Front Door Replacement Before Selling — What to Order, What to Skip

A front door is the first thing a buyer touches. A door that sticks, a threshold with a soft spot, a frame that daylight shows through, a storm door that slams: those are the first ten seconds of a showing, and they show up again on the inspection report as rot at the sill, a door that does not latch, or a frame out of square. Replacing the door before listing fixes the first impression and takes a line off the report. The trick is to do it fast and not over-spend on a house you are leaving.

Order for speed and for neutral. A stock-size prehung fiberglass or steel door, from options such as Therma-Tru, ProVia, Masonite or JELD-WEN, in a factory finish, in a color that fits the house and offends nobody: white, black, a dark gray or a deep red on the right house. A half lite in clear or textured glass if the entry is dark, a six-panel or shaker face otherwise. Stock sizes and factory colors ship in a fraction of the time a custom door does, and a factory finish means no painting day between install and photos. Skip the custom glass, the sidelite redo and the premium wood door; the buyer will not pay for them. If the sidelite is sound and matches, keep it. If the storm door is sound, keep it; if it slams or sags, replace it in the same order.

The install is the same as any entry door, and the inspector's items are the point: the old door and frame out, the sill and jamb bottoms checked and any soft wood handled while the opening is open, a sill pan under the new threshold, flashing lapped to the housewrap, frame plumb so the door latches with a click, foam, sealant, trim. You get photos of the opening before and after for the disclosure file, and a receipt that names the door. Painting of the trim is quoted as a separate line — or leave it primed and caulked and paint it yourself before the photos.