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Hello, I have an approximate 25 year old walk out 12-lite per door/double door in a walk out basement that will need to be replaced shortly.. It looks like there are two options in that basically I can use a steel or fiberglass door set. I need to measure but I think it is the standard 72 by 80 inch configuration. IN this case, these doors never see sunlight and given the way the basement entrance was "dug out". My sense is it is always somewhat damp.
Is there any reason why I would NOT want to go with a fiberglass door in this case???
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The best exterior doors I have ever used are fiberglass doors. They look good they hold up in any location and are insulated well. Our front door is a feather river with one side light and was under $500 from depot. It looks like new still and has ballbearing hinges as well. Double side light doors are cheaper and stock items where as single sidelights are pricey and never a stock item.
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Any way to stop it from being a "damp" area?
How does the frame look? Is it rotted at the bottom?
If it's damp, I'd probably stay away from steel and do what Robert suggested. I installed a fiberglass door in the last house and it held up very well. It was also an off the shelf pre-finished oval glass pre-hung entry door from Lowes. The finish held up fine. Be careful with fiberglass doors (any exterior door really), warranties can be voided if it's in direct sunlight and has a storm-door. Storm doors can turn it into an oven and distort plastic trim on metal doors and warp fiberglass doors.
Something I like to do is dis-assemble the sill and prime and paint the bottom/end-grain of the frame. The factory doesn't paint the frame or seal the bare wood where it meets the sill If you do this, you'll get quite a few more years out of the frame. I've even used silicon caulk to seal the end grain. Garage door frames, I use shims under it (also seal the endgrain) when installing and pull out the shims after installation. I just did it with this house. The frames were pretty badly rotted when we moved in.
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Yeah they don't like to be in direct sun with a storm door. Ours is facing south but we have a big porch so no direct sun except for for a sliver in the morning.
Also for the frame you can usually order tthe door with a plastic frame now which will never rot though they are a pain to paint. On garage doors here its the custom to cut the bottom on a 45 and the point has a 1/4" gap. So only heavy rain will touch it though plastic is better here too.
