Looking to buy a pre made exterior door.

jinglebell79 wrote: ↑ Hi everybody.

I’m looking to change out a exterior door, and am looking for a new one that is pre made. Buying a custom door is very pricy

Does anyone know door manufacturers or businesses that have doors in stock?

Thank you.

The entire industry is really behind right now for custom. The majority of doors are made custom, you will find in stock at Home Stores but those are generally low end doors that are built for the 2 year warranty period on new builds

Have you ever thought about buying from the ReStore/Habitat store? May not be new but sometimes they get quality stuff and you're paying a small fraction of new. Only issue is sizing but some of these doors are solid wood so I think it can be sized.

Hi Jericho.

I didn’t realize those doors were built that shabby. Thanks for telling me.

Hi gr8lr.

I never thought about checking restores but I will.

I’m looking for a outswing left hand which is crazy hard to find.

Thank you gentlemen.

gr8dlr wrote: ↑ Have you ever thought about buying from the ReStore/Habitat store? May not be new but sometimes they get quality stuff and you're paying a small fraction of new. Only issue is sizing but some of these doors are solid wood so I think it can be sized.

I am a 10+ year restore veteran. The prices I see in the ReStore today are stupid. In many cases only 10-15% off retail for stuff with no warranty, open box, etc. At times the Depot clearance sticker is on there and the restore has a higher price.

Jerico wrote: ↑ I am a 10+ year restore veteran. The prices I see in the ReStore today are stupid. In many cases only 10-15% off retail for stuff with no warranty, open box, etc. At times the Depot clearance sticker is on there and the restore has a higher price.

I think all these resale type retailers like ReStore, value village salvation army etc have all upped their prices because more and more ppl don't know what a good price is. ReStore should have discount days or they should be more vigilant dropping older inventory prices based on days in inventory.

Kijiji or FB marketplace is probably easier to search and find because you don't need to drive and look for stuff. You can let your fingers do the initial walking.

gr8dlr wrote: ↑ I think all these resale type retailers like ReStore, value village salvation army etc have all upped their prices because more and more ppl don't know what a good price is. ReStore should have discount days or they should be more vigilant dropping older inventory prices based on days in inventory.

Kijiji or FB marketplace is probably easier to search and find because you don't need to drive and look for stuff. You can let your fingers do the initial walking.

Yah I’m noticing higher prices at used stores lately for sure

Jerico, what differentiates a crap big box front door from an “inexpensive” good one (if there is such a thing)

gr8dlr wrote: ↑ I think all these resale type retailers like ReStore, value village salvation army etc have all upped their prices because more and more ppl don't know what a good price is. ReStore should have discount days or they should be more vigilant dropping older inventory prices based on days in inventory.

Kijiji or FB marketplace is probably easier to search and find because you don't need to drive and look for stuff. You can let your fingers do the initial walking.

The local restores I frequent in KW and Brantford the most are full of the same junk day after day, month after month, etc.

The Restore was amazing when they had a dedicated donations resource person a few years back who was super connected in industry and got all kinds of stuff. Also at that time online retailing for stores like Home Depot was young and they were completely disorganized, so online returns all went, unchecked, into warehouses in Brampton for a time until Depot got sick of paying the rent and the ReStore came in and cleared it out.

The donations person retired, Depot (and others doing similar) developed better practices for online returns, and now the ReStore has the same unsellable crap in it day after day for full price for some dumb reason.

I have also heard that the Macklemore song had a HUGE influence on thrifting and prices rose after that.

networksend wrote: ↑
Jerico, what differentiates a crap big box front door from an “inexpensive” good one (if there is such a thing)

Lots of stuff. The obvious stuff is the frame of the glass on the door (which is made to look like it has a wood grain and you can see where the holes are plugged… those frames will yellow and crack over time), the sweep is plastic and will fail vs mole hair or horse hair, the interior of the door is sandwiched sheets of styrofoam vs 2 part blown in foam (and under a heat detector you can sometimes see where they are missing sheets of insulation), the frame is less heavy duty, the top hinge is put in with a 2 or 3 prong t-nut vs a heavy duty plate, no reinforcement around the jamb making it easy to kick in the door when locked, primer paint thickness (if they are primed white at all), the hinges are lower quality.

They are very much built to a price point.

I just bought a door from restore to re make for my basement, its solid wood weighs about 80lbs and needs to be only 69 inches by 32, no big box store can supply a door that size, cost was 125 bucks all in, and a piece of replacement trim for my car (!)

Jerico wrote: ↑
I have also heard that the Macklemore song had a HUGE influence on thrifting and prices rose after that.

I don't know about a song but thrifting had grown with the side gig thing. It's cool to make a few tax free bucks. Ppl have seen others post about huge finds and it becomes a treasure hunt side line.