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The Best Front Entry Door Brands For Orange County Homeowners
Products, Entry Door Brands, Masonite, Our Products, Therma-Tru

What Are The Best Door Brands For Your New Front Entry Door

May 30, 20220

The Best Front Entry Door Brands For
Orange County Homeowners

We Did The Trial-And-Error So You Don’t Have To!

With all the various entry door manufacturers available on the market today for Orange County homeowners, it can be quite tricky, not to mention time-consuming, to truly find the best one. While each home is built in its own unique way, the front entry door plays a huge role in every single home.

What do people see the first time they are entering your home? The front door.

In a world where first impressions are everything, you want to make sure your front entry door matches the personality your home is trying to convey.

Curb appeal, energy efficiency, durability, and longevity are the hot topics when it comes to choosing the best brand for your new front entry door.

Lucky for you, our team here at Today’s Entry Doors has done the excruciating legwork of choosing the absolute best fiberglass door manufacturers for our customers to eliminate the guessing game of choosing a new front entry door.

Fiberglass Doors: The End-All Be-All For Entry Doors

We have made it our mission here at Today’s Entry Doors to only provide Orange County homeowners with the very best doors. Because doors are all we do, you could say we’ve had a bit of time to dial in our best practices.

When it comes to an entry door that truly gives you the best bang for your buck, nothing else compares to fiberglass doors. Fiberglass doors are affordable, last substantially longer than wood doors, and look absolutely stunning on any home!

Because we feel so strongly that fiberglass doors are the only front entry doors you should consider for your home, we chose to only carry them!

Best Front Entry Door Brands

Therma-Tru Doors

Therma-Tru Entry Doors

As one of the first few door manufacturers to mass-produce fiberglass doors, it’s no wonder they are at the top of the list for most homeowners. If you are looking for unique door styles combined with unmatched longevity, Therma-Tru is the perfect brand for you.

Therma-Tru has specialized in fiberglass doors for nearly 30 years and has recently come out with a line of entry doors that mimic classic wood grain patterns to perfectly match any home. Additionally, their vast array of styles, sizes, and colors ensure even on a tight budget, you can have a beautiful front entry door.

The last thing you want is to dish out your hard-earned money just to have a new front entry door perform the same as the old. Luckily, Therma-Tru offers extensive warranties to back their products in case of manufacturer discrepancies.

Jeld-Wen Aurora Doors

Jeld-Wen Aurora Entry Doors

Jeld-Wen Aurora fiberglass doors are one of the few door options available on the market that passes our over-the-top quality standard assessments. When your home requires a bit more class and character, Jeld-Wen Aurora has got you covered.

The innovative minds at Jeld-Wen meticulously craft each door to be absolutely perfect, with a great deal of time spent on improving the overall energy efficiency of a front entry door. Front entry doors are the first line of defense from keeping out the harsh temperatures and conditions Mother Nature is so notorious for.

With minimal maintenance required and a complimentary 10-year warranty, your Jeld-Wen doors will continue to look stunning for years to come.

Masonite Doors

Masonite Double Entry Door

If you are looking for a seamless transition between the interior and exterior doors of your home, Masonite strategically specializes in exactly that! To date, Masonite offers 3 different exterior fiberglass door series with many color options in each series. Masonite fiberglass doors often utilize large panes of glass to bring additional natural sunlight into the home.

We have been in the front entry door industry for over 30 years and have entrusted Masonite with our fiberglass door needs for nearly as long. While we live and breathe fiberglass doors, Masonite also carries their own line of wood and steel doors, although they are not nearly as popular.

Masonite has designed their doors to be highly resistant to natural factors that affect the appearance and function of the front entry door such as UV rays, high winds, and freak storms. In Southern California, the last thing you want is for your new front entry door to start to fade from one summer in the sun.

Ready To Upgrade Your Front Entry Door?
Give The Door Experts A Call!

If you are a homeowner living in Orange County looking to have your front entry door replaced or installed for the first time, give us a call!

We only specialize in front entry doors and are here to answer any questions you have about our processes or products! While we have many examples of our past work in our galleries, we have more door options than we could ever show on our website.

You can reach us at our office located in Orange by calling (714) 974-5728 or by scheduling a free at-home consultation today!

Identity, Doors, Therma-Tru

Learn About Wrought Iron Entry Doors In Orange County, CA

February 1, 20220

Wrought Iron Fiberglass Doors: Explore Their
High-End Style & Debonair Class

In today’s article, we’d like to walk through the basics of high-end Fiberglass Wrought Iron Entry Doors with you.

