I recently purchased an older home without a fire door between the garage (which contains the furnace) and living area. I'd like to install a proper fire door but I'm not clear on whether it would be sufficient to hang a door on the existing wood frame or if a new (metal?) frame would be need to be installed as well. Hoping someone here might know. Thanks in advance.

I'm in So Cal and I replaced mine during a kitchen remodel and had to follow the building code that was in effect when I got my permit. This was a couple of years ago and the door is 20-min fire rated. I haven't seen anything to indicate that it has changed, but if you are getting it permitted, they will let you know at the building department which door you need. Oddly, new building codes required that I add a little landing to the area in the garage where the door opens for "safety" reasons. I almost broke my neck tripping over it, falling off it, etc. dozens of times before I finally got used to it being there. I still can't figure out what makes it safer, as I still trip over it now and then.

My experience with doors is rather limited, but I'll throw out a few thoughts: - In my first house (a small builder-basic ranch house), we had a simple-as-can-be metal door. In retrospect, I loved that thing. It never gave us any trouble; it just worked. I'm sorry I didn't appreciate it more when it was mine. - In our current house, our most used door is wooden with a large leaded glass insert on the top half. Lovely door, but I would never buy such a thing again. Why? The wood swells and shrinks, and at certain times of year I have to "give it a nudge" with my hip to open it. Hate that. Also, after 20+ years of partial sun and a bit of rain, the wood needs refinishing. While this is certainly a do-able task, painting a simple metal door would be less work. - I prefer doors with windows of some sort, especially if the garage door opens into a laundry or mudroom, where it's quite possible that someone could be taking laundry out of the dryer and could be hit by the door -- possibly causing damage to the person or the door. - Last thought: Since your doors are within sight of one another, they should RELATE to one another. They don't have to be identical, but something about them should say, "The same person chose us. On purpose." They might both be red, or they might both have vertical wood pieces. I think it'd be fine if the garage door were a more simple version of the front door.

Don't bother with FG. They are much longer on the lead times. Provia makes a good door and anything there should last.