How to Choose a Front Door: Wood, Steel or Fiberglass

Provided by Tri-Supply Home Products

The right front door will add style, personality, and curb appeal to any home. With wood, steel, and fiberglass options, choosing the proper exterior doors for your home can feel intimidating. So whether you’re updating your entryway or changing out a back door, this helpful guide can help you decide which type of door will be perfect for your home.

PROS: A wood door’s natural beauty offers an inviting and matchless elegance that gives a home a distinct warmth and aesthetic appeal.

Since wood doors can also be custom-built, unique designs, styles, and size options are almost endless. Depending on taste and style, wood doors can be made from various species such as mahogany, oak, birch, maple, fir, and pine.

CONS: Wood front doors are a gorgeous addition to any home, but they typically have a higher price tag than a fiberglass or steel door. A wood door will also require more maintenance than its counterparts. Wood doors can absorb moisture, which can cause warping, peeling, and even rotting. A porch or overhang is suggested to add extra protection from the elements. Also, compared to fiberglass or steel, wood is a slightly less energy-efficient option for an exterior door.

PROS: A steel door is the most economical choice for an exterior door. With the durability of steel doors, you’ll have less worry about warping and rotting. The pre-primed steel makes them easier to finish and requires very little maintenance to keep them lasting for years.

A steel door’s energy-efficient core will also help keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter, keeping your energy cost down.

CONS: There’s a lot to like about steel doors, but if you want a door with some texture, then wood or fiberglass will be your only options. Steel doors can be dented and scratched, which can lead to rusting if not addressed. Finally, steel doors are primarily made to be painted. If you’re looking for a door to stain, wood or fiberglass is the way to go.

PROS: Fiberglass doors have come a long way since they were first introduced. They are offered in either a smooth or woodgrain textured face, and with technological advances, even the keenest of eyes may not be able to tell a wood door from a textured fiberglass door. You can also get fiberglass doors made with specific wood grains such as mahogany, oak, cherry, knotty alder, etc. Check out GlassCraft’s decorative FiberCraft series, “A look so good; you’ll think it’s wood.” And just like a wood door, they can either be painted or stained. Not only are fiberglass doors the most energy-efficient door on the market, but they also require the least amount of maintenance.

Unlike wood and steel doors, fiberglass is difficult to ding or scratch.

CONS: When it comes to fiberglass doors, it’s hard to find anything negative. A fiberglass door offers the best of both worlds, the beauty, and charm of a wood door along with the minimal maintenance and energy-efficiency of steel. They cost more than a steel door (for now) but are typically more economical than a wood door. The good news is, though, when you purchase a fiberglass door, you are buying a door for life.