Maumee, OHIO, (March 09, 2011) – What do you think of when imagining a famous front door? The dramatic doorway where Rhett walked out on Scarlett at the end of Gone With the Wind? What about a trip down TV’s memory lane and the over-the-top entry of the Clampett mansion on the Beverly Hillbillies? Or, maybe it is yours or made famous by the many family photos you’ve taken in front of it.
“Whether in real life or fiction, the front door has long been the focal point that connects the occupants of a home with their personal style,” says Tom Kraeutler, host of the national home improvement radio show The Money Pit. “The front door really sets the stage for a home by making a welcoming statement and giving you a sneak peek into the personality of the home’s occupants.”
There are many ways homeowners can select and customize a front door to reflect their personalities. A variety of door styles and designs, decorative glass for doorlites, sidelites and transoms, and low-maintenance trim products are all available to complete the overall impact of a front entryway.
To create your own famous front door, Kraeutler, whose program delivers home improvement tips and ideasto millions of people each week, recommends starting with a low-maintenance fiberglass door. “With fiberglass you get a door that won’t rot, warp, twist or bow like wood or dent or rust out like steel,” says Kraeutler. “The Therma-Tru® fiberglass doors I’ve worked with offer both weather resistance and security to provide homeowners with years of worry-free performance. They also offer four times the energy efficiency of traditional wood doors. Match up those features with the added curb appeal and value you get when replacing an old door with a fiberglass door and you’ve just made a smart investment in your home.”
To personalize traditional front doors, Therma-Tru offers the Classic-Craft® Canvas Collection™. The smooth surface of the door features rich embossment details and wide center panels. The paintable door surface allows homeowners to choose any color they like to enhance the exterior of their home. And, for those homeowners looking to make a personal style statement, there are a wide variety of decorative glass inserts that can be ordered for the doors and sidelites.
“Selecting a glass package with colored or privacy glass that uniquely reflects your home’s style and marrying it up with a beautifully-painted door is a great way to make your front door famous,” says Kraeutler. “The wide variety of decorative glass options available for doors and sidelites can enrich your home’s overall exterior while adding a touch of beauty to the interior of the home too.”
As a final way to enhance the front entryway, Kraeutler recommends surrounding the door with Fypon® urethane pilasters, crossheads and pediments. “These easy-to-install pieces are the icing-on-the-cake for a front door,” says Kraeutler. “They come as one-piece decorative items that are richly-detailed to highlight the door it surrounds.
“In addition to being extremely durable, these pieces resist humidity, insects and rotting. They can be stained or painted to truly add the extra step in elegance when creating a new entryway for a home.”
Kraeutler notes that the use of low-maintenance Fypon millwork and Therma-Tru fiberglass doors on an entryway create a winning combination. “These products can handle all types of weather,” says Kraeutler. “Whether it’s the Classic-Craft Canvas Collection or any of the other sturdy fiberglass doors manufactured by Therma-Tru, you’re gaining a superior product that delivers style, security and peace-of-mind in your home.”
Rusco Windows and Doors in Westmont Illinois has display of Therma-Tru doors in their showroom. Working with a local dealer for Therma-tru is the best way to pick your “famous door”.
