass. They were chosen for function rather than style.

We're still trying to decide on the front entry door. We can't seem to agree on one combination of door and side lights that meets each of our wishes. Things are much more difficult when you throw style into the equation.

[pinkytoe]

I was thinking to about the symbolic nature of new doors as they might represent new passage for those who anticipate big changes. Or maybe even changes one is not expecting.