They’re unique. They’re wonderfully ornate. They’re versatile. They can be paired with just about any style of home here in Orange County, and they’re often paired with particular kinds of glass to make an entryway genuinely stand out.

If you’re interested in upgrading your home to make much more of a statement…you can’t go wrong with wrought iron.

Here at Today’s Entry Doors, we work with three notable manufacturers and help homeowners install the VERY BEST DOORS.

With wrought iron, they can come in two types:

  1. The grille is mounted between two panes of glass, and this is the most low-maintenance form because you won’t need to touch it, move it, or clean it.
  2. This is where the grille is mounted on the outside of the door, and it’s operable so you can clean the glass behind it. The glass can’t move. Just the grille can be opened and closed.

One particular thing to note is that of our trio of premium manufacturers, only Jeld-Wen offers models in both options. Masonite and Therma-Tru only provide the first option.

Now let’s look at some examples from our Entry Door Galleries.

This is a Jeld-Wen model showing you the mounted operable grille. What you have here is a 30 x 80’’ rustic entry door with a Knotty Alder grain that’s been factory-stained Chappo. The glass option is a Glue Chip, and the grille itself is a Monte Carlo design.

We installed this for a wonderful family in Laguna Hills.

How about another decorative entry door, but this time a single.

What we have here is a 36 x 96’’ Therma-Tru Classic-Craft with a Rustic grain that’s been stained English Walnut. The glass is Augustine with a decorative wrought iron grille between the glass. Then you have the specific hardware in flat black for great contrast that matches the grille.

We installed this for a family in the Coto De Caza, CA area.

Explore A Local Homeowner’s Twisty Path To The Perfect Entry Doors

Read A Case Study About The Best Orange County Dutch Doors 

Learn The Basics Of Our High-End Classic Or Traditional Entry Doors

Is There A Limit On Grille Styles?

Yes. However, you have a huge variety to choose from! With our manufacturers, you’re almost guaranteed to find a grille style that works for you.

Here’s another popular type of grille around the Orange County area: Heritage.

That’s a 36 x 96’’ round top style entry door with a Mahogany grain skin that’s been factory stained Mocha. The insert is Rain Glass.

We installed that in the San Juan Capistrano, CA area.

Are These Style Of Entry Doors More Expensive?

In some respects, yes. The more ornate and complex your new entry door system is, the more materials are needed to build and manufacture it. The only real problem you run into is finding the right door company to help you get the perfect-fit model for your home, your tastes, and your budget, and then precision install it.

With Today’s Entry Doors, you’re working with 100% specialists. We provide a full-service, turn-key process that not only ensures you get the right door but that it comes protected by an iron-clad Lifetime Warranty!

Get Your Questions Answered By Today’s Entry Doors

Interested in a gorgeous wrought iron entry door for your home and have some questions? Worried about costs? Wondering what the process is going to be like? Curious how long it might take and what the current lead times look like?

Simply Contact Us today, and you can chat with a company that’s focused on entry doors for decades. We’ll be happy to walk you through the specifics and send our convenient Mobile Showroom to your home as well.

Thanks so much for your time today, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Identity, Doors, Therma-Tru

Learn About Premium Fiberglass Entry Doors With Sidelights

January 28, 20220

Premium Fiberglass Entry Doors With Sidelights
A Favorite In The Orange County Area

In today’s article, we’d like to just breeze through some of the basics of premium ultra-gorgeous Fiberglass Entry Doors with Sidelites.

These are among the most common options homeowners in the Orange County, CA area explore when replacing their entry door. They’re stunning. They make a very distinct statement. And as we like to tell folks, they effectively create a grand entrance.

Let’s look at some contemporary examples that we’ve installed from our Entry Door Galleries.

We’ll start with one that provides distinct contrast.

What we have here is a quality Therma-Tru fiberglass entry door system with one stationary sidelight (on the right) and another operable sidelight – known as an ‘uneven pair.’ These are extremely popular because they add a lot of extra space to the entrance, making moving large objects like furniture in and out of the home easier. It has Extra White 5-lite windows with Rain privacy glass and smooth skin factory-painted Salty Dog.

We installed this in the Diamond Bar, CA area.

Another somewhat similar example can be seen in the image we chose for the primary image to today’s article.

Let’s take another look.

This is another Therma-Tru model with an operable sidelite, but with Chord privacy glass and a Mahogany grain that’s been factory stained Mulberry.

