Might be a little late for you, but... We bought our front entry door from Pella. Lots of optios for customizing. I am about to order another door for the entrance to the house, from the garage. It is also Pella, with the same grain and stain color. Just different lite option. Here is our front door. Here is the door I am ordering. http://www.pella.com/doors/explore-door-styles/features-and-options.aspx?PCode=FEDGHL&PType=door#/glasscollections/ Hope that helps

I went to the local Precision Entry door dealer this weekend. As far as realism, the factory stained wood grain fiberglass doors looked nicer than the Masonite Oaklite versions and leaps and bounds better than the Feather River product at Home Depot. They did not look as real as end-user stained Therma-Tru doors- but they are obviously marketed to people that for a number of reasons have eliminated the "do-it-yourself" fiberglass staining options. What is interesting is that you can choose a different color or stain for the inside and outside panels of the door. The door is not inexpensive (not a complaint, but an observation- it seems to be a better value than the fractionally cheaper Feather River doors I saw at Home Depot!). I was quoted $1650 for a half-lite fiberglass 32" door with the Lehigh glass (uninstalled and no lock hardware). A similar Therma-Tru was about $1000 or so, but would come unstained. If you factored in hired someone to stain the door, I expect that the cost narrows slightly. The storm doors offered by the parent company of Precision Entry were very nice too. In the end, $1650 is more than I planned to spend for a door that will not be THE "showcase" door, but may just be one of those cost adjustments I need to consider. I'll have to think about it, but again, I was impressed with the Precision Entry offerings.

No question Provia makes the best doors whether it's steel or fiberglass. I don't think I have ever replaced an old Provia, but I have certainly replaced nearly every other brand including the cheap doors people foolishly buy from hardware stores. I'm kind of surprised you can't afford the painted Heritage Fiberglass Provia Door. It's a little more than the 20 gauge smooth steel, but not that much more. Have you looked at the texture steel Provia? My advice would be to get another estimate from a different Provia dealer. Don;t settle for second best when it comes to your doors. You will never be sorry for buying quality products.

I've had both steel and fiberglass. We've never had wood doors, well we might have long ago in our first house (can't remember) but if so, they were replaced with steel. I like steel doors for the security of them. In our first house we lived on acerage and were a bit isolated. We were broken into once (broke and came in through window), and then a second time (burglar alarm caught them that time!), and a third ATTEMPT was made. A young woman at home alone with a baby, was the only one in sight of our house. She saw someone come to the door with gloves on (it was hot weather) and started watching. Called police and she actually saw them try to kick a door in. A metal door, that didn't budge. You could even seen the footprints on the door. Our second house we moved into had a beautiful fiberglass door that looked like wood. It got very strong, hot sun most of the day. Eventually it got a bit of a warp. Nothing like wood would have done, I am sure. I love the look of wood doors (and fiberglass), but I also really like having a painted door. We built the house we live in now and went with steel doors with leaded glass inserts. tina