Replacing exterior laundry room door

[badbear]

We've got an exterior laundry room door that needs to be replaced. The door that's in there now is a very old super-thin wood door with a pane of single-pane glass, probably put in because it was easy to cut to put in the old/busted dog door that's currently in it. We moved in last summer, and as the weather got colder last fall I caulked the door closed and sealed it with a plastic sheet to try to save on our heating bill.

Just out of curiosity, a while back we got a quote to replace the door with a steel door. They wanted over $1,000. Screw that.

Fall is here again. I'm looking to replace this door this weekend. My Dad and brother are coming up for a visit and have offered to help me out on the install.

I'm wondering what style of door would be best. Having some kind of a window would be nice, since it opens onto our deck right next to an exterior light with the switch right inside the door. There are no other windows in the laundry room. I'm thinking a steel door with a small window near the top of the door might be best for security while still letting in light and being able to see whether the light is on from inside. Doors with a window that opens are available but they seem to be a lot more expensive. The room has a fan vent in the ceiling, so maybe window ventilation doesn't matter that much. I guess I could eventually add a screen door on the outside if we want more ventilation.

I'm considering these pre-hung doors:

• Basic ($167) Jeld-Wen 32 in. x 80 in. 6-Panel Primed Premium Steel Prehung Front Door with Brickmould
• Top Window ($206) Jeld-Wen 32 in. x 80 in. Fan Lite Primed Premium Steel Prehung Front Door with Brickmould
• Opening Window ($267) Jeld-Wen 32 in. x 80 in. Venting 1/2 Lite Primed Premium Steel Prehung Front Door with Brickmould

Anyone have any thoughts or tips on the best way to go or tips on the install? Tips on better places to buy a door? Potential pitfalls?

[badbear]

Thanks for the tips! I think you are probably right about the larger window. That looks nice.

Our house was built in 1980, so I'm hoping we can get away with a stock 32x80 inch door (same size as what's there now).

[sisto]

I prefer fiberglass over steel. I recently replace my old steel front door with a tru built craftsman style one from Lowe's. The door came pre-primed and cost only $259. I absolutely LOVE it and it looks amazing.

[Spork]

I prefer fiberglass over steel. I recently replace my old steel front door with a tru built craftsman style one from Lowe's. The door came pre-primed and cost only $259. I absolutely LOVE it and it looks amazing.

Definitely fiberglass.  Steel will dent if you turn your head towards it and swear.

I would also see if your city has a mill shop that sells doors.  When we built our house the difference in price between Lowes/Depot and a local mill shop was huge.  And the mill shop was better quality.  (We did purchase one high dollar custom door from Home Depot.  When it arrived, it was such poor craftsmanship that they took it back even though they had a no returns policy.  It was bad.  Really bad.)

Pre hung doors are not difficult to install.  I think I did 35 or so in my house.  You get better/faster as you do more of them.

Edit to add:

I like to lay the door out on a level surface and put the trim on one side.  With it on the ground, you can really get it on and exact.   I'll add a couple of diagonal cross braces to keep the door square and just tip it into the hole.  If your walls are true, it will be pretty close to plumb.  Tweak it and tack the trim in a couple of spots.  This will hold it while you shim the hinge side and get it attached more securely.

[badbear]

I'm open to a fiberglass door. They seem to cost $30-$50 more than steel, so not a big difference for protection from dents and dings.

I looked up a few of the millworks in my area but none of them list any prices on their websites. They all appear to carry Therma Tru and Codel Entry Systems doors. I guess I could take a look.

[sisto]

I'm open to a fiberglass door. They seem to cost $30-$50 more than steel, so not a big difference for protection from dents and dings.

I looked up a few of the millworks in my area but none of them list any prices on their websites. They all appear to carry Therma Tru and Codel Entry Systems doors. I guess I could take a look.

Therma Tru, that might be the one I got. Very nice door, it seals so well.

