Exterior Door Systems
Front Door & Exterior Door Replacement & Installation Services
Zane’s Door Replacement supplies and installs exterior doors as one job: we measure the opening, specify the unit, order it, install it, and take the old door away. One licensed door specialist handles every stage, so the person who quotes your door is the person who installs it. Most of our work is exterior doors, from front entries in older Peninsula homes to patio and French doors.
Scope of work
What We Do When We Replace Your Existing Exterior Door
When you choose us for front door replacement, we handle both supply and installation as one complete service. We don't just drop a slab into your old frame.
We:
- give you an estimate for the job
- measure your opening in person
- choose a new door with you together
- specify the complete pre-hung unit from the manufacturer
- order it
- deliver it
- install it
- handle whatever the opening turns out to need
- and haul the old door and debris away
Because a door and its jamb work as one system, on exterior work we replace the door, the jamb, and the trim together. Every component is new.
A new slab hung on a jamb that has already moved or started to rot gives you a door that never sits right, no matter how good the slab is. That is why “just the door” is rarely the best answer on an exterior opening if you want a door that lasts for years. When a jamb is failing, it fails first, before the threshold, and the trim and finish go last.
The decisions
What Gets Specified On A Pre-Hung Door
When it’s time for a front door replacement, a pre-hung exterior door brings a lot of decisions most homeowners haven’t had to make before. Choosing the right options is what makes a solid installation, so we walk through everything with you. Here’s what we typically decide together:
- Jamb width, to match the depth of your wall
- Swing direction (which way the door opens, and which side the hinges sit on)
- Sidelights and transom, if the opening carries them
- Glass and glass style: frosted, rain, or clear insulated glass
- Hinge color: bronze, gold, or silver
- Threshold material: aluminum or wood
- Lockset brand and color: Emtek, Baldwin, Schlage, or Kwikset
- Lock-bore location, so the handle and deadbolt land where you expect
There are a lot of decisions a homeowner faces when handling a front door replacement alone, especially if they’re buying their own door. We install new hardware on every project. Most homeowners pick and buy their own hardware and we install it, though we can supply it on request. We match hinges and locksets for color and finish, and if your old door had alarm contacts, we move them to the new one.
Material choice
Which Material Should You Choose For Your Front Door
Exposure decides the material. A door under direct sun or rain calls for a different material than a door under cover. Where a door gets direct sun or rain, we advise against wood. Under a genuine overhang that keeps weather off it, wood performs well. For an exposed opening we specify fiberglass, steel, or composite instead.
There are four exterior material classes. The composite doors we supply are fiberglass, so for the doors we install that choice comes down to the following:
Wood
Openings with real overhang and protection
Premium wood we specify is engineered stile-and-rail: finger-jointed timber over an all-wood core, faced with real wood veneer. The offset grain and finger joints resist warping.
Fiberglass
Exposed openings, sun and rain
Handles direct sun and rain without the movement wood can have on an unprotected opening. We specify Therma-Tru, PlastPro, or Masonite depending on the configuration.
Steel
Exposed openings
Holds up under sun and rain the same way fiberglass does. It can be painted but not stained, and we specify Jeld-Wen.
Composite
Exposed openings
The composite units we supply are fiberglass rather than a separate material, so they carry the same performance and manufacturer options as our fiberglass line.
Overhang is something you can check yourself before we ever visit. Simpson Door requires adequate overhang to hold its standard warranty and publishes the formula for it, and Rogue Valley Door applies the same condition. Where an opening cannot get that overhang, protected products exist, such as Simpson’s WaterBarrier and Nantucket lines.
Tell us about your opening and we will come measure it in person.
Configurations
Configurations And Doors We Install For Homeowners
We install single, double, transom, sidelight, Dutch, pivot, French, sliding patio, and bifold doors, along with storm and screen doors. Glass options include decorative, rain, frosted, privacy, and clear. For French doors we typically specify Therma-Tru fiberglass, and for sliding patio doors, Jeld-Wen or Milgard.
Nothing about the work changes for a double door, sidelights, or a transom. The entry door measurement is what tightens up: we confirm the opening is large enough for the unit you want so we end up with a properly installed entry door.
We also replace doors in custom, oversized and historic openings, which is a good part of what we do in older homes on the Peninsula. Century-old openings frequently deviate from stock sizes, and that is exactly why we measure in person rather than working from a standard size. Let’s increase energy efficiency by replacing a drafty entrance with a secure and durable door.
