I feel very lucky to have the builder I have, I have zero complaints with him or any of the subs (well, other than taking a month longer than we were hoping), and so far we are very pleased with the quality.
We got him through word of mouth from a co-worker of DW who used him for multiple projects. He doesn’t really advertise or promote himself much at all as far as I can tell, so we probably would never have found him otherwise.
Question: which kind of entry door is best – wood, steel or fiberglass? We need to replace the exterior door that goes into the kitchen. It’s our every day door and gets heavy use. Current door is wood, but it’s original equipment, sticks terribly (I can’t open it to get out, have to kick it to enter) and has a gap at the bottom that lets in lots of cold air in winter.
I’ve looked at many doors and nothing jumps out as a clear favorite. I originally wanted to replace all three entry doors (kitchen, front and laundry room), but prices and installation are much more than I expected.
TIA!
Gosh. I had hopes you’d be done by the time I caught up reading the thread.
Sending virtual hugs.
@CountingDown - so many factors to consider. Do you want the door to match the rest of the doors? Do you want it to be stained or painted? Any specific concerns (security, exposure to the elements?). I would go with a solid core door for sure (believe it or not, there are hollow exterior doors!). I would pick fiberglass or wood, the highest quality your budget allows.
Thank you @emilybee. I was hoping we’d be done too!
@CountingDown - We had steel exterior doors in our last few modern homes. (Current door is wood and original to the house. Dreading to see what it will be like in winter).
We bought a pricey fiberglass door, only to have a steel door delivered. I found out when a magnet stuck to it, lol. I got some $$$ back and I have to say I enjoyed that door and being able to put messages on it, held by a magnet.
No one right answer. If you are going to paint the door no need to go with wood and lots of reasons not to. This article is pretty good: https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2010/04/29/choose-a-quality-entry-door I think it’s a wash between fiberglass and steel.
The cable railing is done! This pictures look great, I can’t wait to see it in person.
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/32532343@N00/30169928907/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/32532343@N00/45058394972/in/dateposted-public/
Five stars. Looks very coastal. 
That’s what coralbrook’s lawyer client needs in his pad!
Thanks. I bought it on the internet for half of what the local lumber yard would have charged. My builder had never done one before, but he figured it out without too much trouble. The biggest issue was opening up the floor to add blocking for bolting the poles.
The whole project looks wonderful. What a transformation!
I love the way cable railing looks - though I always have to warn clients that it’s a huge temptation to toddlers.
We are seriously thinking about cable railings for porch and down the outside staircase. (We are coastal, too.) We would love to have some toddlers (grandchildren) one day, but right now, we just have an 11-year-old dog to keep safe. Your cables look fantastic!
Yeah, the apparent ladder can be a temptation.
From what I’ve read though, the thin cable hurts their hands, or is at least uncomfortable, and the cables flex, which is disconcerting, so toddlers don’t really try to climb them that much.
Not an issue right now anyway, but if it becomes one in the future I’ll wire plexiglass to the bottom half or something.
Since this was an inside installation, I went with aluminum posts, which were half the price of stainless steel posts. I did pay a little extra to get a more durable paint on them. And the prospect of galvanic corrosion gave me a little pause, however my research said that a large anode (the aluminum posts) in contact with a small cathode (the stainless steel wires running through the posts) is not really a problem.
We’ll see how it holds up, hopefully I don’t regret going with aluminum.
For outdoors they recommend stainless posts. There’s a chunk of my deck railing I want to replace because it seriously impedes the view. Next year’s project. 
PM me if you want the company I used, they were pretty good to work with, or just take the words “stair supplies” and make the obvious web site from it. 
If you like looking at wrought iron balusters, this site has dozens and dozens of them.
NRE, folks around my 'hood who have views of the water switch to railless glass. Because when you sit down, the rail is right at your eye height! It probably costs a small fortune…
Yeah, DW is convinced glass will be a PITA to maintain and need to be constantly cleaned, so she doesn’t want it. You can get fairly low profile handrails with the cable systems though.
Anything is better than what’s there now, which has 1.3" PT wood balusters every 4", and a 6" high board at the top that the balusters and handrail are attached to:
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/32532343@N00/34897374712/in/dateposted-public/
The folks who install glass probably have someone to wash it… There is one big advantage of glass though. It makes the deck less drafty when it is windy outside. But I agree with you - washing all that glass is a PITA. Just did the exercise a month ago on our wrap around deck… too much glass. When we rebuild, I will use cable railing on the parts where we don’t sit.
The spray window cleaner you attach to the garden hose is fine on my exterior windows and probably also on railless glass.
Alas, I tried that on my windows, and it did not result in the level of cleanness I like. So a fluffy thing on a stick, commercial glass cleaner, squeegee, a good rinse from a hose, then Windex and towels. That is glass cleaned right! But it is a PITA.