Door Replacement 101 – Part 1: Signs You Need a Door Replacement

Doors are constantly exposed to the harsh elements, allowing for damage that negatively affects their longevity and performance. If they are get worn and start to fail, your exterior doors may also compromise your home’s look and feel. The solution? Door replacement. This project offers a number of benefits, greatly enhancing your home’s beauty, comfort and energy efficiency.

Investing in this project, however, requires perfect timing. You’ll want to make the most of your door’s remaining service life, after all. At the same time, you don’t want to wait until too much damage has occurred to get replacements. Take note of the following telling signs to known when a door replacement is due:

• Difficulties in Operation. Sticking and jamming are obvious indications of door failure, making it hard to open or close your units properly. This cannot be easily remedied by new hardware either, as difficulties in operation can indicate something more serious, like warping. This occurs when extreme thermal changes cause your doors to shrink or expand. Warping, plus the gaps between the door and the threshold eventually results in a stuck or jammed door.
• Obvious Signs of Damage. These may include cracks, gaps, chips, corrosion and rot on window frames. Peeling paint, faded finishes or trim color, and chipped or broken glass are other indications. Put them altogether and your doors–plus your home, by extension–will not be earning curb appeal points anytime soon.
• Increased Energy Costs. Any penetration, like gaps and cracks, on your exterior doors run the risk of energy loss. These openings make it easier for outside air to leak inside your home and heated air from the inside to escape, compromising indoor thermal stability. Because your HVAC system will work harder to normalize temperature inside your home, it will use up more electricity, leading to higher energy bills.

If you’ve noticed most or all of these indications on your existing doors, don’t hesitate to call a premier door company for replacements. New door units can alleviate all of these issues, ensuring many years of superior performance.

Wondering how to choose the right new doors ? Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog series to learn more about the factors you should take into consideration during the selection process.