Manufacturers we specify
WOOD
Simpson Door, Rogue Valley Door, TM Cobb
FIBERGLASS
Therma-Tru, PlastPro, Masonite
STEEL
Jeld-Wen
We specify these as products, chosen to fit your door and your opening. We are not an authorized dealer for any manufacturer and we hold no third-party certifications. Instead, one person who has installed doors for 35 years chooses the right product for the job.
A door we do not install
Arched doors are the exception. We install prehung arched doors, but we do not install arched slabs. Arched slabs take a very long time to properly fit to the curve of an existing opening, and doing that work well is too hard to guarantee, so we'd rather be straight with you than do it badly.
Frame condition
When The Frame Has To Come Out
Whether we keep your existing frame comes down to its condition, not its size. A bigger or smaller opening does not decide it. Rot, moisture, and damage do. If the opening around your door has deteriorated, we handle that remediation as part of the replacement, before the new unit goes in, rather than sending you to another trade first. We never sell that repair on its own, and we can work alongside your other trades when a job calls for it.
If you want to know what tells us a frame has moved past the surface, that is covered on our page on rotted and damaged doors.
Installation quality
How We Check The Installation
A door is installed right when it hangs plumb, closes on even margins, and locks the way it should. We measure those. The measurable standard we hold, including 1/8 inch margins, a plumb hang, hinge shimming, and proper threshold integration, is set out on our installation quality guide.
Jambs, Thresholds, and Deterioration
Exterior door system deterioration often begins at the jamb.
Bryan Zane identifies the typical order of failure as the jamb first, then the threshold, followed by trim and finish. That sequence is why exterior door replacement must account for the condition around the slab, not only the visible face of the door.
Jamb condition
The jamb holds the door system in the opening and establishes the relationship between the door, hinges, and trim. A deteriorated jamb is not an appropriate foundation for a new exterior slab.
Threshold condition
The threshold sits at the lower edge of the opening and is evaluated after the jamb condition. Its material is specified as aluminum or wood as part of the replacement plan.
Trim and finish condition
Trim and finish can show the later effects of deterioration around an exterior opening. Zane’s Door Replacement replaces the exterior trim as part of its pre-hung exterior specification.
Planning the Replacement
An exterior door consultation determines whether the selected unit is feasible for the opening.
The first step is an in-person measurement and review of the existing exterior opening. Bryan Zane then uses the opening condition, exposure, configuration, and required specifications to determine the appropriate pre-hung unit.
1
Review the opening.
Bryan Zane examines the door system, jamb, threshold, trim, configuration, and exposure.
2
Measure and specify the unit.
The measurement confirms the unit dimensions and details, including swing, glass, hardware, and threshold requirements.
3
Address opening condition.
Door-related rot or moisture damage is remediated within the replacement when present.
4
Install the complete exterior system.
The new pre-hung door, jamb, trim, and hardware are installed, and the old door and debris are removed.
Who does the work
The Person Who Quotes The Front Door Installation Is The Person Who Installs
Bryan Zane does every stage of your job himself, from the first measurement to the final install. He has been installing doors for 35 years, the last 10 on the Monterey Peninsula.
Zane’s Door Replacement is a licensed California specialty contractor, license 1039955, classification C-61/D28 for Doors, Gates and Activating Devices, active and held in his own name since 2018. That classification is a specialty, not a general contractor’s license, and that is the point.
Doors are the whole job here, not one line item among many, so the judgment that goes into your opening is the judgment of someone who does this and only this.
A craftsman installer.
Other work
Other Doors We Install Or Replace
Exterior entries are most of our work, but not all of it. If your project is a patio slider or a door inside the house, those pages cover how we handle them. For everything we install in one place, start at door installation and replacement.
Patio & Sliding Doors
Sliding glass and patio openings, including Jeld-Wen and Milgard units.
Interior Doors
Doors inside the house, specified to the opening, hardware, and use of the room.
Door Installation & Replacement
Every door type we install, and how the work is quoted and scheduled.
Keep reading
Related Pages
Door Materials Compared
When you want the full comparison of wood, fiberglass, steel, and composite before you choose.
Rotted and Damaged Doors
When the frame, sill, or trim around your door has started to rot or fail.
How Door Replacement Works
When you want to see the replacement step by step, from first visit to finished door.
Frequently Asked Questions