Question 1

How do I know it’s time to replace my front door?

Accepted Answer

Three signs we see most often: drafts you can feel along the edge in winter, a door that sticks or has to be slammed (the frame has shifted), and any visible rot, warping, or daylight around the threshold. If your door is steel and 25+ years old, the foam core is probably broken down and it’s costing you more in heat than a new fiberglass door would.

Question 2

Wood, fiberglass, or steel — which holds up best in St. Louis?

Accepted Answer

Fiberglass for 6 in 10 of our installs. STL humidity warps wood and rusts steel; fiberglass does neither, holds paint a decade-plus, and insulates better than the other two. We still recommend solid wood for historic homes with deep covered porches — there’s no substitute for real grain. Steel we mostly use for back doors and rentals.

Question 3

Can I add sidelights, a transom, or change the size?

Accepted Answer

Yes — within your existing rough opening. Most houses can take 14–24″ sidelights on one or both sides plus a rectangular or arched transom above without any structural work. If your vision requires widening the opening or changing the header, that's framing work outside our scope — we'll point you to a framer we trust, then come back and install the door once the opening is ready.

Question 4

Will a smart lock work with the new door?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Schlage Encode, August, Yale Assure, or any brand you bring. We mortise it clean, run the battery-side wiring inside the door, and align the strike plate so the deadbolt catches every time (the one thing most other crews skip). App pairing on your phone is a 2-minute setup you handle through the manufacturer app. Our scope ends at the door — no electrical work, no sensor cables run through walls.

Question 5

Will a new front door actually lower my energy bill?

Accepted Answer

Modestly, yes. A modern fiberglass entry with proper weatherstripping and a flashed sill is roughly 4–5× more energy-efficient than a 1980s steel door. Most clients see a $10–25/month winter heating drop and — the bigger thing — the porch stops feeling cold from 6 feet away.

Question 6

Do I have to paint the door and trim after install?

Accepted Answer

Yes — unless you ordered a factory pre-finished door, most doors arrive primed only and need to be painted after install (the door and the trim). Painting is required to keep our workmanship warranty valid — primed surfaces left unpainted will swell, crack, and fail in STL humidity. We cut the trim clean and leave it ready for your painter.

Question 7

Can you match my existing stain or paint color?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We coordinate factory pre-finishing through the manufacturer — paint matched off a chip from your existing trim, or stain matched to a sample. Availability depends on the door style, material, and finish you pick, so we confirm after the measure which options can ship pre-finished. For everything else, a finish painter handles it on-site after install.

Question 8

Do I need a permit for a front-door replacement in St. Louis?

Accepted Answer

For a like-for-like replacement (same opening size, no structural change), most St. Louis County and City municipalities don't require a permit. Any structural work — widening the opening, changing the header — is outside our scope; your framer will handle the permit for that phase.

Question 9

Do you make the doors yourselves?

Accepted Answer

No — we install. We work with Therma-Tru, Pella, Andersen, Masonite, Jeld-Wen, Steves & Sons, and Codel. The advantage is we're not locked into one brand: we recommend the door that fits your house, your weather exposure, and your budget.

Question 10

How long does the install actually take?

Accepted Answer

Most jobs are 4–6 hours. Old slab and frame come out, rough opening is checked and flashed, new door is plumbed and shimmed, weatherstrip seated, casing cut to your existing trim, and the jobsite is vacuumed before we leave.

Old door out, new one in — by lunch.

What an install morning actually looks like.

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What we recommend, based on 6,480 installs a year.

What we install — and how we do it.

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What we do — and what we won't.

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Front-door questions, answered straight.

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