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Your Ultimate Guide to Choosing a New Door

The front door is the starting point of the journey through your home—a focal point not to be overlooked. If you are building a custom home in Ottawa, or looking to replace the front door of your current home, this guide will help you navigate the many choices on the market so you can make the best decision for you.

1. Your Lifestyle

More than the jumping off point of your home, upgrading your front door, garage, or patio door offers the opportunity to better accommodate your lifestyle. Do you have a waterfront view you’d like to showcase? Are you in the country and need a screen feature? Are you interested in maximizing the efficiency of your home? In Ottawa, the temperature plays a big part in home construction.

Photo by Cortney Bishop Design

2. Your Aesthetic

Everybody’s personal style is unique, and your doors should be no exception. When you choose the right front door for your aesthetic, the result will enhance your home for years to come.

Material

Our flexible luxury door options yield an abundance of choice that will positively impact the efficiency and style of your home.

Solid Wood:
  • An excellent insulator and offers a beautiful, natural finish inside and outside the home
  • Flexible design options; can be shaped, painted, or stained for any style from contemporary to classic
  • We offer several types of wood and endless finishes to suit your specific needs
Insulated Aluminium:
  • Highly durable and easy to maintain
  • Low maintenance
  • A sleek, contemporary look
Steel:
  • Excellent thermal insulation
  • A modern, clean look
  • We offer endless colour and style options, including stained glass

Style

Whether your home is an updated mid-century modern stunner, heritage classic, or contemporary masterpiece, we offer nine different styles of door, including specialty which offers full customizability. Create it in your mind’s eye, and we’ll build it for you.

  • Simple: Simple, efficient, robust—our solid wood doors can be inswing or outswing depending on the space they’re opening onto and the climate. Choose with or without high efficiency glass panes.
  • French: Solid wood construction with endless design options. Elegant additions to any room.
  • Lift & Slide: Superior lift and slide mechanism for smooth maneuverability. Ideal for sweeping vistas, we offer flexible dimensions and up to six panes of sliding glass.
  • Screen: Tailor made for your front door, ideal for maintaining air flow.
  • Specialty: Let your imagination run wild; with endless options for frames, finishes, and materials, we’ll be happy to build a fully customized door for your home.
  • Garage: Not just for function—choose materials and finishes that elevate your home’s style.
  • Contemporary: Choose your material, finish, and glass accents—sleek and minimal aesthetic.
  • Tilt & Turn: The most versatile patio door—open partially (tilt) or open wide (turn), exceptional functionality without sacrificing style or security.
  • Steel: Modern aesthetic and incredibly durable and efficient. Choose which type of colour and finish suits your home best.

Door Features

From the frame to the hinges, you can customize every element of your new front door, and we make sure the finest details are scrutinized for performance, efficiency, and style. Often, it’s the small details that matter—here are some to consider when choosing your new custom door for your home.

Finishes and Stains: Glossy or matte, rich or light, the choice of finishes can make your door a dramatic focal point or seamless integration into your home’s facade. Whether you’ve chosen solid wood or steel, we have an array of textures and colours to fit your style.

Divided Lights: If you’ve chosen to have a glass pane or sidelight as part of your door, these grilles let you customize the look even further.

Hardware: The final touches are in the hinges, knobs, and hardware—whether brass or brushed chrome, choose hardware that will compliment your home for a look you’ll love.

3. Economic & Energy Efficiency

Glass: Opting for a glass insert in your new luxury custom door is entirely up to your stylistic preferences. In addition to aesthetics, a glass insert in your door can affect the thermal efficiency of your door. Especially in extreme climates like Ottawa, energy efficiency is a key factor.

We offer factory-glazed, low-e, and argon-filled glass options for the highest performance. Read more about our exclusive Technoform glass here! (link to technoform glass blog post)

Installation: Our professional installation minimizes risks of infiltration or potential water damage, and is often necessary for warranties. Make sure your new custom luxury door is installed by a professional team, or a contractor that you trust.

Material: Different materials offer different insulating factors which will affect the efficiency of your door. We offer both solid wood - a great natural insulator - as well as insulated aluminium, which is durable and offers thermal insulation properties. Your climate and the location of your door are also important factors to consider.

4. Good Things to Know Before Contacting your Architect, Designer, Builder, or Custom Door Specialist

  • Know what type of home you have (i.e. farmhouse, ranch style, bungalow, two-storey)
  • Know the (approximate) age of your home
  • Know how many doors you need to replace or want in your home
  • Know where you would like each door
  • Know what type of security you would like your door to offer (might vary based on if it’s a front, patio, or garage door)
  • Have an idea of what material you would prefer (wood, aluminum, steel, etc.)
  • Have an idea of which style you would like to incorporate
  • Know your budget range

Good Questions to Ask

  • What is the turnaround time between ordering and installation?
  • How long will installation take?
  • What happens if there is an issue after product installation? Ask for a breakdown of the warranty.

These tips will help you make a better decision about which doors to choose for your home. Your architect or builder will be a great jumping off point for your questions, but so are we! Don’t be shy to send us any questions you have about your custom project—we’d be happy to take a look at your drawings, respond to any concerns, and provide you with a custom quote!


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