From my office window, I can still see green grass.
Any good Midwesterner, with half a lick of sense, will not be fooled by this abnormality in the second week of November. That green grass could become white at any moment! Starting around the day before Halloween, the ol’ Blizzard of ’91 is recollected and everyone begins watching the thermometer and the calendar… how many more days will we have to finish buttoning up the yard and the house in preparation for the first zing of winter?
The answer is about two weeks, according to the Weather Channel.
That means if you were planning to replace an exterior door before the snow flies; you have approximately one week to make a decision. Don’t panic! We have plenty of choices. And make no mistake, we’ll take orders for exterior doors all year round, but you won’t want to replace that door in a few weeks…what with the wind blowing and biting at your ears; yikes.
Here’s a breakdown of our exterior door product offering (we’ll start with the best choice, first):
Fiberglass: fiberglass doors are perfect for our climate. We offer them in two surface types, smooth or with texture that replicates wood grains. We categorize our fiberglass doors into, Elite and Designer groupings. Elite fiberglass doors have detailed panels, mirroring traditional stile and rail door construction with authentic wood grain patterns of fir, oak, mahogany and cherry. They also feature the best thermal protection available…thermal protection is important in Minnesota! Designer fiberglass doors offer high definition panel profiles, wood grain textures and polyurethane foam core for thermal protection.
Nature Series: we have ten pages of options in species such as fir, knotty alder and oak. Buyer beware: the Midwest is NOT an ideal environment for wood doors. As noted above, we brave vicious weather cycles that include upper 90’s, with high humidity and extremely cold, dry winters. Remember that -26 degree stretch in late January? Wood, as you know, is a natural material that will expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes.
Steel: the smooth, clean line of a steel door is well-suited for service and garage to house entries where fire code may require a 20-minute rating. Available in more than the standard six-panel design, we have selections that can incorporate plain or decorative glass, including blinds within the glass if privacy is a concern.
Take a peek at your options online and swing by your local lumberyard to take a look at our selections in person! Don’t forget your coat and hat.
-Holly Bayer, ASID