FAQ
Our most common door, delivery, design, and supply questions are listed below. Some questions will have to be answered by email or phone call. The contact information is listed below or questions you may have that are not posted on the website. Please do not hesitate to contact me but you must be patient because I spend quite a bit of time in the glass etching room and unable to receive communication.
Frequently Asked Questions
Exterior Doors
What type of fiberglass doors do you sell
For exterior doors we specialize in Plastpro fiberglass doors for their 100% no rot doors and door frames. They are also the strongest doors on the market with the full supported leading edge door slab. All interior and exterior doors are glass doors with full size glass doors inserts
All doors are required to have tempered (or safety) glass. All our exterior doors have 2 layers of tempered glass for added insulation. The clear glass units have 2 layers of clear. The textured glass units have 1 tempered clear layer on the outside and the tempered textured layer on the layer closest to the inside of the home.
What is Hurricane Impact Glass?
Impact glass is required in coastal areas for storm protection. These glass units are specially laminated to prevent flying debris from penetrating the glass area. Many people also purchase hurricane impact glass for protection from forced entry and noise control.
This is dictated by the state of Florida for Florida residents. This must be researched by individual addresses. It is mandated by the windspeed determined for your specific address.
Risk category ll windspeeds equal to or greater than 140 mph are mandated to have Hurricane Impact glass in doors and windows. You can check your windspeed from the pink button on this page: How to check windspeed
In our service areas all coastal counties are affected by this mandate if you are replacing more than 25% of the total square footage your exterior openings, windows or doors. All of Pinellas county and half of Pasco and Hillsborough counties are affected. New construction has total storm protection mandates. Of course using shutters will substitute the need for impact glass.
Our doors are offered as prehung doors in the swing and handing needed for your home. If you specifically request just the door slabs with glass installed, you must be very certain that your door is exactly the size of our doors. This is definitely the harder route rather than changing the frame since a prehung door ensures that the door will fit the frame. All doors are not the same size!
Interior Doors
Interior doors come to you prehung on flat primed door frames. They are not traditionally sold with trim moulding since home can have different trim around the doors. The standard colonial primed trim can be offered if that choice is suitable for your home.
Our door are offered primed, ready to paint for quicker availability to our customers. Since etching is a messy activity, it would not make sense to prepaint since the primed door can have some smudges that need to be painted over.
Doors are painted once the installation process is complete. Remember that different areas need caulk to blend the trim to the wall and the frame to the trim. After caulk is dry, then the painting process can begin.
Delivery and Pickup
We contract deliveries all over the country using independent contractors. Of course it is much easier to arrange shipping along the eastern side of the U.S. We have also shipped to the Bahamas using crating and shipping services also.
You do have to accommodate our delivery schedule time and date which can vary by product availability. You or an agent will be required to sign for receipt of all products. Also, the transporters will need assistance upon delivery.
Customers also have the option to arrange to pickup orders at either the Wesley Chapel or Astor FL location by appointment .
We will make ground floor deliveries usually depositing items in the garage to await installation. We would need to know if there are stairs, parking, or gated entryways beforehand.
The transporters are independent contractors. Around Florida the fee will vary from $150 – $300 depending of the order.
The fee is per delivery not per item. You will be contacted prior to shipping to schedule a approximate delivery time and date. If you are not home at the delivery window time, you will forfeit your delivery fee and may have to arrange pickup. The drivers will not wait more than 15 minutes at any address.
Many orders require the customer to have assistance ready for unloading since the products are too awkward for 1 person to handle.
Yes, by appointment in Wesley Chapel, Pasco County or Astor Florida in Volusia County.. You will need a vehicle suitable for transporting doors and you will need blankets, tie down straps etc. Interior doors need to be transported without the possibility of moisture. Exterior doors are waterproof so open truck beds are fine.
The frames for double doors can be prepared tacked together or apart (called knockdown) which requires simple reattachment at the corners. This makes transportation of double door frames much less cumbersome.
Painting Doors
Interior doors are pre-primed ready for paint. They should be painted once the doors and trim are installed. Prehung doors are not provided with interior trim since trim can vary from home to home. Standard colonial trim can be provided for a small fee if this style coordinates with your present interior trim. Interior doors need trim on both sides usually and exterior door just the inside usually. Exterior doors would use no rot composite brickmold usually but this does vary.
Standard exterior latex paint is used on exterior doors and standard interior latex paint is used on interior doors. Be sure to cover the etched areas with non-inked paper for paint protection. Ink could possible stain the etched glass and paint droplets could be difficult to remove as the etched areas are rougher.
Exterior Doors
Once the doors have been installed and the caulk has dried, clean the doors and frame. Wipe off all soap and finish clean up with rubbing alcohol to remove all oils and soap residue. Select high quality standard exterior latex paint .
Paint when sun is not directly on the door working from the top corner to the opposite bottom corner.
Interior Doors
Standard interior latex paint and usually a soft brush makes this job easy. Cover etched side with non-inked paper prior to painting to prevent paint droplets adhering to etched areas.
Other Etched Projects
We can etch shower doors for the glazing industry. We do not sell or install these items. We would coordinate the delivery, pickup, etc with the glazing contractor. We would coordinate the design on the glass with the customer.
We would etch manageable size mirrors. Oversized mirrors are not possible due to size constraints with the etching booth.
We etch on mostly 1/8″ standard glass for cabinets. This glass is not usually tempered. For 1/8″ glass we would need your exact finished size to quote you. You do have to deduct 1/16″ from all sides to ensure the glass is not too tight.
Payment and Design questions
Preferably, it is better to send in the “Door Estimate Inquiry” or “Order for request” under my contact page or the Door estimate inquiry page, so I have an idea what size doors, interior vs. exterior doors, and design preferances you may have.
Since I am in the booth etching glass much of the time, this is a time saver.
I will then call you to go over the details before working on a new design or tweaking an existing design. Then I will work on a design for you if requested and send you a line art design to review. So you will see the design before it is etched.
This is simple also, Once I have the design, size and order details , I will send you an invoice that you can pay online with a bill pay type invoice. If you would prefer to send a check, the address is on the invoice. I do not take credit cards
If you would like to make changes to a design you see , that is fine. If you would like something completely different that is fine also. Please be aware that I will ask you to send inspiration images for the new design. Also be aware that I will not copy another persons artwork. So inspiration is just that, used for inspiration only.
People send snapshots of all kinds of things to my email address for design ideas.
Be aware that I will speak to you about these design ideas so it is correct on the first draft.
This is extremely time consuming and after the first draft only minor changes are permitted.