How to Choose a Front Door: Materials, Styles & Costs

Start with what your entrance needs to do

Before comparing doors, write down what bothers you about the current one and what you want the new entrance to do. The answers point you toward the right material, glass and hardware more reliably than a catalogue photo.

Bring this list, a few photos of the outside and inside of the entrance and any reference pictures you like to your consultation.

• Light: do you want more daylight in the hall, or more privacy?
• Comfort: are there drafts, water or condensation around the door today?
• Everyday use: who uses the door, and does it need to be easy to lock and unlock?
• Look: should the door match the house as it is, or become its focal point?
• Opening: are you keeping the current size, or considering sidelites or a wider entry?

Materials: steel, fiberglass or solid wood

Door Depot builds steel, fiberglass and solid wood doors. Each can suit a Toronto or GTA home; the right choice depends on the look you want, the exposure of the entrance and how you feel about finish care.

Compare complete door systems rather than materials in the abstract. Insulation, glass, frame, weatherstripping and installation all affect how warm and quiet the entrance feels in winter. Our fiberglass-versus-steel guide covers the winter-performance questions in more detail.

• Steel: a painted finish with a wide range of panel, glass and hardware options. Ask how scratches or coating damage should be handled for the selected model.
• Fiberglass: smooth painted or woodgrain-style surfaces in traditional or modern designs. Follow the supplier’s cleaning and refinishing instructions; no finish is maintenance-free.
• Solid wood: natural character, crafted and finished for your opening. Ask about finish care for your entrance’s sun and weather exposure.

Styles: modern, traditional and everything between

Style is mostly about proportions, panels, glass and finish. A modern entrance often uses a smooth or simply grooved slab, a long handle and clear or frosted glass. A traditional entrance often uses raised panels, decorative glass and classic lever or grip hardware.

Configuration matters as much as style. A single door, a door with one or two sidelites, a door with a transom and a pair of double doors each change the look, the light and the price. Adding sidelites or widening an opening needs an assessment of the opening first.

Colour and stain are part of the design. Doors are painted and stained in our own studio, so the finish can be chosen alongside the brick, stone, siding and windows of your home.

• Browse real catalogue doors on the Door Designs pages and try combinations in the 3D door designer.
• Save a photo of any entrance you like and note what you like about it — the glass, the colour or the shape.
• Look at the house from the street: a door that suits the façade usually looks better than one chosen on its own.

Glass, hardware and security details

Glass changes daylight, privacy and the specification of the door. Clear glass gives a view; privacy and decorative glass obscure it to different degrees. Look at a real glass sample and think about the entrance after dark, when interior lights can change what is visible from outside.

Hardware is the part you touch every day. Choose a handle set and lock arrangement that suit the people who use the door, and confirm the lock preparation in your quote. Security depends on the whole system — door, frame, lock and installation — not on the material alone.

What a new front door costs

The ranges below come from the same saved Door Depot pricing used by the website estimator. They are preliminary planning figures for a single door, not a final installed price.

Your price moves with the material, configuration (sidelites, transom, double doors), size, glass, finish, hardware and any repairs found in the opening. The final price is confirmed in writing after Oscar measures your opening, with Ontario’s 13% HST shown separately. Our front door replacement cost guide explains each factor and how to compare quotes.

From idea to written quote

Use the estimator or the 3D designer for a rough range, then book a real consultation time — in your home or at our 4019 Chesswood Dr office in North York. Both homeowners or decision-makers should attend so the design and scope can be agreed together.

Oscar runs the consultation and the measure, reviews material, style, glass and hardware with you, and confirms your price in writing. Your door is then built in our own shop and installed by our crew.