Exterior Door Questions
Hello, My wife and I are trying to pick some new exterior doors for construction in ND.(Potentially hot summers with cold windy winters) Our builder recommended getting MasterCraft doors so we have been looking at them at our local Menards store. We have a patio that will be accesible via a door from our master bedroom. We were looking at a MasterCraft door that had the full window in it with a shade between the pains of glass for privacy. We tried asking some of these questions in Menards, but the individuals working back in this department knew less than I did i think. 1. If we went with this type of door is the glass insulated at all or is it going to leak cold air in the winter and warmth in the summer? 2. The shade in between the glass, if it breaks then what? Will MasterCraft come and pick the door up for replacement or anyone know how the warranty works? Thanks for any help you can provide. We have to pick these out tomorrow so are on a tight timeline unfortunately. The units that have blinds between the glass are double pane insulating glass units (IGU's). If you fill out your warranty card or keep your proof of purchase and receipts, you can probably go through Menards for any warranty problems. You would want to find out specifically how long the warranty is on the glass and blinds. If something ever does go wrong, it's not a big deal to replace the glass. You will likely want a storm door on the exterior of the door to help stop the drafts. Storm doors usually help doors last considerably longer, too, so they are well worth it. Wow, that was very quick. Thanks for the reply. We were also thinking of one of the half window doors that looks like it has 9 panes. This would go between the house and the garage. Does what you mention about IGU's apply for this door as well as any side light we would choose for our front door? Forgive my lack of knowledge but the insulating factor of these windows is it equivalent to our windows in our house do you think? We have andersen's 400 series windows being installed? To my knowledge, every exterior door and sidelight with glass nowadays has a tempered double pane IGU. Also, amost every manufacturer tries to qualify for an Energy Star rating, which basically means that their glass meets the energy dept's minimum requirements for residential homes. Doesn't mean much, but it gives homeowners a benchmark- or something to look for when shopping. It means the glass product you are looking at should have a u-factor of .35 or better, and will come with an NFRC sticker on the glass with those specific details. The samples in the store may or may not have the stickers on them for you to view, but you should be able to find out from someone at the store who can look it up in a book if the flunkies don't know where to find that information. Hopefully the windows in your home are of a better quality than the glass in doors. Glass in doors is usually nothing special, especially if you're looking at a Menards special. Doors can be ordered with better glass packages, but they are probably not the standard units they offer on sale in their fliers. If you want better glass, you'd want to get the low-e / argon option. It should have a slightly better u-factor around .28 or better. One word of caution I might offer, having some experience with Mastercraft doors, is that you should avoid any Mastercraft doors that do not have an adjustable threshold. They are the cheapies. The nfrc sticker that was placed on the door is located here: http://www.midwestmanufacturing.com/Images/Doors/pdf_s/SteelEnergyRating.pdf Does a lower number mean a better insulating value? How about the 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, etc. Is that the size of the glass window in the door? From the look of this it doesn't look like this door has a good insulating value if i am reading this correctly. All of our doors we are having to special order due to them not having white or the door in stock. I don't remember them having an option for low e or argon filed though. What is a adjustable threshold? Our biggest concern is draft or a cold floor by these doors but solid doors around would seem almost jail like so we are trying to compromise. Has your overall experience with mastercracft been a positive one? That's some fine print! Had to put my specs on! The 1/4 lite, 1/2 lite, 3/4 lite, full lite refers to the amount or ratio of glass on the door. The numbers beneath it... 410, 900, 1100... refer to the sq. in. of glass. So in the 1/4 lite column, those figures would hold true for any piece of glass that is less than 410 sq in. These would usually be small decorative lites like a small 6x16 window, semicircles or other small custom sizes. The 1/2 lite column covers windows up to 900 sq in, which would include perhaps a sidelight that is 8x64 or your door you are looking at for the garage with a window about 28x32. The 3/4 lite column covers windows up to 1100 sq in, and the full lite would be any window greater than 1100 sq in, such as a full view door that has glass measuring approximately 28x64. So depending on what size glass you have, you'd look in that column of the NFRC sticker in that .pdf. In the left column, the .25 is the space between the panes of glass. And you are correct that those figures aren't very good. This is because wider IGU's usually perform better than thin ones. So the ones listed as .75 have a little better numbers. And if you compare the IG/clear/air/.25 and .75 numbers with the IG/LowE2/air/.75 numbers you will see that the LowE2 numbers are better, which is what I'd suggest if you want better than standard quality. The u-factor is the number in the upper right, while the SHGC is in the bottom right. u-factor is mainly important in winter to keep heat from leaving the home, SHGC important in summer when you are trying to cool the home. At least that's how I try to explain it to people. It's all very confusing. LOL The adjustable threshold is the piece of trim across the bottom of the door- directly under the door when it's closed, but when you open the door it will have 4 screws across it. Those screws can be adjusted up or down in order to create the perfect fit when your door closes. If the door ever wants to drag, that threshold can be adjusted up or down as the need may be. IMO, that is a must have feature on every door. Like I said, the Mastercraft doors that don't have it are cheap-o's and I've had bad experience with them since there is no adjustment. They also seem to have wimpy sills that bow up when you sit them on top of a bead of sealant. I have had to order some replacement glass, and replacement glazing trim, which they have managed to screw up a time or two, but that's their fault not mine. I don't deal much with Menards, when we have it has been on new construction where cost is an issue. Something we have done is gotten the standard doors that are just primed, then we take them to an auto body shop and have them painted with automotive paint, which looks super. They charge about $150 per door around here if you take in several at a time. As I mentioned, a storm door will help the energy efficiency of the door considerably. Some people wait a year or two before they figure it out on their own, then put the storm door on later, and that's fine too. We are building a recording studio and have 3 isolation booths which require soundproofing. For each booth (or small room) we planned on putting in 2 sets of sliding glass doors right up against each other but realized after installing one set that because of the angle needed to insert the glass (instructions require opposite angles) we can't put in the 2nd set of sliders. We've thought of installing the 2nd set with glass already in frame but that makes it impossible to reach the screws to install into the wall. These are Anderson outdoor sliders. Does anyone have any ideas as to how we could manage this? We've seen these doors in other recording studios and can't understand how they must have been installed.
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