Five Reasons to Change Your Entry Door

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As we always say, your front door is often the first impression your guests have of your house—and sometimes of you too. But beyond first impressions, there are many reasons to consider a change to your entry door. Here are five we think are the most important…

Safety First

If you have concerns about the security your door offers, there are lots of options for enhancing the strength and safety of your entry, like choosing wood/clad or metal doors and adding advanced locking systems. Installing a new entryway can also address issues like rot, cracking and warping, which can provide access points for those looking to find an easy way in.

Match Your Style

Whether you’ve recently done a remodel or have just never been happy with the look of your entryway, making a change can go a long way to amp up the style meter. Using cues from your home’s architecture and interior design, choosing a matching door and entry concept can wholly transform a space, not to mention boost your curb appeal!

Energy Efficiency Is Key

One of the most important aspects of an entryway is to make sure it’s energy efficient. After all, if it’s not well sealed and insulated it’s effectively just a big hole in your wall. That can mean added dollar signs to your electric bill, not to mention possible water leakage and unwanted visitors like bugs and even mice. Different door materials like fiberglass, steel and wood provide different levels of efficiency, so it’s critical to find the right balance between how it looks and how performs.

Enhance Your Natural Light

Consider the amount of light you want in your entry hall. Maybe you like it bright; perhaps you prefer things a bit dimmer. Either way, your entry can provide lots of natural light or very little, depending on your choice of door lights, sidelites and even a transom.

Maintenance Matters

It can be easy to forget that your entryway needs maintenance too. It’s such an integral part of your home, it’s sometimes overlooked. That being said, cleaning your door is always required, no matter the material it’s made of. But maybe you have a door with a stain or varnish finish that’s harder to maintain. If so, moving to a painted or metal door might be worth considering.

If you have questions about choosing the right entry door or you’d like to speak to one of our door design specialists, give us a call. We’ll make sure you find the right fit for your home and lifestyle!

Storm Door Purchasing Guide

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At Door Store and Windows, we often have customers inquire about purchasing storm or screen doors. When it comes to storm doors, our first question is “why?”

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Case Study: A Unified Space

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It’s an unusual problem to have: how do you make two distinct houses complement one another? This is the question posed by our customer when undertaking an atypical remodeling project.

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Arcadia Custom: New Product

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Door Store and Windows is now the exclusive Arcadia Custom Windows and Doors dealer in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Arcadia Custom produces luxury high-performance Thermal Steel and “Steel Look” Aluminum windows and doors.

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How To Pick Patio Doors

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If you’re considering purchasing a new patio door, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by different designs, styles, and materials. Door Store and Windows is here to help! If you’re about to embark on a patio door project, one of these patio door styles is sure to fit your needs.

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Connect Indoor and Outdoor Living Spaces

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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.

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Exterior Design Inspiration by Door Store and Windows

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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. 

Eight Small Details that Made a Huge Difference in my Remodel

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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:

  1. Porch Ceiling: I chose to paint the porch ceiling a gentle blue color, partly because it’s a Southern tradition, but also because it matches my living room walls just inside. The color matching conveys a feeling of seamlessness between the indoor and outdoor areas, making the porch seem like an extension of my living room.
  2. Window Trim: In place of sidelights, I chose to put two skinny double-hung windows on either side of my patio door. When they installed the windows, they put a raised panel below the windowsill offering me a deep ledge and a beautiful decorative accent on the wall. My contractor also made custom plinth blocks to match the rest of the trim.
  3. Ceiling Fans: I chose to install contemporary fans in my otherwise traditional home. They’re beautiful, but also a statement piece. Similar to the blue paint color, I chose to have my inside and outside fans match. This supports the feeling of continuity between the indoor and outdoor living spaces.
  4. Patio Door: In order to maximize my space and to allow for a flat threshold, I chose an outswing patio door. I couldn’t have a screen door, but the outswing allowed me more flexibility with my interior design. Plus, the doors lay flat outside when they’re open, so they don’t take up porch space.
  5. Interior Wood: I chose a dark interior wood color for my windows and doors. The contrast is striking and really makes the beauty of the doors and windows stand out. If I’d chosen white, the doors would have blandly faded into the wall.
  6. Hardware: For my patio doors, I wanted to choose a dark hardware that wouldn’t show dirt as these doors will get a lot of use. I decided to go with an oil-rubbed bronze. An oil-rubbed bronze finish can turn, particularly in the sunlight, but since this patio door is in the shade, it was a great choice.
  7. Mismatch: Throughout my remodel, I’ve chosen windows of varying sizes, shapes, and heights. I never wanted all of the windows in my house to match. The windows and the patio door don’t line up perfectly, and I’m happy with that. I think the end result is eclectic and charming.
  8. Flashing: I’ve always loved the look of copper, and I’ve always wanted copper gutters. When the doors and windows were installed, I decided to get copper flashing above the patio door and patio gable window. This is a small detail that you might not notice at first glance, but it helps tie everything together and makes the space feel complete.

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) 896-1717 today!

Quality Products Deserve Quality Installation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Our Door Installation Process

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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.

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Icy Windows and Doors: The Cobbler’s Children Need New Shoes

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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.

Written Sunday, New Year’s Eve, temperature 16°

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.

Wait – the door 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.