Replacing doors in Jonestown, TX? How to handle water at lower-level doors, sun on deck doors, security for part-time homes and the right material.
On a hillside lot, one house can have doors on three or four different levels. There's the front door at the street, a back door onto a deck hanging over the slope, and maybe a walkout door at the bottom near the yard. In Jonestown, where plenty of homes are built into the hills above Lake Travis, each of those doors deals with a different problem.
This guide goes door by door, then covers security and materials, since some lake homes sit empty for part of the week.
Doors at the bottom of a slope get the runoff. When a heavy storm sends water down the hill, it can pool against the house, and a door with a worn threshold or no sill pan underneath lets it in. Watch for water stains on the floor inside, swollen or soft trim at the bottom of the jamb, and a musty smell after rain.
When that door gets replaced, ask for a sill pan, a formed tray under the threshold that catches water and sends it back outside. It's a small part that prevents a lot of rot. Grading and drainage outside matter just as much. If water runs toward the door in every storm, a new door by itself won't fix it.
A door opening to a deck on the downhill side often faces the lake and open sky, with nothing to shade it. A sliding glass door in that spot is a big heat source in summer. Look for low-E double-pane glass with a low solar heat gain coefficient, and a frame made of vinyl, fiberglass or thermally broken aluminum rather than plain aluminum.
Older sliders also wear out at the rollers and at the seals between panels. If yours is hard to move, or you can feel air where the panels meet, it's probably leaking a lot. Sometimes new rollers and weatherstripping are enough. If the glass has fogged or the frame is bent, replacement makes more sense.
Some Jonestown houses are weekend or seasonal places, and a door setup that's fine for a full-time home may fall short for one that's empty for days. A few upgrades that don't cost much:
A solid fiberglass or steel door in a sturdy frame does more for security than any lock on a weak, hollow door.
Fiberglass is a strong all-around choice for lake homes. It resists dents, won't rot when it gets wet and insulates well. Steel costs less and is very secure, but it can dent, and it can rust if the finish gets scratched near the bottom. Wood is beautiful but needs regular sealing, especially in direct sun and near the water.
Whatever the material, ask whether the price includes a new frame and threshold. On a lower-level door with a history of water, replacing both is usually worth it, since the old jamb may already be soft at the bottom even if it looks fine.
If you're working through upgrades in stages, our guides to windows in Jonestown and roofing in Jonestown cover the other big sources of heat gain and leaks. Old aluminum windows and a tired roof often cost more in cooling than the doors do, so it helps to see the whole list before deciding what to tackle first.
Texas Energy Pros can check your doors for air leaks and look over the rest of the house during a free home energy audit. You'll come away with a clear list of what to fix first. See more on our Jonestown page or contact us to schedule.
