Upgrading the front door on a Leander home? How to add glass without adding heat, when multipoint locks help, and what to know about tall doors.
If your Leander house still has the plain steel door it came with, you've probably noticed the little things first. A rust bubble at the bottom corner. A dent from a moving dolly. A glass insert that's gone foggy. The weatherstripping that used to snap shut now just sort of rests against the frame.
Leander, northwest of Austin, grew in waves, so many homes here are now 10 to 25 years old. That's about when original doors start to show their age, and when homeowners start thinking about something that looks better and seals tighter.
A couple of these can be fixed with new weatherstripping or a hinge adjustment. A rusted, dented or warped slab usually can't.
Many people want more light in the entry, especially in a two-story foyer. Glass in and around the door delivers that, but it also lets in heat if it faces the afternoon sun. When you choose a door with glass, ask for:
A west-facing entry with a full-glass door and two sidelights can let in a surprising amount of heat. In that case, a door with a smaller glass panel, or a covered porch, can help a lot.
A multipoint lock bolts the door at the top, middle and bottom with one turn of the handle. Besides being harder to force, it pulls the whole door snug against the weatherstripping. That's a real help on tall doors, which can bow slightly in the heat and leave a gap at the top corner.
Keypad and app-controlled deadbolts are popular for busy households. Choose one that still takes a key, keep spare batteries on hand, and make sure the bolt throws fully into the strike. Long screws through the strike plate into the wall framing matter as much as the lock itself.
Some newer two-story homes in Leander have eight-foot front doors or double doors. They look great, but they come with tradeoffs. Double doors have a seam down the middle that needs a good astragal (the strip where they meet) and solid bolts at top and bottom on the fixed side, or they'll leak air. Tall doors have more surface to bow in the heat. Fiberglass handles both better than steel or wood in most cases.
ENERGY STAR labels exterior doors, and for doors with glass, the rating depends heavily on the glass package. A solid fiberglass door with a foam core insulates far better than any glass. As you add glass, look for low-E and check the label. Weatherstripping, the threshold and installation quality matter just as much as the rating on the sticker, since a gap around a great door still leaks.
Most Leander neighborhoods have HOA rules on front door style and color, so get approval before you order, especially for a custom color or a switch to double doors. Lead times on custom doors can run several weeks.
On install day, a prehung door (already mounted in its own frame) usually takes a few hours to a day. Ask the installer to shim it plumb, foam the gap around the frame, and adjust the threshold so the bottom sweep seals without dragging.
If the entry is hot, the windows around it may be too. Our page on Leander windows covers tall sunny glass, and roofing in Leander covers attic heat. Our Leander page has more on what we do in the area.
Texas Energy Pros can check your front door, sidelights and every other opening for leaks during a free home energy audit. Reach us on our contact page.
