advice on basement doors?

well, my thing is not energy efficiency. i like old drafty wood doors finished with products that have been banned in Europe. but me thinks if you have filed permits, they will make you install energy rated doors (i have some catching up to do in this dept and am hoping to get the LEED certification). i doubt the single storm door will meet their rating. this can be looked up on line but i don’t have time to do this now. maybe Jim Hill of urban pioneering can pipe in here?

justinromeu26

in General Discussion 1 year and 7 months ago

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Guest User | 1 year and 7 months ago

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We need two new basement doors, energy rated, one in front leading to under the stoop, the other leading to stairs going up to the back yard. I don’t know whether it makes sense to have the front door have glass- since it opens onto the under-the-stoop area, not much light could get in. For the back door, the first few feet after the door will be under a deck, so again not great light but we would like to optimize what light there is, so maybe full lite. Our GC says to pick a style at Lowes or Home Depot and he will get something similar but better. It would be nice to have screens for summer. I assume that mean a separate door; is it always possible to install two doors in one doorway? What price range should we be looking at? Steel, fiberglass, wood, aluminum? I feel very ignorant!

justinromeu26 | 1 year and 7 months ago

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be aware that the height on the front under stoop entrance may not be the standard height for a modern, off-the-shelf door. i get people calling me asking me to rebuild their old under stoop doors and really it is not worth it. depending on the age of your house and the r/o of the current opening it may mean you have to remove a stone lintel. this will become a job.

of course, i hate anything but wood doors. if i were you under there, i could consider fiberglass. less maintenance. wood will eventually have the problems that the old wood doors have.

it is common to have a storm door in front of another door, yes. that storm door will have to open out and you will have to be sure you have all around clearance for that but my real concern is up top.

Your contractor says find one at lowes or HD and he will source a better door. Look, you are not putting a quality wood door in there so why go any better? it is under the stoop. don’t spend a lot of money on this and as much as i hate to admit it, the doors at HD or lowes will do the trick.

IF yo u decide to go wood, do what he says and pick a style and let him find a better door but be careful, most contractors today do not know what a good door is and they might go for a name that made good doors 20 years ago but makes garbage now (jeld wynn. i purchased from HD and modified a stave built jeld wynn door twenty something years ago and installed it the entry of a house in sunnyside where it sits today; jeld wynn doors are no longer built from staves and are now garbage).

My concern with the wood doors, even “quality” Simpson doors is that the veneers are so thin now that the moisture will cause the veneer to pop if used under the stoop.

People try to get me to custom make under stoop doors and i have to be frank with them and tell them you don’t want to spend that kind of money under the stoop.

Get around the height issue and you have a lot of options.

Guest User | 1 year and 7 months ago

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Thanks, Homeinspector! One frustrating thing is that when we first got the house (almost 3 years ago) my husband built an under-the-stoop door (the existing one was non-existent). But the GC says the DOB will insist on an energy-rated door. Do you know if that is true or whether we could perhaps add a storm/screen door to provide energy efficiency? My husband also built a back door, from old interior doors we brought from Ithaca, but that door is too exposed to the elements, so I can understand the need for a new door.