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Last updated on February 20th, 2023 at 04:35 pm
Do You Need A Storm Door On Your Front Door? Find Out Here!
Wondering if you need to install a storm door on your front door? Well, look no further because I have your answer!
Newer front doors are designed to better protect the interior of the home than their older counterparts, so nowadays, storm doors are more decorative than protective. However, for older doors, storm doors provide protection against pests, climate, and weather damage.
Here is the full list of storm door benefits and drawbacks:
| Pros Of Storm Doors | Cons Of Storm Doors |
|---|---|
| Can accentuate the outward appearance of your home | Can be expensive |
| Protects your primary door | Damage is inevitable |
| Adds a protective security layer | Can detract from the beauty of a glass front door |
| Protects against rodents and bugs | |
| Increases energy efficiency | |
| Easy to install yourself (saves money) |
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s further discuss each of these pros and cons so you can make the best decision for your home.
Let’s dive in!
Quick Navigation: Storm Door Pros & Cons
- Storm Doors Can Improve The Aesthetics Of Your Home
- Storm Doors Protect Your Front Door
- Storm Doors Add An Extra Layer Of Security
- Storm Doors Protect Against Rodents & Bugs
- Storm Doors Increase Energy Efficiency
- Installing A Storm Door Can A Good DIY Project
- Storm Doors Can Be Expensive
- Damage On Storm Doors Is Inevitable
- Storm Doors Can Detract From The Beauty Of A Glass Front Door
- Other FAQs About Installing Storm Doors
- Final Thoughts
- Related Door Articles
Advantage One: Storm Doors Can Improve The Aesthetics Of Your Home
The first benefit of storm doors is that they can improve the aesthetics of your front door.
Storm doors originally got their name as doors designed to decrease the home’s vulnerability to violent storms and once upon a time were crucial to the protection of your home’s interior.
However, the technology of standard exterior doors has improved to the point where storm doors are more of an accentuation rather than a defense mechanism.
That being said, storm doors come in a variety of styles, designs, and colors, which can help add an element of design to an otherwise simple front door.
Advantage Two: Storm Doors Protect Your Front Door
The next benefit of storm doors is that they provide an added layer of protection to your (likely expensive) front door.
Despite the better technology that’s been incorporated into front doors over the last decade or so, a storm door still provides another layer of protection to your front door (be it from rambunctious kids, scratching pets, and/or raging storms.
Front doors, especially ones that are painted white, take a lot of abuse. The abuse shows up far worse on white doors simply because you can see the damage more clearly than other colored doors.
A storm door minimizes that damage while also keeping smudge marks and stains off of your front door.
Our front door must not have had a storm door for some time (although I’m not sure when since it did have one when we bought the house), and saw some abuse.
Either hail or a lawnmower shooting out rocks from our gravel driveway chewed into this beautiful front door, and I had to spend a ton of time repairing the steel to bring it back to life.
(If your front door looks like this, then you can fix it rather simply. Just follow my tutorial here to repair a dented front door.)
If you live in an area that sees hard storms often, then a storm door is an easy way to better protect your front door for a lower cost.
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- How To Fix A Dent In A Steel Door In 6 Easy Steps (Picture Tutorial!)
Advantage Three: Storm Doors Add An Extra Layer Of Security
The next benefit of storm doors is that they add extra security to your home.
Storm doors might not be the same line of defense as a wailing ADT alarm, but they are another layer that someone will have to get through in order to break in.
And that extra layer could be the extra line of defense that either provides enough time for law enforcement to arrive and apprehend the burglar, or even better, ward off any burglars period because of the extra work these doors cause them.
Most storm doors—even though the vast majority are glass—are extremely sturdy and come with deadbolts of their own.
Also, some storm doors come with retractable screens that are buried between two sheets of glass. You can open them to see everything that’s going on outside and drop them back down whenever you need some privacy.
If you live in an area that needs that little bit of extra security, then a storm door is a great way to add that extra protection.
Advantage Four: Storm Doors Protect Against Rodents And Bugs
The next benefit of storm doors is that they protect against pests infiltrating from a poorly sealed front door.
Storm doors are designed to create a waterproof seal whenever they close and this has an added advantage that most people may not consider. That seal also keeps out bugs, rodents, and any other unwanted pests.
If you live in the south, you know how effective a storm door can be in keeping out cockroaches and other humid-happy bugs and pests.
Moths are another irritation. Harmless as they are, everyone is happier with them revolving around the porch lamp rather than smacking into the TV.
