Genuine Mahogany Door or Jeld-Wen Aurora Fiber Glass

10 months ago

last modified: 10 months ago

We have a decision dilemma about our entry door for a new build. The door is 7' wide and 8' high (2 panels). The door will have ample protection since the front porch is 4 feet deep, and we have a large overhang that's 3 feet wide. We also have a large maple tree in front of the house - so the door hardly gets any direct sun exposure especially that it is facing south.

Below is the picture of the door we want.

The price for either option is almost the same (quoted little over 14K).

Option1: Custom made genuine mahogany door by a reputable local Amish company

Pros: It's wood and the craftsmanship is superb
Cons: Maintenance, potential warping, and fewer color options since mahogany is a dark wood

Option2: Custom made Jeld-Wen Aurora fiberglass door - still having hard time pronouncing their name :)

Pros: Very little maintenance, a lot more color options (we can get the color shown in the picture)
Cons: Concern about the fiberglass skin cracking as some have reported, still fiberglass although Jeld-Wen claim their Aurora doors can have wood grain and look very realistic.

If you have experience with these types of doors, your thought will be greatly appreciated,

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Comments (10)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
10 months ago
So you are building a very conteporary home? I think it depends on where you live . I live where steel doors are the norm some with what apparently is wood looks texture.
tracefloyd
10 months ago
Can we see the other door? Off hand though, wouldn't real wood be a better first impression? I have never heard of solid wood doors warping.
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I don't know about your climate but my parents have a cape cod style house with no front porch and a wood door with sidelights and it is going strong after many years. If you want a saltbox style house, a porch wouldn't fit very well I wouldn't think. I was also thinking you could recess the door a bit and panel the sides of the recess (you see this a lot with Georgians) but I was thinking you wanted a georgian style house not a Saltbox style one . . . Are you doing brick or siding? If you are doing brick, you could recess the door a bit into your anteroom (this could leave an area for closets on either side which you could make attractive - I'll try to find a picture), but you would lose some of the focus of the spiderweb look. I think this other look is equally attractive and can be really beautiful but it may not be what you are looking for. It would protect the door more though!
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Simpson is in my opinion the best "off the shelf wood door" available. Jeldwen is a pretty good door it was better when Morgan owned them but they were dumbed down a little in my opinion when they were purchased by Jeldwen. As far as the Aurora F/G door this if I am not mistaken is the IWP doors which were at the time before Jeldwen purchased them shaky at best in my honest opinion and I have seen no evidence in any of the products Jeldwen produces that they are higher quality than under the prior manufacturers.
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I currently have mix of all the kinds of doors. I have a 20 gauge steel door going into the garage. It's on the west with little overhang. It bakes. I purchased it primed and painted with regular exterior latex and looks fine (other than brushstrokes) and it's 4 years old. It has no dents but I think it the gauge of the steel has a lot to do with that. Our previous door was a lumber yard grade door that was 24 or 26 gauge and had dents like crazy. I have a oak grain fiberglass entry door with 1/2 glass. Again I opted against factory finish and did it myself. I painted the outside black and stained the inside. This is on the north with a storm door and large porch overhang. Door is holding up great. Yes, the wood grain isn't as realistic as a real wood door but it still looks great and it's fooled a few people from a distance. And for our patio door we have a real wood door with vinyl cladding on the exterior. This door the exterior was factory finished and the inside once again I stained. It replaced a solid wood patio door that was held together by paint and caulk. It faces the south and had deteriorated to the point we could see daylight. I've been happy with all my doors. All from different manufactures but all from a reputable Door/Window company.
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Oceanna, are you still there? I just noticed your post asking if I'd decided on a door yet. Thanks for asking. I've been going round & round. Shall I get the single door with sidelights, which would be traditional with my somewhat-colonial home: single & sidelights or the double door, which would be more practical & perhaps less fussy: double door I plan to sheath our house with small white shingles, replace the windows with 2 over 2 paned windows with nice wide casings, & put on a red roof. There's an overhang that runs along the front of the house & shades the 1st floor windows. That will get the red roofing also. The house design will be somewhat plain except for the red roof vis a vis the white shingles & the (hopefully not too) ornate door. My foyer is desperate for light, hence the full pane of glass in the doors instead of the standard 6 panel door with sidelights (which *everybody* has in my neighborhood). The art glass would ensure privacy. My house isn't a true colonial, so I think I can stray from the standard colonial order. Plus the glass doors would look so pretty at night with the lights shining from behind them. I think the art glass doors will be fine despite the plainness of the house: it will provide just enough decoration. At least that's what I hope. I'd post a picture of my house, but it's so ghastly right now that I'm sort of embarassed! Anyway, opinions are welcome. Thanks for weighing in.
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Iliad D
Original Author
10 months ago
@Patricia Colwell Consulting We live in Columbus Ohio (it gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer). The style of the house is Modern Prairie Home.
millworkman
10 months ago
last modified: 10 months ago
Genuine Mahogany over anything Jeldwen. Look at Provia for a quality Fiberglass Door, from which there will be no issue with using a fiberglass door, just nothing Jeldwen please.
bsgibbs
10 months ago
We had a Therma-Tru fiberglass door in Indiana. There was no heat transfer (or cold) at all, with no storm door. I stained the wood grain look myself, so we got the color we wanted. It had held up well when we sold and escaped to Arizona. We added 3 fiberglass doors here. Again, I stained them myself. One gets direct sunlight. After 3 years, it is still in perfect condition.
coray
10 months ago
Iliad, I have no advice, but I’m glad you asked this question…..we’re planning to replace our front door so need to make this decision as well. One thing I’ve heard is that double doors like yours are not as secure and firm as one single door….I read this somewhere on Houzz., not sure if it’s true. We live in a cold, windy area, but our covered front porch is about 8-10’ deep. (We are also interested in double doors, but with a good amount of glass.)
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
10 months ago
IMO check out contemporary steel doors they work perfectly in Canada where I live it gets very hot in the summer here and pretty cold in the winter these doors are great for both .
Susie .
10 months ago
We have a solid mahogany front door (not contemporary, more traditional), with partial glass. Couldn’t tell you the brand, but we bought it from a reputable local store that deals in high end builds. It is relatively large. It is sheltered from rain, but gets sun several hours a day. It took frequent maintenance, which wasn’t bad at first, but I ended up not liking the way it had aged after a few years and finally painted it. Yes, solid mahogany can warp - I’m sure any wood can. Ours seems to be a little out of whack at the top (it’s 8’ tall). The steel doors that we have on our balconies and back door get full son and are exposed to rain and have held up great. We have to mess with the hinges once in a while because of the weight (also 8’), but otherwise fine.
Iliad D
Original Author
10 months ago
@Patricia Coldwell Consulting, can you suggest a brand? I'd like to check if they have a rep or dealer in the US and nearby areas.
millworkman
10 months ago
Provia, Homeguard, HMI and Albany all make a quality steel and or fiberglass entrance door.

Genuine Mahogany Door or Jeld-Wen Aurora Fiber Glass

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

tracefloyd

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Genuine Mahogany Door or Jeld-Wen Aurora Fiber Glass

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