To get the most out of Kentucky’s great climate, the key is to marry your indoor and outdoor spaces. We believe that the best way to achieve this is through the right door (or sometimes, the right door and window combination)! Let’s look at some options.
Looking for exterior design inspiration? Door Store and Windows can help. Take a look at these gorgeous homes with Door Store and Windows products and find something that you’ll love.
Belknap Neighborhood Doors and Windows:
Full windows and doors on this fantastic Belknap brick home completely refreshed the look and feel of the exterior. The red is simply striking.
Vibrant Highlands Douglass Front Door:
This enchanting cherry red door highlights the rusty tones of this beautiful Highlands brick house. A bold color choice creates a warm and welcoming entrance.
Beechwood Village Florida Room:
Soak up the summer and warm up your winter with a Florida room like this one we replaced in Beechwood Village. These stunning, energy efficient windows maximize sunlight and bring the outdoors in without sacrificing comfort.
Indian Hills French Doors:
Simple, classic, functional, and striking. Look at how these Marvin French Doors transformed this Indian Hills indoor/outdoor entertaining space.
Crescent Hill Doors:
A new sliding patio door, front door, and side door. Refresh and modernize every entrance like we did on this Crescent Hill home for added security, energy efficiency, and beauty with a lifetime guarantee.
Highlands Curb Appeal:
This stunning Highlands home is the perfect example of how we take advantage of what the house already has. These gigantic, historically inspired windows blend elegantly with the existing architecture and provide ample natural light.
To view more amazing before and after photos, visit our Before & After Gallery.
A substantial remodel can completely change the look and feel of a home. With a lengthy project it can feel like one big decision after another, but don’t overlook or underestimate small details that can make a tremendous difference. Recently we worked with a client on a back-porch remodel that was chock full of little details.
Now that their renovation is complete, our client shared with us eight small details that made a huge difference to their remodel:
There you have it! Eight small details made a huge difference to the final product. Curious in reading more about this remodel? Check out our case study by clicking here.
Learn more about this project from the contractor, Todd Stengel, in this video!
From advising you on the swing of your patio door to ordering custom double hung windows that fit just perfectly in your space, Door Store and Windows can help your home remodel come to life. To get started on the project of your dreams, give us a call at (502) 822-5424 today!
You’re probably curious about the installation process and how much time it will take. Our number one priority is customer satisfaction and 100% transparency with our customers. We are proud to say that most of our door installation projects take one day to complete.
We’ve all heard the old adage about the cobbler who is so busy providing shoes for everyone in the town that his own children do not have adequate footwear. We seem to have a cobbler in our midst, Laurie Scarborough, our co-owner. This is the story of her older windows and door.
Like you, my husband Kevin and I are weathering this icy-cold blast this freezing New Year’s Eve in Kentuckiana. Today, our 1960s-built home turned up some interesting problems before we were out of our pajamas.
In the spirit of keeping this post to windows and doors, I won’t mention the near miss in our laundry room, and the almost frozen pipe. I know many have experienced those in the last week. The real reason for this message is to share the problems we noticed with the older windows and doors in our home. We hope that it helps those of you with similar issues.
It might be time to replace this huge window.We have been updating our home over the last few years and have one more window to replace. It’s an architectural element on the front of the house — a huge 14’ x 12’ bow window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall in an arch. It has been the topic of many conversations both at home and in the office — how to replace it, with what will it be replaced, and the proverbial ‘when.’ We have caulked, painted and babied the window for as long as possible. The real impact of this wall-length window to our heating bill and physical comfort has become very evident during this cold snap.
The window is single-pane glass. It’s been so cold this week that the internal humidity is freezing on the inside of the window. Ultimately this moisture causes the paint, glazing, and wood to deteriorate. This means wood rot! With wood rot you generally experience drafts and, if the rot is extensive, a strong wind could blow the glass out. 
If you see problems like these pictures, it’s time to have your windows replaced.
TIP from this local window and door dealer: You do not have to replace all your windows at the same time. We have replaced our windows and doors over the course of many years. You can too.
Unfortunately, this window is not the only issue that presented itself with the cold. Our front door is 30+ years old. For the first time we discovered ice on our threshold (at the bottom of the door.) 
The threshold is brass and the weather stripping on the bottom of the door is also metal. Although we don’t feel a draft, the metal conducts the freezing temperature. This, combined with the internal humidity, causes icing on the interior section of the threshold. In addition, we have seal failure in the decorative glass. Ice buildup can be seen there too.
A new door system with a threshold and “compression” weather stripping, made with composite and synthetic materials, will quickly solve these problems. Today’s doors are very energy efficient.
With all of these developments, we have been working on plans to update the front of our home — both the bow window and the front entry door.
The first blast of winter is upon us and the chill inside your home tells you your windows or doors need to be replaced. Don’t put it off until better weather arrives. We’ll protect your home from the elements during installation and new windows or doors will make your home comfortable year-round.
Installation Manager Craig Rowe and Lead Installer Steve Hudson outline our process for cold weather installs:
Planning ahead will keep us from going in and out of the house unnecessarily and limits the amount of time your door or window opening is uncovered. This includes making sure we have adequate plastic for temporary walls (if necessary), plenty of floor protection pads and a thermos of hot coffee! Caulk, foam insulation, and weather barrier membrane are moved to a warm area to keep them ready-to-use.
