Thank you all for all your lovely comments on our Entryway Reveal! It’s been such a forgotten space that did not bring joy and I’m so happy to have a space that’s the complete opposite now! As part of the reveal and the space renovation, we had our double front doors replaced with glass front doors. I had chatted on IG stories about the possibility of keeping the front doors and just enlarging or replacing the dated glass. Quite a few people were curious about both processes, so I thought I’d share today. Install and Enlarge Glass in Exterior Doors or Replace Exterior Doors :: Our Dilemma.
Install and Enlarge Glass in Exterior Doors
First off, how gorgeous are those glass front doors?! I’m completely smitten!
First off, if you read my entryway reveal then you know that there were a few hiccups with our doors. In our experience, hiccups always happen, whether it’s a DIY renovation or a project that you hire out. We try to roll with them the best we can. Let me point out the “hiccups” if you didn’t read the post and then we can go on. First up, the entryway handle didn’t get ordered so we have a knob in there right now. This will get changed out once our new set comes in. Secondly, the doors have a paint finish issue. The painter is coming out later this week to access and repaint. When the sunlight hits the paint (as you can see above) you see streaking in the doors. The same painter painted the interior doors and the finish on those doors are PERFECT. Anyways, I’m surprised the painter didn’t catch the finish issue, but when you are working indoors with garage lighting, it’s much harder to see things like this. Thirdly, when the painter comes back out, we are going to have our trim finished. You can see that the nail holes aren’t filled or painted over. So, as of the time of this post, these issues have not been resolved, but it’s in progress.
Now, that we got all of that out of the way, let’s chat about our original doors and what the options were for modernizing them. Hopefully that will help you decide how to modernize yours!
Here’s what we started with:
As you can see, the doors were dated. The glass was high-end glass back in the day but it’s not our style. The glass itself was in good shape but it just didn’t allow any light in.
The doors themselves also had problems. The chipping on the bottom can be fixed but that wasn’t the only problem.
In the summer months, the doors stick together and are extremely difficult to pull apart. In the winter months, you can feel air coming through the doors.
Some of those issues could have been fixed and some could have been fixed with “band-aids”. You know, fixing for the time being but not really fixing the problem.
Another issue for us was that, at some point, someone installed the handsets at different heights.
If you can believe it, it looked better on the inside than the out!
So, we had a custom door and millwork company come out to analyze what we had and to give us their recommendations as well as pricing.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
Install and Enlarge Glass in Existing Exterior Doors
You CAN replace glass in front doors! Seriously! I had done my research and there are a few DIY options for this if you know what you are doing and know exactly what type of doors you have. We weren’t going to go this route from the start because we don’t know what we are doing and felt like this was outside of our skillset.
However, a door company can replace the glass in your front door and it is so inexpensive! I was quoted about $150 for the glass. I had asked about plain glass (I always want the simplest design on things like this). I preferred 3/4 glass so the doors had to have the original glass cut out and then the holes enlarged.
From there, there was some finish work to get the new trim to match the old trim.
I’m in Missouri (for price comparisons). For installing and finishing the project, the labor was going to be around $300.
So, if your doors are in good shape, $450 is a good baseline for a double set of front doors. Now, if you only have a single door, then you can probably cut that price in half.
For us, our doors themselves were salvageable, but the door frame was the problem. It didn’t make sense for us to spend the money upgrading the original doors when we had issues that couldn’t be fixed easily (especially, after we heard that our original doors were actually interior doors that someone put in as exterior doors).
So, we decided to bite the bullet and just go for pre-hung, new glass front doors. It’s something that has been on our list as an upgrade item that we’d love to do and it was just time to get it done.
In an effort to always be honest, I will say that I did not price compare our doors. I knew what I wanted, I knew I liked the customer service that was provided and the company I went with was local and has been in the business a long time. We had used a big box store last year when we had to replace our patio door and it was not a good experience so we were looking to go a different route. So, all of that is to say, use this as a guide and go from there!
Glass Front Doors Estimate:
The trim on the door in the estimate is different than what we have but it’s just because the trim that I wanted didn’t have a stock image. Ok, this estimate is just the cost of materials.
