ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200084
SECTION: FALL HOME & LANDSCAPE PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
FIRST impressions, as they say, are always the most important, and that goes for your home as well as your personal appearance.
"It's hard to overemphasize the importance" of an entry way, said Jewell Bryant, owner of Perfect Touch Interiors.
"It reflects the personality of the home as well as the homeowner."
Sometimes, simply buying a new door or painting an old one can go a long way toward adding interest to a home.
Many homeowners choose to replace a solid exterior door with one with windows or leaded glass panes. Besides adding to the appearance of the exterior, these doors also let more light inside. They are very popular, Bryant said.
In frame houses, the doorway usually can be widened to accommodate a larger door, as well as one or two side panels with windows, said Carey Clause of Carey Interiors.
Generally, he said, the doorways in brick houses are harder to work with.
"You can't just slice it open."
Custom-made doors sound like a nice idea, but home improvement stores offer such a variety of doors that there is little need for them, Clause said.
Doors can be purchased pre-hung or by themselves, and come in all shapes, sizes and materials. They are sold as kits to do-it-yourselfers, and instructions are included.
But if installing your own front door seems like more of a challenge than you can handle, it's the kind of a job that any good contractor can do.
There also are companies that specialize in doors. They offer a wide range of doors and hardware, and will paint and stain the door as well as installing it.
There are basically three types of doors, said Terry McDonald of Skyline Door and Hardware.
Metal doors are generally the least expensive, followed by fiberglass and wood.
What kind of door a homeowner chooses depends not just on price, but on weather conditions. No matter how generous your budget is, he said, you will probably be wasting your money if you put a wooden door where it will get direct sunlight for most of the day.
"A wooden door is constantly changing."
The door will weather faster and may warp, and the problem is compounded when a glass storm door is added. The temperatures between the doors can get so high, that if the molding is plastic, it can pop off.
McDonald said he recommends using a fiberglass or metal door in these cases. Although the quality of the material is not as good, the fiberglass doors and some of the steel doors can be stained to look almost like the real thing.
Skyline Door and Hardware offers a line of wooden doors that come in oak, white mahogany and Douglas Fir. They can be stained in any color, and are sealed against the weather with a coat of marine-grade urethane, known as spar urethane. Panels in the doors "float" to react to expansion and contraction, due to the weather.
They range in price from $500 to $1,500. At the top of the line are doors with decorative leaded glass panes, many of which come with side panels and transoms. There also are many glass patterns from which to choose.
To keep costs down, homeowners can buy a plain door with decorative side panels, or mix and match different styles to vary the amount of glass and wood.
Skyline also has a wide variety of hardware, with matching locks, handles, knobs, kickplates, knockers, and even mail slots.
Harla Ange of the Door Exchange in Salem offers what may be the Cadillac of wooden doors. She deals in pre-manufactured antique and architectural reproductions. The wood and glass are kiln-dried, which makes them more resistant to moisture, and each individual pane of glass is beveled. Although customers can order any color of stain they'd like, Ange has concocted a special dark honey-brown stain she plans to patent, and which most of her customers end up choosing.
She stains the doors herself after they arrive from the manufacturer, and seals them with spar urethane. Some of the doors cost as much as $1,700, and don't include the framing.
"It's a high-end product," she said. "It's not for everybody."
In her showroom is a large collection of her offerings, all of which are available for sale. It allows her customers to actually see and feel what they are getting, rather than having to order from a catalog, she said. Her line also includes a variety of sidelights and transoms. The glass can be clear, frosted or wavy "water glass, and the leading comes in brass, as well.
For the cost-conscious, stripping an old door of its finish can often create a whole new look, Clause said. Many owners of older homes often are pleasantly surprised to find beautiful solid oak or heart of pine under layers of old paint.
To find out if your old door is worth stripping, take the paint off a small, inconspicuous area first, Clause advised, or better yet, look at the bottom of the door. It is often left unpainted and the wood is exposed.
Although the wood in older doors is often of better quality than that in modern replacements, they often aren't thermally efficient, Clause warned.
For the door's exterior, ground lighting is a "big craze" right now, Clause said. Besides drawing attention to the front door, it also increases the security of a home, especially if the lights are motion-sensitive.
Although doors with glass panels may seem more vulnerable to break-ins, no door is really more secure than any other, McDonald and Ange agreed.
"If they want to get in, they'll get in," said McDonald. "You just want to make sure they make enough noise so you can get out the back door," he laughed.
Ange pointed out that burglars rarely go for a well-lit front door, and if they did, the lead between the panes in her doors is sufficiently strong to slow a burglar down.
LENGTH: Long : 105 linesby CNB