Floor padding protects against dirt, snow, water or construction debris that might be tracked into the house. Plastic is hung over nearby openings to reduce the amount of cold air entering the home and to reduce dust transmission. Plastic or padding is placed on any surface or object in the installation area to prevent damage and protect from dust. Delicate hanging items are removed from nearby walls. When possible, temporary weather barriers are created using spring loaded posts and plastic sheeting to close off the installation area from the rest of the house. We also check that all tools and supplies are in place before work begins.
It might be more efficient to do it differently, but in cold or other extreme weather conditions, we work on one opening at a time to reduce the weather exposure inside your home. And we don’t stop working on that opening until it is filled.
We don’t stop working on an opening until it is filled…even if it means we work through lunch, darkness or whatever it takes.
– Door Store and Windows Install Team
New product pre-install preparation, such as the removal of packaging and wrapping materials, is completed prior to the removal of the old product so the new product is ready to install.
Prior to removing the old product, we double-check the opening measurements to make sure it will accept the new product. We also check the product against your contract specifications to ensure the right product is being installed. Double-checking keeps us from fully removing the old product only to be surprised if it doesn’t fit.
The extra time we spend double-checking the product and opening size usually allows us to quickly remove the old product and immediately begin prepping the opening for the new product. Once the old product is removed, the opening is thoroughly cleared of debris.
The ready-to-install product is placed into the opening and final installation begins. This critical step involves attention to detail to ensure a proper weather barrier is created. The product is leveled, shimmed and fastened. Expanding foam is added in the gaps between the product and the opening to create a lasting weather-tight seal. Final installation details such as installing trim and adding hardware is completed and your new window or door is ready to make your home more comfortable.
If you’re ready to make your home more comfortable with new windows or doors, give us a call. We’ll ease your fears about cold weather installation and make sure your experience is outstanding.
Spring has sprung, and the weather is finally warm! Are you ready to open up your home to the outdoors? Indoor/outdoor living is key in warmer months, and can translate well in the colder months too. Scenic doors are becoming increasingly popular, offering extended openings with a large covering of glass that increases the natural light flowing into a space and allows for expanded views of the outdoors.
What are the critical factors you should consider when purchasing a scenic door? We’re here to help:
“The impact these doors have on a home is difficult to explain. I met a builder and homeowners at their home to discuss some hardware issues. The builder and I were talking as the homeowners arrived. They walked to their new Bi-fold door going from the family room to the patio and I could not count the number of times they said WOW. Clearly this would be the focal point of their home.” – Jim Platt, New Construction Specialist, Door Store and Windows.
Ready to make this kind of impact in your home? Give us a call.
We spent a couple of days last winter getting this patio door ready for the outdoor season in Louisville. The original patio door (shown above) was a single door with a window to the side – not exactly a show stopper. With fantastic deck space, the home owners wanted something more dazzling to transition from indoors to outdoors.
So we helped them design this beauty. Basically, a door with two full width sidelites, this patio door truly transforms the space between indoors and outdoors and better suits the deck space in scale and size. And when the homeowners saw it for the first time, they fell in love again with their patio space.
Our employee-installers are experienced craftsmen and created a new opening that looks like it belonged on the house all along. And what they do behind the scenes during installation is what creates real value in this door project. Preparing the door opening to accept the door involves more than removing some bricks in this case. Proper shimming and weather barrier installation will prevent moisture and rot and is how we are able to provide a lifetime installation warranty…part of our Worry-Free Guarantee.
Call today to get your patio door project ready for summer and fall. Our design consultants are here to help you get exactly what you want.
Cold weather can bring previously unknown door problems to your attention. These problems can come from older doors or even from doors installed in the past five years.
Sometimes the problems – like the three problems below – are very simple to fix. Other times, there could be underlying structural issues that only an expert can identify. We’re always happy to stop in and take a look at your situation. And, if you buy your doors from The Door Store and Windows, they are backed by a lifetime installation warranty that covers adjustments and other issues.
Let’s take a look at simple fixes to three common problems…
Solution: If the weatherstripping (or sweep) at the bottom of the door is not damaged, this problem can usually be fixed by a simple adjustment of the threshold – if your door has this feature. If you see four screwheads or caps (screws are under the caps) on your threshold, it’s probably adjustable. Simply turn the screws to raise the threshold so it forms a good seal against the door bottom sweep. Tighten it just enough so that when closed, you can’t easily pull a dollar bill from between the door bottom sweep and threshold. This problem can also be indicative of other, more significant problems like rot or structural failure; so if you have concerns, please call in a door expert.
Solution: If your interior doorknob or handle set is frosty, wet or unusually cold, one cause could be loose hardware. Exuberant kids, heavy usage and improper installation can all result in loose hardware that does not seal the door knob hole. Small air leaks can allow cold air to meet warm, moist air and form frost or ice. Make sure your door hardware is centered in the door knob hole completely covering the hole and then tighten all screws on your door hardware.
Solution: French double doors typically have an active door (with lock hardware) and a passive door (locks in place using top and bottom slide bolts). If the passive door is not properly locked in place with both top and bottom slide bolts, an air gap can develop that allows cold air into the home. This photo shows a French double door in which the bottom bolt was not properly locked into place. The top bolt can also slide out of position easily when the bolt mechanism becomes too loose from heavy use. When these slide bolts are not locked into place top AND bottom, a security risk is also created. A hard kick to the door will usually allow an intruder easy access into the home.
We encountered a situation where the wrong door was used for a new home resulting in door failure after only seven years…
Kentuckiana is our community! We’re locally-owned and operated, not a franchise, so you get attentive, local service.
