Entry Door Quality -- Questions About Manufacturers

I G Norant

I want to buy a fiberglass entry system to replace a 36" door with 2 sidelites. A big problem is that 10" sidelites are not widely available and I don't want to pay for reframing too.

I prefer the Therma-Tru Fiber-Classic. (Well, actually, I want the Therma-Tru Classic-Craft Oak but I keep running out of breath when trying to count that high.)

Moving down to the less-than-$2000 systems, Home Depot has doors from Feather River Door and Lowe's has doors from Santa Cruz Door.

I "hear" Feather River is no longer the quality company that it was before the buy-out. I don't know much about Santa Cruz, but their Eastern distributor is very helpful and you can purchase sidelites alone (another option not widely available). I am in Atlanta GA.

Neither company has the glass style quality or selection of Therma-Tru.
So to save $500 or more, is the Santa Cruz or Feather River door better quality? Or can you suggest another manufacturer or convince me to pay for the Therma-Tru?

fhivinylwindows

I am not familiar with Santa Cruz. To the best of my knowledge, Feather River does not offer 10" sidelights. Feather River will not warranty their doors if you add a non-venting storm door. As far as quality go with Therma-Tru just make sure that you order the door with a adjustable sill, their regular sill is not that great. Beware that the Therma-Tru doors unit height will be a little taller than normal (80" high is normally 81.5" unit size while TT is 82.25").