The estimate for painting the door was $400 and the estimate for installing the doors was $500.
We are around $2200 for a double front door with finishing and install.
Can you find it cheaper? Probably. Will you have issues? Who knows. We have issues now so really, go with what you think will work best.
*Edited 11/16/17: How adorable do the glass front doors look with my fall front porch? See the before/after fall front porch makeover for budget-friendly tips to decorate your space for fall!
PIN FOR LATER: Install and Enlarge Glass in Exterior Doors
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I love your new doors! Is the color the same as the cabinets in your kitchen? I want to upgrade my front door – it just updates the whole house! Are you worried about privacy with the larger, clear windows? Thank you for sharing all of your information and process!!!!!!!
Thanks Jessica! Yes, the color is the same – Cracked Pepper By Behr. We really love the color so decided to just use it again. So, we aren’t worried about the privacy. My thought on this: We live on a hill so we are a bit further back from the street. HOWEVER, even in our circle drive which is right in front of the door… you can’t see in. We face north so I don’t know if that’s it or what but there’s just reflection when you are trying to see in. Now, anyone that comes to the front door will be able to see in of course, but we love it!
I just wanted to drop in to say thank you for posting actual costs and numbers! All too often bloggers only show the end result and we as readers don’t really know how much it costs. Having numbers is just so amazingly helpful and feels so honest and genuine. So thank you!
Thanks so much for your comment! I really try to be helpful and have found that this information is hard to find. So, I so appreciate you taking the time to comment!
Looks awesome!! I am having a hard time finding these doors. Can you provide the store you got it from, maybe they ship.
Missouri Millwork in Springfield, MO. =) Good luck!
This makes me happy! The house we are buying is fairly new and the door is in good shape so replacing the glass would be the way to go for us! Thank you for this post, I showed it to my husband and I think he’s finally on board with my ideas!
yay! Happy for you! My hubby takes awhile to come around too but it’s always a good thing when we are on board with something together.
I nerver even though of this. And it looks so good.
Thanks Julia! It wanted to do it years ago but couldn’t figure out who I needed to talk to about the glass replacement. I finally just called around and I’m so glad I did.
You made a great choice, Ashely! Those doors are gorgeous. 🙂
Thanks Robin! I’m so in love with the brightness they bring to the space.
Wow… what an amazing collection of doors. All are awesome.
What an amazing change, I love the new color and the size and look of those windows. The light in your home must be amazing!
Hey Ashley,
Such an amazing collection of doors you have. Thanks a ton for sharing.
Ashley what a difference! I want to replace my front door also. I call them church confessional doors from the 70’s. Definitely need to start pricing them out. Love the look of the double doors and the color matches your style perfectly. Hope you get your paint issues resolved. Maybe he needs to use a sprayer to avoid the streaking?
Thanks Michelle! They actually sprayed them the first time around but the humidity levels were super high so they came out and brushed the last coat on. Fixed though!!
Do you ever miss having a screen door? This is my hesitation with our current dark double door situation. It would be so nice to leave the doors open and not let bugs in or babies out! Do you have a pocket screen perhaps?
We don’t but we aren’t screen type people much. My husband and little boy both have pretty serious seasonal allergies. I know that doesn’t help much!
Thanks for the tips for replacing the front door. I like how you said that replacing the glass in the door is viable option, if the door is in good shape. Our door is pretty beat up, so I think that we’ll have to get a whole replacement.
Hi Ashley, thanks for sharing this information as well as the awesome images. We are going to have a renovation before the wedding. And I have also suggested that we must include custom doors. Cheers!
I’m sorry if this question was asked and I didn’t see it, but wondering if you know what color are your new front doors? I know you purchased them new so you probably didn’t have to paint them but do you happen to have the specific color? Thanks
Hi Cali,
It’s cracked pepper by Behr! I used the same color in my kitchen and just loved it!
I just came across your site because my husband and I bought our first house and I have LOTS of ideas but absolutely zero idea or reference points for costs of things. Anyway, so wanted to swing by and say I find your posts super helpful and informative—so thanks!
Hi Cate,
First off, congrats!! A house is so exciting. So happy you’ve found me and said hi.