How to Spruce Up Your Entryway

By: Joseph Truini

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. Replacement entry door
2. Urethane-foam exterior trim
includes crosshead pediment and fluted columns

3. Aluminum storm door

4. Urethane adhesive
used to adhere exterior trim

5. Silicone caulk
for sealing underneath new threshold

5. 1 5/8-inch roofing nails
used to secure new doorframe

6. Straightedge
used as a saw guide when trimming the siding

7. 3-inch (10d) galvanized finishing nails
for attaching urethane trim

8. Exterior-grade putty
used to fill nail holes in trim

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Hammer
- Drill/driver
- Circle saw
- Hacksaw
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Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12

6 to 8 hours
About $1,000

Difficulty: Easy to moderate Doesn’t require any special skill or tools, but you must work carefully to avoid damaging the screen door

First impressions are important, especially when it comes to your house. Interestingly enough, your front door is likely to influence how visitors view the rest of your house far more than the siding, roofing, windows, or any other single element can. A handsome, well-designed entrance also does more to welcome friends and family than a perfect paint job or a lush, weed-free lawn. The irony is that most front entryways are boring portals that merely let people in and out. Here, we'll show you how you can transform an ordinary door into an elegant entryway in one weekend.

The original wooden frame was still good for this project, so we saved time by replacing just the door, not the entire unit. Next, the exterior of the doorway was trimmed with a pair of fluted columns and a stately crosshead pediment. The trim visually extends the doorway from 3- to 5-feet-wide. Instead of using wood trim—and committing to years of scraping and repainting—we opted for millwork molded from durable high-density urethane foam. This lightweight molding comes primed white and is impervious to rot, insects, moisture, cracking, and splitting. Best of all, it looks like handcrafted wood molding, even up close. We finished the entryway with an attractive midview aluminum storm door.