After performing some initial research as well as a recommendation from our renovation company (Will Construct By Design), we decided on hiring Northern Comfort to replace our existing door. We drove up to their Barrie office and met a friendly sales person by the name of Greg Flowers. We had pictures of our existing door and home exterior for Greg to view.
Greg took the time to detail to us the various door types and models. I already had seen the Therma Tru line and glass inserts so I had mostly made up my mind for choice. However everything that Greg reviewed with us was spot on and very informative based on my previous research.
My wife and I weren’t totally in agreement on the color or even the glass inserts on the door to this point, so Greg walked through the entire show room with us going over every option of glass insert and sidelight. It was actually ironic that they had a full-wall display of the glass door insert and sidelights that I wanted in the color that my wife wanted. On top of that, the faux brick wall facing that the door was installed in was very close to what our brick exterior looked like, so it was almost as if we were standing in front of our on front entrance!
Upon seeing what the front of our house may look like, I compromised the door color that my wife wanted (burgundy) and she compromised on the glass insert and sidelights that I wanted. Greg sat down and put the order together, provided an estimate and a rough ETA for when the door would be delivered and installed. He also indicated that one of NC’s tech’s would come out to the house to verify the exact door measurements which I had approximately provided to him.
The tech was dispatched the following week or so, but to our dismay the door height was actually TWO INCHES less than a standard door height. This would mean extra cost to cut the door and glass to properly fit, though this was no fault of Northern Comfort obviously. It also led to a rather lengthy delay in terms of the door getting to us. I believe that we had to wait at almost three months for it to arrive from the time that it was ordered.
The crew of two that Northern comfort sent out were friendly, helpful and efficient in getting the old door and casing removed and installing the new door to precise standards. They also took away all the old pieces which saved me a trip to the town landfill.
I’m happy to report though that waiting for our custom-built door to arrive was well worth it! We absolutely LOVE the way this door and sidelights look and are amazed at how dramatically they have improved not only the curb appeal to our house, but it provides added privacy and is definitely more energy efficient than the existing door. I even have grown to like the burgundy color much more! I still will always wonder how it would have looked in my choice of black, but I have no reservation in making the compromise on the color! I should also add that my wife has grown to love my first choice of glass inserts even though they weren’t her favorite. Compromise can be successful.
While the price of the door came in a little higher than I would have liked, the Therma Tru door is a solid piece of the house and I’m sure that is going to save us on energy costs while adding some privacy and really nice curb appeal to our newly renovated home. Based on my overall experience, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Northern Comfort. We’ll most likely be calling on them when it comes time to upgrade some of our windows down the road. I gave 9 out of 10 by deducting for price and delivery time. Other than that, we were very pleased.