Category: Door Buying Guides

Once you’ve decided to purchase a fiberglass door, the next step is price comparison and quality assurance. Various factors can raise and lower the fiberglass entry door price, and it’s important to consider quality and lasting capabilities as it will make an impact on the overall costs associated with upkeep and replacement.

What are my deciding factors?

The average fiberglass entry door price can range anywhere from $200 to $1,500, with higher-quality doors running $2,000-$3,000 plus. A multitude of factors contribute to fiberglass door pricing and are crucial to consider when searching for the fiberglass door to meet your financial and quality needs.

Fiberglass entry door prices depend on a wide range of factors:

• Unit size: width, height, and number of panels
• Single vs Double Doors
• Doorlite options: sidelites, transoms
• Door jamb options: wood, metal, or composite material
• Door glass insert treatment
• Door finish: if the door comes pre-painted or pre-finished
• energy efficiency score
• required hardware (i.e. locks) on the door
• additional customizations

Unfinished fiberglass doors will start on the lower end of the cost spectrum ($200-$300) while wood-grain varieties with glass paneling run anywhere between $600-$1,200. You’ll hit the $2,000-plus spend threshold with very high-end fiberglass exterior doors.

Fiberglass makes a valuable exterior door material

While typically more expensive than their steel counterparts, fiberglass entry doors are still an extremely cost-effective way to ensure the entryway to any home is energy efficient (saving customers money in the long run) and stylish.

Plastpro offers a variety of fiberglass doors with a number of features including various textures, wood-grains, and decorative glass options. Larger glass inserts will generally cost more than doors with small or no glass inserts.

Replacing an entry door, if needed, is one of the best home investments one can make. It costs less than larger undertakings and significantly increases the value of the home, as well as affects the aesthetic (after all, the front door is the first thing most people see entering the home). The durable, low-maintenance nature of a fiberglass door helps add to its value as well.

Consider a higher budget for modern door glass inserts

Factors like glass inserts have value-added characteristics that can up the price of the door. If natural light or modern glass doors are something you value, consider allocating part of your budget for these upgrades. Additionally, some glass inserts are made up of energy efficient or “low-E” glass, giving them higher insulation ability and better solar control. The frame that holds the glass may have different performance factors that affect cost, and the manufacturing process can play a role in door cost as well.

Multiple-paned glass inserts, glass with special coatings, and as previously mentioned, low-E glass, will run the price higher although creating aesthetic features for your front door.

Buying new is typically the best investment

Spending more—and buying new—can be a good investment, especially when it comes to exterior doors. By buying a higher-priced, energy-efficient fiberglass door, you can save more on heating and cooling costs in the home. Choosing a door that’s cost reflects its durability and strength will lead to less potential weather damage and less upkeep requirements.

The higher quality the product, the higher your initial costs will be—however, the payoff of quality and sustainability with fiberglass doors is certainly worth the price tag.

Check out Plastpro’s Where to Buy page to find the closest distributor for exterior fiberglass doors & door pricing.

Energy efficiency, environmental compatibility and sustainability are top-of-mind for businesses and consumers alike. But when thinking about energy efficient homes, how do front doors contribute? Outlined below are the top factors to consider when choosing an energy efficient front door as well as where to buy these fiberglass doors.

Look for Low-E glass panels

The ideal energy efficient front doors utilize Low-E glass paneling to help reduce the transfer of energy, minimizing the in-home temperature fluctuation by reflecting the interior temperatures within the home’s walls. Low-E, or low-emissivity glass, was designed to minimize the infrared and ultraviolet light entering through the glass. Not to worry—this won’t affect the amount of visible light that enters the home.

Unbeknownst to many, an estimated 70% of energy loss occurs as a result of windows and doors, 90% of which occurs through the glass, making energy efficient alternatives like Low-E glass panels crucial to keeping air conditioning within the home.

In addition to Low-E glass panels, weatherstripping, or the application of an insulating strip around the exterior door’s perimeter, helps avoid air and heat flow by adding an additional barrier between the home and outdoors.

