Questions & Answers: |
1.Can you insert glass into an existing door? |
Absolutely! Inserting glass into existing exterior doors is our specialty. We can insert glass into steel, fiberglass or wood doors. If your door has no panels then it will work as long as it's not a hollow wood door. If your door has panels measure from the left outermost edge of the first row of panels to the right outermost edge of the last row, your measurement should be 23.5 inches or less. Then measure the top edge of the top panel to the bottom edge of the bottom panel, your measurement should be 65.5 inches or less. If you measurement is larger then either of the measurements or you need help determining your type of door . Please give us a call and we will see if an option is available for your door.
Click here for detailed measurement instructions. |
2.How long does it take to install? |
Typically a single door installation will take less than and hour, with all work done at your location. Sidelite installations take approximately 20 minutes each if we are replacing existing sidelites. |
3.Can we replace existing door glass? |
In most cases we can. When you measure the width of the viewable glass from left to right and top to bottom you should get approximate dimensions of 21 x 63, 19 x 63, 13 x 63 or 21 x 79. If your measurements don't match the listed dimensions please give us a call and we will talk with you about your options. |
4.Can we put full glass into a door that has a sunburst/fanlite? |
Yes we can, but extra caulk may be necessary. Depending on how old and who made your door the full glass may come up an inch or less from covering the bottom panel. To fill that space we add DAP® CrackSHOT and smooth it out the best we can. It is recommended that you caulk it one more time after the first setting dries (caulk may shrink) and then paint the door after the second setting of caulk dries. |
5.Does the glass come with a warranty? |
The warranty depends on the manufacturer of the door glass. The warranty lasts 10 - 20 years on seal damage and all the manufactures offer a lifetime warranty on the frame. We will swap out any glass that manufacturers deem defective up to 3 months after the purchase date with no added cost, after 3 months a swap out fee will be applied. Modifications to the glass insert may void the warranty and building code certification. |
6.My decorative door glass has bubbles, is that normal? |
The beauty of handcrafted glass is that every piece is different. Slight bubbles, lines, and surface imperfections are all characteristics of glass. They are not to be considered as defects, and distinguish the light transmitted into your home. |
7.How secure is the glass? |
The glass is very strong double pane tempered glass and in most cases with a third layer of decorative glass in the center. Most criminals would prefer to enter through a rear sliding glass door or window then to attempt to break into your house through the front glass that would take time and create a lot of noise. |
8.How obscure is the glass, can you see right through it? |
With an unlimited supply of different glass designs it depends which door you pick out or custom design. Most manufactures created a scale from 1 -10 of the glass' obscurity and we offer glass from both ends of the scale. One thing to keep in mind is that during the day the glass tends to put off a reflection a makes it near impossible to look into the house from the street and at night you can turn on a porch light to keep the reflection to the outside of the house. We also offer a add-on blind to put behind the glass that is also incased in glass and has the functionality to raise, lower and tilt. |
9.Can you change the glass above our door? |
The glass above your door is called a transom and is a little more difficult to replace depending on its shape, but we replace transoms for decorative glass all the time. |
10.Why not just buy a new door? |
In some cases you can go into large home improvement stores and see a new pre hung door with a full glass for around $500...sounds like a great deal. Now lets add extra costs and headaches: Permit if you pull it = $50, Installation at least $200, Can of paint $20, finish items (trim, caulk, putty) $100, fix cracked stucco $100, fix broken tiles $50. That $500 is now $820 and that's if you install the door, trim, paint and fix the broken items yourself. Now if you wanted someone else to do all the door installation, repair, trim, and paint you can add at least $300 dollars more. The $500 dollar door with a basic door glass design is now as expensive as one of our most expensive designs installed. Note: If you plan on taking a door out of a pre hung unit and expect it to match the locations of your hinges at home please think again. Doors just an 1/8 of an inch off will not shut properly ,will not be weather tight, and there is a good chance the strike plate will not match the location of the handle set bores. |
11.Do you sell doors and prehung units? |
Yes! We now offer door and prehung replacements. |
12.How do you measure replacement windows? |
click here for detailed measurement instructions |
13.how do you measure replacement doors? |
click here for detailed measurement instructions |