Case Study: A Customer Was So Impressed They Wrote Their Own

Learn The Basics Of Our High-End Classic Or Traditional Entry Doors

Discover Why Stout Craftsman Doors Have Been Around Forever 

 

We installed this for a wonderful family in the Anaheim, CA area (explore our Service Areas).

Is Demolition Involved In These Installations?

Generally speaking, no. In most cases, if you’ve got an existing door with a side window separated by stucco and drywall, we’ll leave that alone. We’re not going to be busting these kinds of framing out to install new systems.

Most of our installations already have the setup where everything is in the same frame, all framed in and built as a single unit. The other more common arrangement is replacing double doors with a single door and either one or two sidelights.

Our installations take 4 to 6 hours as a general rule. On the lower end are single doors, with double doors in the middle and sidelight systems on the higher end.

What Are The Primary Benefits Of Entry Doors With Sidelights?

Along with adding more space to the entryway with operable sidelights, they let more light in (eliminating or reducing dependency on electrical lighting in the entryway). They illuminate! And, if you choose a more transparent glass, it lets more nature in as well. However, many homeowners choose different types of privacy glass.

They also add to your property value’s bottom line.

Let’s not forget the added security benefit. With certain types of glass, when the doorbell rings or someone knocks, you can simply glance outside and see who it is without the need for a peephole.

Finally, many cats and dogs love to lounge in the natural light by the door on hot days.

Interested? Reach Out To The Professionals For More Info

If you’re interested in improving your Orange County home’s entryway with a door with sidelights, but have questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to Contact Today’s Entry Doors.

We’re your local entry door specialists with all the answers. We’ll be happy to take the time and walk with you through the specifics, options, and potential until you’re fully informed. Thanks so much for your time today, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Identity, Door Installation, Doors, Therma-Tru

Learn About Premium Side Entry Doors Here In Orange County

January 26, 20220

High-Caliber Orange County Side Entry Doors
Learn The Basics About Our Models

At Today’s Entry Doors, we specialize in complete front door systems in the Orange County, CA area. We’ve been specializing in these high-end products for decades, but we also install Side Entry Doors as well.

Do we install a ton of them? No. A local homeowner rarely calls us to install a side entry door by itself. But that’s not to say we wouldn’t want to do a stand-alone side door if you needed. We would be happy to!

What typically happens is we’re hired for a full-service front door installation. Then after they see how excellent our products and service/installations are, they have us replace one or two other doors on the home that are in desperate need.

In fact, you can learn about one such situation in our Corbett Case Study.

  • Note: We don’t do interior doors, only exterior doors.
  • Side Entry Doors
  • Back Doors
  • Kitchen Entry Doors
  • Laundry Room Entry Doors
  • Other Outside Doors

These are doors where aesthetics and privacy aren’t as big of an issue. Instead, it’s more about updated quality and added security. Keep in mind these side entry doors tend to be skinnier than your standard width doors.

Dig Into The Simple Basics Of Our Premium Rustic-Style Entry Doors

The Common Problems That Can Arise With Poor Door Installation

Why Some Orange County, CA Homeowners Love Contemporary Entry Doors

 

They come from two of our select manufacturers: Therma-TruMasonite.

Let’s look at a few examples from our Entry Door Galleries. We’ll start with this one here in the popular dutch style.

This is a 30 x 80’’ fiberglass Dutch side entry door from Masonite, with a 5-lite SDL with Clear glass and smooth skin that’s been factory painted White. While it’s hard to see, it also has a ClearView retractable screen.

We installed that for a wonderful family in the Huntington Beach area.

Here’s another one, this time from Therma-Tru.

This is a Therma-Tru S6022 fiberglass side entry door with a 9-lite SDL with Clear glass and smooth skin that’s been factory-painted Surf.

We installed this one for a family in Orange, CA.

This leads to one of our common questions,

Are There Limited Options With These Exterior Doors?

While it might seem so on the surface compared to the more extravagant front door systems, it’s not necessarily the case. You can have full glass, half glass, 3/4ths glass, retractable blinds, dutch, utility doors, etc.

And keep in mind these are much higher quality side entry doors than you’ll find on the floor of major big box home improvement stores.

Plus, with us, you get long-term performance, a Lifetime Warranty, our ultra-professional turnkey process, and more. Let’s look at one more then we’ll wrap this article up.

How beautiful!

