We need to replace a French Door that was a bad choice for the site. It’s varnished wood exterior in the PNW, despite refinishing, it’s just getting worse and worse. The first person to measure and quote says the opening is 2.5" wider than average. He said they only sell Andersen now as they were tired of leak issues and said they would/could not recommend changing the size of the door opening as they would not want to liable for likely leaking. Ballpark quote was $8k for a standard style French door with wood on the inside to match window trim. Given that HM/Loewe’s has FD’s for $1,500-$3,000, this quote seems excessive.
Any opinions on whether Andersen is actually so much better and worth it? Comments or experiences on redoing the door opening size?
I believe Andersen are better, but I did not want a Cadillac door, just a Toyota door that opens solidly and does not leak would be great.
And how is “Renewal by Andersen” (who constantly send me ads) different than this local window guy who happens to, now, only stocks Andersen?
I’ve always thought of Andersens as middle of the road doors. Maybe Camry’s not Corolla’s, but definitely not BMWs! We have two Andersen French doors one is about 4 feet wide, The other 7.5 feet or so (but one panel is fixed on the bigger one), neither cost anywhere near $8000 that I remember. Neither are Renewal doors. One has been working fine for almost 20 years, the other was installed about four years ago. I think you could make the opening smaller, but you might have to use wider casings. IMO the nicest doors are made by Marvin, but they are pricey. Haven’t looked to see how pricey in a long time though.
We replaced an exterior door recently with a Pella. It is a single door, but with a grid of 15 window panes making up most the door so it looks like a French door. I believe it was $5000. Very expensive, but also very worth it. Not a standard width. Interior wood stained to match existing trim and windows, outside is white (steel? Aluminum? IDK). Has a rod that goes into top door frame to lock for extra security. It looks exactly like our original 1920s French door looking door, but sturdy and nice.
If I had to guess, I would say Renewal by Andersen is when Andersen does the installation, whereas your local guy uses Andersen windows which are likely to be the same. But maybe not…Pella has “Pella Pro” sold at Home Depot which is their brand they sell to contractors, and I believe is a slightly lower quality (or so they say) from Pella that you buy and have installed all through Pella.
We went with clad top of the line Marvin and the cost was INSANE. I’m very happy with the doors and hope that they will last a lot longer than the ones we replaced (20 years). This house is probably our last home and it’s in a very highly valued historic district, so those things impacted our decision. And we had a trusted friend doing the work, so that helped, too. But based on our experience, those costs definitely seem in line. Although, I will say, I don’t understand why the builder can’t change the opening size?
I would get more quotes if you can. It seems expensive compared to the cost of the door off the shelf, but the doors they stock in HD may be a different quality unless the model number is exactly the same.
Also, make sure the person has an excellent reputation and offers a warranty. We had a few replacement windows put in and while the windows are excellent (architect series) the subs hired by Andersen to install them were not. It took months to straighten out but the windows had been installed slightly crooked and straightening them meant that they are really tight to open and close now.
You want your door installation to be perfect the first time. That’s probably why that one person didn’t want to mess with the framing. That’s a whole new ball of wax and proper OCD carpenters I know would want to open the entire wall up to make sure the framing was right.
Doors have been on my mind, since we’re in the process of building our own house. Supposedly, Andersen’s patio/french doors are considered well made, though not the most expensive.
Andersen’s pricing varies by the series door and by the sizing. Stain grade wood isn’t available at every cost point and any size other stock is going to cost much, much more.
Not clear as to whether the home depot doors are actually available in what you need, size and finish.
@TS0104 we did the same. We went with Pella front door for about $5000 installed. Ours was also an odd size with glass surround. I never got a quote for Anderson to compare. Home Depot/Lowes did not have our unusual size.