And for my midwest peeps, storm doors help keep out those pesky stink bugs that somehow manage to creep in from every nook and cranny. You know what I’m talking about.
This extra layer of sealed protection from storm doors is more crucial if you have a front door that’s more than a decade old and might not seal as well as some of the newer models.
Advantage Five: Storm Doors Increase Energy Efficiency
The next benefit of storm doors is that they help insulate the interior of your home.
That awesome seal that you get each time the storm door is closed is valuable for more than just keeping out the weather, bugs, rodents, and pests.
It also helps your home keep in the heat during the winter and that precious A/C during the heat of the summer.
It’s shocking how much of a difference a leaky seal can make on your overall power bill. This is especially true when the temperatures are extreme in either direction.
With a closed storm door, you can leave the front door open and never worry about the power bill.
Again, if you have an older front door that doesn’t seal as well, then a storm door is more important to install.
That small upfront installation fee could equate to a large amount of money saved over the years!
Advantage Six: Installing a Storm Door Can Be A Great DIY Project
The final benefit of storm doors is that they can be installed yourself (which saves you a lot of money over professional installation).
Here is a fantastic video that shows you how to install a storm door over your front door.
Now that we’ve covered all of the benefits, let’s discuss some of the drawbacks of storm doors.
Disadvantage One: Storm Doors Can Be Expensive
The first disadvantage of storm doors is that they can be expensive to add to your home.
In terms of the door itself, you’re looking at between $200 and $500 for a solid storm door and well past $1,000 for a nice one. Unfortunately, that doesn’t include the price of delivery and installation.
These doors are heavy, so the price is going to be more if you’re having it delivered. The installation cost is expensive as well.
If you go with a standard storm door, add installation and delivery costs, and calculate the total price, You’re looking at $1,500 to $2,000 total cost.
However, the damage that the storm door will likely prevent from happening to your (more) expensive front door will quickly outweigh the cost (not to mention the possible savings from heating and cooling costs and pest remediation).
Disadvantage Two: Damage On Storm Doors Is Inevitable
The next disadvantage of storm doors is that they will likely see a lot of damage over time.
If you think about it, you’re essentially trading in one beating on one door for another beating on another door.
However, since storm doors are better designed to take a beating (through the thicker glass and stronger metal), they should last for years without much abuse being visible to the street.
And storm doors are generally cheaper than front doors, so if they do see a lot of abuse, it’s always better to have to replace the cheaper door.
Disadvantage Three: Storm Doors Can Detract From The Beauty Of An Expensive Front Door
The final disadvantage of storm doors is that they can often be seen as an eyesore to the front of your home.
This disadvantage was a big reason that I removed the storm door from our front door. (Who knows, I might regret this over time.)
Our front door is this huge, beautiful door with intricate glass details, and it felt like a crime to hide the beauty behind the basic (and beat up) storm door that was covering it.
And since our front door was new within the last decade, I didn’t feel we needed the other features we discussed above that a storm door provides.
In the future, we likely will add a new, more modern, all-glass storm door so we can have the best of both worlds – extra protection and the ability to show off our beautiful front door through the glass.
Like the first benefit we discussed, storm doors come in all sorts of colors and designs, so it would be worth your time to find the perfect one that accents your front door the best.
Other FAQs About Installing Storm Doors
Here are some other frequently asked questions about storm doors to help you decide whether they are worth the time and money to install them or not!
Is A Storm Door A Good Investment?
Storm doors are a good investment because they provide an extra layer of security against burglars, insulation against weather, barriers against pests, and protection to maintain the integrity of a front door.
How Much Does It Cost To Put In A Storm Door?
Storm doors range from $200 to $500 with more expensive ones averaging over $1,000. With the addition of delivery and installation costs, it can cost between $1,500 to $2,000 to put in a standard storm door over a front door.
How Long Do Storm Doors Last?
On average, storm doors made out of aluminum alloy will last for 20-30 years and storm doors made of fiberglass will last 15-20 years. Aluminum alloy storm doors last the longest because they are up to 6 times stronger than steel and cannot rust.
Final Thoughts On Pros & Cons Of Storm Doors
There you have it!
If you have an older front door or live in an area where security is important and/or the weather is brutal, then a storm door is a must to protect the main entrance to your home.
Otherwise, modern front doors do a suitable enough job to protect the interior of your home, and often these front doors are part of the beauty of the front of your home
So covering them up would be doing them a disservice.
Hopefully, this article helped you decide whether a storm door is worth the expense or not!
Catch you in my next post!
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How To Decide Whether To Install A Storm Door Or Not (Pros & Cons List!)
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