[paddedhat]

I'm open to a fiberglass door. They seem to cost $30-$50 more than steel, so not a big difference for protection from dents and dings.

I looked up a few of the millworks in my area but none of them list any prices on their websites. They all appear to carry Therma Tru and Codel Entry Systems doors. I guess I could take a look.

I switched to fiberglass on the new homes I built, at least a decade ago. Steel simply isn't worth the cost "savings". There were far too many times when a worker was trying to get in the door, with their hands full, and gave the door a light "tap" with the toe of their boot, and ended up denting the door. They are far too prone to being dented like this, and are much tougher to get, and keep, a nice looking paint finish on. I always thought that if there was real truth in advertising, steel doors should be sold as, "Not really steel, but covered with a very thin gauge sheet metal, and slightly more durable than aluminum foil"

[Spork]

I'm open to a fiberglass door. They seem to cost $30-$50 more than steel, so not a big difference for protection from dents and dings.

I looked up a few of the millworks in my area but none of them list any prices on their websites. They all appear to carry Therma Tru and Codel Entry Systems doors. I guess I could take a look.

I switched to fiberglass on the new homes I built, at least a decade ago. Steel simply isn't worth the cost "savings". There were far too many times when a worker was trying to get in the door, with their hands full, and gave the door a light "tap" with the toe of their boot, and ended up denting the door. They are far too prone to being dented like this, and are much tougher to get, and keep, a nice looking paint finish on. I always thought that if there was real truth in advertising, steel doors should be sold as, "Not really steel, but covered with a very thin gauge sheet metal, and slightly more durable than aluminum foil"

This is exactly what our builder told us.  He said if we went with steel, they would be installing some awful temporary doors and would swap them out for the steel doors at the last moment.  And then BE CAREFUL moving in.  By this time I had learned his backward way of giving advice based on his experience and I just listened and put in fiberglass.

My workshop has some sort of commercial steel doors.  And while I don't give a rats ass if they get dented -- they are not the same thing at all.  They are heavier gauge steel and don't have a wooden core.  Instead, they seem to have some sort of metal honeycomb core so that they are still fairly light weight but sturdy.

[badbear]

We wound up not going for a door with a larger window. I deferred to my wife on the design decision, and she liked the steel door with the arch-shaped window set high in the door, so that's what we got. It looks great.

The old door frame came out pretty easily with my pry bar. We were lucky that the sub-floor at the entrance was perfectly level, so we didn't have to do any fancy leveling tricks. We laid down some adhesive flashing on the sub-floor before placing the door/frame into the opening to prevent moisture from collecting under the door and to direct it outside. We shimmed around the door-frame with cedar shims, drilled pilot holes and sunk long construction screws through those into the 2x4s surrounding the frame. We used insulating foam around the frame to fill the gaps. I installed a deadbolt and doorknob set that matches the one I previously put on our front door. It's the kind that can be re-keyed  in a few minutes (I think it's called SmartKey) using the old key, a little metal insert, and the new key. I will be re-keying it to use the same key as our front door.

I still need to get a hold of some molding and properly install that around the interior of the door, but for now the door locks and is adequately sealed up.

My one issue is that there is a bit of a gap between the door threshold and the (rather rough) edge of the linoleum. I'm thinking I may want to replace the threshold with a wider one which will cover the gap, but that should hopefully be straightforward. Considering that we will likely replace all of the flooring in our house in the next year or two, I might not worry about it for the time being.

I appreciate all the tips and advice. In all, I spent $310 to get the door, 2 packs of cedar shims, a roll of door/window sealing tape, and the doorknob/deadbolt. I saved over $800 off the quote I got for replacing the door, I learned something, and I got to spend some quality time with my dad. Overall I'm calling this little project a success.

[paddedhat]

I usually use a piece of oak quarter round trim to cover gaps like you describe,  where the old sheet flooring doesn't quite touch the new door sill.