A Door can be Difficult

Tough Looking Door - Easy to Build

The front door. I have spent countless hours looking on line, getting quotes on custom doors, etc. I have contacted at least three custom door and window companies locally.  A standard EXTERIOR door is 80" high and 36" wide. My current rough opening is only 77" high and 28" wide, slightly bigger than Jay Shafer's plans. Now, Jay's plans clearly includes drawings for a custom front door but I was hoping to shave several days off the effort and get the door installed along with the windows now that torrential rains come every day and the plastic door just isn't working well.

Custom door quotes ranged from $450 for a fiberglass wood grain finish to $1300 for a solid wood door made of some hardwood. There are many videos about how to cut a standard door down to size, but I still couldn't see paying $500 or more and then run the chance of screwing it up by cutting off the top and bottom and the sides.

I have decided move two studs getting my rough opening to about 32".  Not only could this help finding a door in the future, but will make it easier to bring in furniture and appliances.

So, I've look at many pictures and noticed the style is important but the hardware is also key to the appearance. My current decision is to build a door from V-grooved 2x6 T&G cedar or cypress and stain it. The wood has priced at $100, so should I decide to replace it later I will not feel so terrible. I Once again, the more you think about something during the design phase, the fewer issues to solve later.  My error was not realizing that I was being forced into a custom door and not understanding how expensive wood doors are to begin with.