This is another one from Therma-Tru; a double side entry door with 8-lite SDL and again Clear glass. The skin is smooth (most homeowners don’t bother with wood grains with their side entry doors) and factory-painted Extra White. The screen is a DuraGuard from ProVia.

We installed this in a gorgeous home in Brea, CA.

Need Quality Side Entry Doors? Call The Experts!

If you’re interested in a new side entry door for your Orange County, CA home but have some questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and Contact Today’s Entry Doors.

As mentioned, we most often install these as part of front door projects, but we’re always happy to take the time to educate local homeowners. All of our staff are legitimate exterior door experts! Thanks so much for your time today, and as always, we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Identity, Door Installation, Doors, Entry Doors, Therma-Tru

The Basics Of Our High-End Classic Or Traditional Entry Doors

January 14, 20220

Classic / Traditional Doors have been around forever. We’ve been installing them for decades in the Orange County area. Interestingly, we find that customers who are interested in Traditional Doors tend to be older. 

Why?

Because these types of entry doors are styled to be more old school! They present a specific traditional look, and for the older generations they’re FAMILIAR. This style has been around for, well, forever.

Our customers who choose the traditional look want something subtler, without all the flamboyant or decorative bells and whistles. They want a door that matches their older-styled home and looks OUTSTANDING!

Here’s a great example from our Entry Door Galleries that we installed in the Orange, CA area.

What you have here is a classic 60×80 (double 30’’) Jeld-Wen fiberglass entry door system with a mahogany grain, factory-stained Caramel. It’s got special Q glass with a Dark Patina caming and Emtek Saratoga hardware in Oil-Rubbed Bronze.

What Is Caming?

Caming is the grooved, metal bars that hold textured glass and bevels in place. It creates a beautiful design and is an attractive choice for decorative doorglass. 

As you can see, it’s incredibly inviting but solid, straightforward, and minimally accentuated. If you want to see what the epitome of this style looks like, here’s another center-arch design with multi-panel.

This is another Jeld-Wen model from the Aurora Estate line with mahogany skin, factory-strained Chappo. It also sports Q glass, and with Patina caming. While hard to see, it’s complemented by a ProVia DuraGuard screen in blue. We installed this for a nice family in the Westminster, CA area.

Where do you usually find these? In well-established neighborhoods. They tend to give off that ‘Welcome home!” vibe that refreshes the look of the property without drastically changing the overall aesthetic.

See Whether Your New Entry Door Can Be Protected From Sunlight

Dig Into The Specifics Regarding Entry Door Sidelights & Transoms

Learn About The Family Behind The Today’s Entry Door Company

 

Ornate, but simple; refined, but elegant; softer wooden colors, but charming. You’ll typically see curved lines with raised paneling and a hint of Victorian-styling with the glass choices.

Let’s look at a third example.

This is another Fiberglass Entry Door from Masonite.

What differs is that the top half is Harlow Glass with an Antique Black caming, then a classic two-panel design takes up the bottom. The grain is oak, complemented with a factory-stained Antique Oak. We installed this for an older couple in the Laguna Hills, CA area – feel free to check out our Service Areas section to see if we install entry doors in your neck of the woods.

In Summary: Consult Your Local Entry Door Experts

Interested in updating your home with a high-quality, custom fiberglass classic or traditional door and have questions or concerns? Reach out and Contact Us! Today’s Entry Doors is the premier entry door company in all of Southern California, and we have the answers.

We’re happy to make an effort and talk with you as much as you need. Thanks for your time, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Doors, Door Installation, Entry Door Brands, Entry Door Comparisons, Entry Doors, Masonite, Products, Therma-Tru

Best Exterior Doors for Cold Climate

November 9, 20210

What Are The Best Exterior Doors For A Cold Climate?

Brrrr… who left the front door open?

Was that you?

Or, is it so chilly in this article today because your old entry door needs an upgrade?

When considering what kind of exterior door to get as a replacement, we’re here to help. After over a decade of focusing on nothing but exterior residential doors and installations, we know how important it is to consider the way the summer & winter months impact your entry doors over time.

While we don’t live in the Northern sector of Energy Star’s climate zones (in the image below), many of the benefits of exterior doors designed for cold climates are popular everywhere!

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s talk a little about how doors are rated in terms of energy efficiency — their ability to stand as a bulwark between your indoor environment and the harsh elements outside.

A quote directly from ENERGY-STAR on this very subject:

“Many doors don’t have any glass, but even doors with lots of glass like a sliding patio door have lower glass-to-frame ratios than windows or skylights. This means doors can provide more insulation than a window or skylight can. Performance criteria for doors are based on the amount of glass they have (called glazing level) and ratings certified by the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC).”