Fiberglass makes the best exterior door material

Fiberglass doors: or fiberglass composite, are the best option for energy efficiency. They’re light, durable, and long lasting. Plastpro’s advanced fiberglass doors for example also utilize a dense polyurethane foam core, which makes them even more energy efficient. Choose from a number of different textures paired with fiberglass door stains or paints and you won’t need to compromise appearance in the name of energy compliance.

Since fiberglass is a poor heat and electric conductor, it offers nearly four times the insulating R-value of wooden doors (the higher the R-value, the more effective insulator the material). Fiberglass makes for extremely weather-resistant doors, so heat loss will be minimal.

Steel doors: which when filled with higher quality, higher priced insulated foam are energy efficient themselves—however, when glass is added to the door, it loses all energy efficiency. Glass acts as a poor insulator, letting heat out and cold in during the winter, and vice versa in the summer.

Vinyl doors: are energy efficient and provide sufficient thermal insulation, blocking heat and cool air from entering the home. However, they have a shorter lifespan than their fiberglass counterparts and are therefore less cost-effective and efficient overall.

Wooden doors: are the worst insulators and therefore the least energy efficient. Wood absorbs heat and can even cause additional counterproductive heat flow.

Why choose energy efficient front doors?

Thorough insulation through proper exterior material selection is a key way to reduce interior energy consumption (and, as a result, building operation costs). Energy efficient products seal out outside elements, using a third less energy than their non-efficient counterparts. ENERGY STAR quality doors, like those Plastpro sells, keep the home better insulated and running more efficiently, drastically reducing energy bills.

Energy efficient front doors are also a unique selling point to homeowners, saving them money and reducing their “energy footprint”—these doors help lessen electricity usage and costs, lowering bills, improving overall comfort and, of course, helping the environment.

Plastpro is committed to energy efficiency and sustainability

Fiberglass doors are a green alternative to steel and wood doors, among others, for a multitude of reasons, including their long lifespan, energy efficiency and small environmental impact. Fiberglass materials are designed to last for decades and prevail against time and corrosive agents, leading to less overall waste. Plastpro fiberglass doors’ significant lifecycle also means fewer resources are required for frequent manufacturing, less maintenance for upkeep, and as a result, they are overall more cost-effective.

Plastpro utilizes fiberglass technology, taking advantage of one of the most energy-efficient products available in door construction. Plastpro is committed to environmental preservation and creates sustainable products, balancing environmental, economic and social goals. Learn more about Plastpro’s Energy Star Ratings and efficiency test results on Plastpro’s Energy Efficiency page.

Check out Plastpro’s Where to Buy page to find the closest distributor for energy efficient fiberglass front doors & doors with Low-E glass paneling. 

Tom Quackenbush, the managing partner at Glenwood Homes, responded to one main observation when he founded a homebuilding company that strives to balance quality results, functional floorplans, and reasonable prices. What did he observe? A lack of new, single-family homes in Raleigh, N.C., that were at the right price point for the average family.

When Glenwood Homes opened its doors in 2017, its staff members brought with them decades of experience, along with existing supplier relationships that had been carefully crafted over time.

Currently, the company’s team of four builders and four staff members constructs 250 single-family homes each year. “We are able to build high-quality homes in an affordable price range because of the connections we’ve built,” says Guy Dark, purchasing manager for Glenwood Homes. “For this reason, we’ve been profitable from day one. We build nice, spacious homes that aren’t caught up in overly fancy trends.”

Responsible for procuring building materials—from windows and doors to lighting and appliances—Dark nurtures lasting supplier relationships and secures pricing that gives Glenwood Homes an edge. Many of the company’s partnerships are based on connections Dark created years ago when he worked for other builders.

Although price may be what attracts homeowners, Dark says it’s the high level of service that keeps them happy—and Glenwood Homes can only offer that level of service through trusted relationships with vendors.

“We use name-brand products because brand recognition sells homes and drives sales,” he explains. “I’m always on the hunt for better products that fit into my budget. You find that sweet spot with a vendor that puts out a quality product you can afford—and they stand behind it.”

