My Weathershield patio door, which we use as our main door of ingress and egress to the house has broken. Weathershield does not seem to have much in the way of support here in Maryland, so we are going to replace the thing. It is a standard single patio door, double paned with a half circle glass transom atop it.
The house is all brick, the interior moulding either custom or unusual. Several questions.
Evidently, I will have to replace the transome as well.
Several questions:
The local Pella store quoted me around 3700 installed, aluminum clad and white finsh inside from their “Architect Grade” series, low e, argon gas between panes.
The local Lowes quotes about 1700 for the Pella 850 series, also double paned, low e, argon, etc.
What is the difference between Pella Architect grade and the 850 series (which was the best that Lowes carried)?
Lowes said the installation included moulding. Does this mean the will destroy the interior moulding and replace it with something that will not match, or even not be as wide, which will be a real mess with the painted walls.
Googling Pella+850 takes me to a .pdf of clad patio doors, but Pella+Architect is a line (and appears to be synonymous with builder line).
The local Pella store will be pricey, because they’re selling at retail, plus the installation of a contractor they’ve approved.
The local Lowes will be cheap, because they’re selling at wholesale, keeping the markup that the contractor would normally earn, and paying a fixed price to the contractor.
I’m in between, because I buy from a wholesaler (trying to patronize a millwork dealer because their service is far superior to the big box), but I will mark up the raw costs, and expect to be paid at a level commensurate for my services. Special interior mouldings that should be preserved? Costly wallcoverings which abut the woodwork and can’t be damaged? Removal and replacement of the alarm contact for your residential burglary system? Removal and replacement of your interior window treatments?
The Lowes guy can’t/won’t handle it, the Pella guy probably can/will, but your local contractor-the one your neighbors/friends/co-workers have used and liked definitely can.
Sorry for the mini-infomercial, but that’s the true skinny. 
Let’s see. Of the special things you mentioned we do have interior molding that needs to be retained, and a door alarm, which I had totally forgotten about. Should I query the Lowes people about the special stuff, or should I start looking for a contractor who will put it in. Are there many contractors out there that are interested in just one door? Basically, I want the job done right, and I will pay to have it done right, but also don’t want to get ripped off.
Now you’re seeing how I’ve carved out a niche market. I literally do everything, and my customers can’t find the same scope of services with one call elsewhere. Any carpenter worth his or her salt can remove and replace a door, but most won’t know how to handle an alarm contact, other than disconnect it. If it’s a keyed door, and it could be put on the same keying system as the rest of your home, that’s a value added service I’ll include for a couple of bucks-something the others won’t/can’t offer.
Talk to your friends, neighbors, and co workers. A good tradesperson isn’t always easy to find, and you may have to wait a while, but you won’t regret the quality.
Dan Holohan has written several good books on the subject of steam heating. One of his quotes is: You can have it good. You can have it fast. You can have it cheap. Pick two.
Yeah, Holohan is right about that. We have this carpenter we have used in the past. He is good, but you have to wait awhile for him. Lately, though, he has been impossible to get ahold of. No, we are nice people to work for, don’t nitpik, and pay immediately with checks that do not bounce. It is VERY hard to find good tradespeople. How far north of the mason dixon line are you? Come on down and do the work for us.
I had need for a competent carpenter to do a job. Called a franchised broker for such work. The man came, made an estimate which was accepted. I purchased the material and paid the broker for the labor. Turns out the man was a fully licensed contractor to do work in all phases of construction. Called his some time later to look at another job. He goes thru the broker to get new jobs. Additional jobs are taken on direct with customer. Cuts the charges for labor in half, in other words the broker charges a fee equal to labor cost which can be pretty steep on a large job.
Nice income for putting an adv. in the paper occasionally, and shuffling paper for a living.