Key Takeaway: The two most important determining factors of what makes one door better for colder climates over another are:

  1. insulation
  2. glazing/glass.

Great, are you ready to get a bit nerdy?

Here is the actual breakdown for doors on U-Factor ratings as well as Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) from Energy Star for your reference:

Pro Tip-the lower the U-Factor the better insulating the door (similar to a high R-Factor in an insulated wall).

For Southern California a low SHGC means less loss of your interior cooling from the sun’s heat.

The three tips they give homeowners to help them navigate towards entry doors for the northern climate zones are as follows:

  • Install entry doors with high-quality, multiple panes of glass. The double or triple-paned insulated glass will reduce heat loss.
  • Fiberglass doors with a tight-fit polyurethane foam core are among the most energy-efficient door materials on the market.
  • New models have tighter-fit framing systems that include quality seals and improved weather stripping.

To dig a bit deeper let’s look at a visual snippet from one of our manufacturer brochures — Therma-Tru. Below is the 2020 Energy Star Qualification Chart of three door models from their Classic-Craft, Opaque & Lip-Lite Fiberglass line.

The numbers in the graph show you what the energy efficiency ratings are like for different kinds of glass. The blue color denotes northern climate zones:

The good news is that when you work with professionals, their product specialists can walk you through this information in person based on what’s best for your home and budget.

Right now we’re just showing you some of the numbers involved.

A second example from another one of our manufacturers, Masonite, shows you the full breakdown of all the different kinds of glazing/glass in their Vista Grande line of fiberglass doors.

Don’t let the wall of figures scare you. Just keep the Energy Star climate zone ratings in mind for Northern Climates and get a rough idea for the types of glass that deliver ideal ratings. Along with mini blinds and grids, the choices are straightforward:

Note the much higher numbers for their Particleboard Core options. We do not install these, but it gives you an idea of what the efficiency ratings are for different materials.

This is why at Today’s Entry Doors, we only install the most energy-efficient fiberglass doors available for our customers. They’re the best of both worlds.

Whether you live in a cold climate or a more tropical one…our manufacturers have delivered everything you could ever need.

The Primary Benefits Of Fiberglass Doors In Cold California Winters & Across The Country

You Get To Enjoy Far Superior Insulation Value

Whether you opt for a fiberglass entry door insulated with polyurethane or particleboard, you get vetted and verified performance.

Why do they typically provide close to 5X the insulation effectiveness of solid wood or wood-core entry doors? Because of their layers:

  1. The frame of the door (stiles & rails) is specially manufactured from powerful, moisture-proof composite material. This is to erase any chance of mold, mildew, termites, and rotting.
  2. The core, which can be insulated with a variety of materials. The most common is polyurethane foam, which is better sound proofing for doors.
  3. The skin is high-impact, compression-molded fiberglass.

You Get More Cold Weather (Moisture) Resistance

How do iron or steel doors hold up in cold weather with minimal maintenance?

How about all-natural wood?

When it comes to rain, wind, and hail, the modern fiberglass doors we install are near weather-PROOF. This is due to their totally uniform design without any cracks, breaks, or seems for the weather to get into.

You Get Comparable Levels Of Strength To Wood & Steel

When you compare strength between traditional wooden doors, metal doors, and fiberglass doors you have to be specific. For example, a completely solid iron door and a wrought iron fiberglass door are different, but what can your home’s entry door frame handle?

There’s literally no limit to what money can buy, but in most residential contexts, these three materials ALL perform well. The advantages of fiberglass are that if/when their strength is truly called upon, fiberglass isn’t going to dent. It resists scratches. It doesn’t rust, rot, warp, bow, peel…and so on.

You Get Outstanding Warranty Coverage Even In Harsh Zones

At the end of the day, because of the quality of these entry door slabs and framing systems, you get the absolute best coverage possible — LIFETIME. What’s important is to work with a great installer like Today’s Entry Doors with a long history of successful service.

Wrapping Up: Well-Insulated Entry Doors With Specialized Glazing Are Ideal For Cold Climates

The only thing that can outperform those is a custom-made or tailor-made entry door. At Today’s Entry Doors, we can help you with those as well…that is if you live in our Orange County, California neck of the woods. Otherwise, now you know what kinds of doors to look for in cold climates: well-insulated with appropriate glazing, ideally multi-pane, and from one of America’s top manufacturers.