seriously? $500 for a door?
 

when i bought my house last winter, i noticed with chicago's horrid weather that the door that comes from my attached garage into my laundry room doesn't seal. upon closer inspection, it seems like the door itself is bowed. so been meaning to do a bit of door shopping. asked around a couple of locals and so far $500 is the ballpark figure.

seriously? all i really need is a simple plain door that's straight. home depot has all these fancy entry doors with glass and finished wood grain and stuff. not what i need. i just need a plain old 80x30 slab of wood (or maybe fiberglass) with holes cutout for door knob.

where should i go?

If the door is between the garage and any living space, it's most likely a fire rated door. It's code around here, and should be everywhere. Still, it won't be $500. Closer to $300. Go to HD or Lowes and pick up a new one. Easy to install.

hmm didn't think about the fire rating. good point.

Most doors come hung in a frame, not by themselves, but you should be able to get a good door from HD/Lowes for $250-400. Installing isn't too bad.

A 6 panel steel door meets the code. HD and Lowes should have it cheap enough.

If you buy just a slab, you'll need to mortise it for hinges and bore for the doorknob/deadbolt to match the existing door knob striker.

Not all steel doors are fire-rated, nor are fire doors all the same rating. Also, fire-rated doors must have spring loaded hinges or automatic closer. God forbid something should happen... I wouldn't want to be asking myself why I cheaped out on a regular door. Be safe and do the right thing.

Never seen a fire rated door on a house with spring closure unless that is new code in the last year or so.

Menards has steel skinned doors for less than $200. Check for fire rating, but the local building inspector will probably tell you it just needs to be steel clad. Call your local building department.

Never seen a fire rated door on a house with spring closure unless that is new code in the last year or so.

Menards has steel skinned doors for less than $200. Check for fire rating, but the local building inspector will probably tell you it just needs to be steel clad. Call your local building department.

Positively must be fire rated. Spring loaded NOT required for residential single home dwelling.
Are you pricing a pre-hung (jamb, etc.)? Are you sure your door is bowed or is it incorrectly hung on the hinges or loose, or is the jamb incorrectly set?

By the way, there are lots of crap doors to watch out for, especially from retailers like Menards or other discounters. For example, Crestline are known to sweat and suck mosture in and mold grows inside the door foam. I've seen this on many of them. I've also seen this on Pella brand doors (over-rated products). Upper end model Jeld-Wen are good. Marvin makes a terrific line of doors but I'm not sure of them offering a garage door.

$300 should get you an excellent pre-hung. Sales everywhere in Chicago and all are negotiable. I know from building experience. Good luck to you. Scott

So you think removing a door and its trim, fitting and shimming the new door, then replacing the trim and painting it is easy?

Go for it.

Menards...dear lord. That place sells garbage.

Will replacing the weather stripping solve the problem?

As has been said above, you almost certainly will want to buy a door pre-installed in a frame, which naturally you'll be charged extra for - a lot of times almost double the "door only" price. If you're absolutely certain you can get the door to work with your existing frame without having to set and re-set the hinges a million times (mangling the screw holes in the process) then maybe you can save a few bucks and go "door only" but I wouldn't recommend it. Whoever owned my house last obviously tried to go this "cheap" route on a couple of the doors and the frames are butchered beyond belief where the hinges were obviously hung and re-hung several times to get it right so the door would swing freely and not bind. With a metal door/frame this would be even worse. The easiest and simplest way to go is to measure your R.O. and get a door plus frame, pre-hung, to fit that opening, shim it as necessary to make it level and square, attach, install your hardware and call it a day.

If a fire rating is required, you will pay more for a rated door assembly. You also need to consider whether it requires or should have a smoke seal.

Is the garage heated? If not, you probably want a decent-quality, insulated metal or solid wood door. Stay away from hollow core doors (even for interior spaces). Pure crap.

I was at HD to get some of the part for the back yard proj. While looking at the door, similar to the below pic but normal size, and thought that I will get it soon, after I am done with some of my small projs. After hearing the price from the guy there, I dropped my jaw and just back out of the section, between $6k to $7k.
http://myirondoors.com/images/Doors/...ouble-door.jpg

For less than that you most certainly can get something custom-made. And installed.

Also keep in mind that the specs for stuff sold at home despot, lowes, etc. are oftentimes inferior to the spec used for rep-sold or distributor-sold products to contractors. Your mileage may vary but I've run into this several times (door hardware, electrical components, plumbing stuff - same mfr & model - vastly different quality and build spec)

If you're spending a lot on a door as a design piece (not just to meet a functional or code requirement) you're better off going through a vendor/rep than to the local big box joint.

We had a new front door and storm door put in. I was smart enough to realize I wanted a pro to do it. It was amazing to watch him work. He had a helper that was a step and fetch it guy and extra muscle. He took down the old door & threshold and had everything back in place in short order. The first thing he did was throw away the instructions. :)

All new locks and hardware hung perfect so it closes the way it should is just a few hours.

My only part was going to the door place and hauling it home and setting up a place in my garage so my wife could paint it before the door guy hung it.

It is a far better installation than the builders door.

Trying to hang a door yourself will give you a healthy respect for journeyman carpenters.

If you do it yourself, get a pre-hung door. When installing it (plumb and level), start at the hinge-side.

I know you know a lot about construction. In our jurisdiction we can't dap or bore a fire door. In order to get the label we have to let the distributor do it.

That's OK because I don't want to dull my boring bit on all that crap inside the door.

How's that? Tape measure skilz? ...maybe that they have the 'skill' of not assuming every thing is square, just because it kind of looks square...

One more thought on this, and this is coming from someone who's an ardent DIY-er who HATES paying other people to do things (my wife and anyone who knows me well will attest to this...), one possible advantage to go with a contractor-installed type of door versus an off-the-shelf, self-installed type of door is you'll typically get a one-year warranty with contractor performed work (labor & materials). With a DIY, maybe you don't care about the labor (or maybe you do) and you may or may not get a warranty on the materials - if you feel like making a claim, sending in a bunch of forms, dealing with bureaucracy, probably getting the claim rejected, having to fight with them for months to maybe get them to stand behind the product... maybe.

Sometimes it just makes sense. Not saying I'd go that way necessarily but it might make sense for some others.

No doubt. I really enjoyed seeing the builders set up this custom 3 panel door in my new garage space. Pretty sure it cost more than $500 too (can't say for sure since it was part of a renovation). It works perfectly.

http://asbury.smugmug.com/By-Land/Pr.../DSC5936-L.jpg
http://asbury.smugmug.com/By-Land/Pr.../DSC5937-L.jpg
Opened up:
http://asbury.smugmug.com/By-Land/Pr.../DSC5949-L.jpg

I just replaced my garage door with a steel encased wood 6panel door from lowes...less than $129 and about 30minutes to install.