The company’s partnership with Plastpro is a prime example: After learning about Plastpro at a tradeshow nearly a decade ago, Dark was intrigued by the manufacturer’s fiberglass entry doors. He got to know the company and its products, did some negotiating, and decided to give the doors a try.

“The quality of the doors was equal to or even better than what we were using at the time,” he explains. “The pricing is good, the styles we need are there, their supply chain is good, they can get the product out to distributors and installers, and they always stand behind their doors.”

Today, he feels so strongly about the partnership that, when he was searching for a new lumber supplier, Dark had one stipulation: If the new lumber supplier wanted to work with Glenwood Homes, then it had to use Plastpro doors.

After getting its start in Raleigh, Glenwood Homes has now expanded into the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area and is moving toward the East Coast. By next year, Dark says the company plans to ramp up to 350 units per year. Connections with vendors like Plastpro will be even more crucial to maintain the balance between competitive pricing and superior quality.

“Relationships are the key to this business,” says Dark, “especially on the purchasing end. I have trade partners that have been with me for 30 years. We take good care of our partners, and they take good care of us.”

Originally Published by Architect Magazine:

Plastpro’s own Herb Martin has some tips and tricks to share, keeping your door buying process mistake-free!

Just a few years ago, the owner of a new multifamily complex in the Pacific Northwest chose fiberglass entry doors in the hopes of reducing future maintenance and ensuring long-term durability.

Not long after installation, however, the doors wouldn’t seal. Entry doors should last for decades, but these were failing much sooner.

Although they were constructed of fiberglass, the doors had exposed edges made of wood, which the owner discovered after their installation. Once the doors were subjected to rain and extreme temperatures, their wood stiles and rails absorbed moisture, and the doors needed to be replaced.

Sometimes these lessons are learned the hard way, says Herb Martin, Plastpro’s district sales manager. Choosing the right material—fiberglass, wood, or steel—can mean the difference between a door that lasts for decades and one that fails within a few years.

Keep Weather in Mind

Wood is full of character, but its longevity can be affected by sunlight, rain, hail, wind, and extreme temperatures, which can cause fading, twisting, splitting, and rotting. “Wood doors need to be treated like furniture,” Martin says. “Based on my experiences, you must maintain them every six months.”

Steel, although stronger than wood, may corrode when exposed to the elements. Once rust reaches the exterior, the door’s integrity has been compromised. Steel is also susceptible to dents and dings that can exacerbate its potential to rust.

And despite the experience at the multifamily complex, fiberglass doors can withstand extreme environmental conditions if they are designed and constructed correctly. They can also endure wear and tear and require little maintenance. If you choose fiberglass, look for doors that are composite on all edges, such as fiberglass doors from Plastpro.

Testing for Brutal Conditions

Not only must entry doors survive day-to-day environmental changes, but they also need to hold up in severe weather. Extensive third-party testing can provide information about the physical and structural capabilities of a door. For example, testing has revealed that steel and wood are susceptible to damage from flying debris during high winds; they can also break or fail when pressure develops behind the door.

Compared with wood or steel, fiberglass doors have high impact resistance and are not easily penetrated, dented, or cracked. For example, during design pressure testing, Plastpro doors may bend when pressure builds; however, when used with composite stiles and rails, they will return to their original position after pressure is released.

Because entry doors are typically installed during rough framing, they must also tolerate impact from toolbelts and workers carrying materials in and out of the building or home. “Especially with steel, there are often expensive callbacks where a door needs to be serviced soon after installation because it was damaged during construction,” Martin explains.

Sustainability at Every Level

The first question many architects and owners ask when selecting a door is how to make a sustainable, responsible choice, Martin says.

With high insulating values, steel outperforms wood in terms of energy efficiency. Fiberglass doors offer the highest reduction in energy use because they’re manufactured with a high-density, insulating foam, which helps maintain interior air temperatures. And because fiberglass lasts for decades, the doors are replaced less often, keeping waste out of the landfill.

“Today, high-end homes averaging between $1.2 million and $1.6 million are now using fiberglass,” Martin says. “It has to do with durability, maintenance, and energy efficiency, but it’s also based on looks: the shadow lines and the crisp detail the doors offer.”

Originally Published by Architect Magazine: