DENVER, CO – You never get a second chance to make a first impression, or so the saying goes, and the most prominent first impression on your new custom home will mostly likely be the front door. It has to be right, inviting to family and friends, as it is the first statement made in your home, just before “Welcome.”

That front door must also be a stalwart, not only beautiful but also a protective barrier to unwelcome guests and intruders and able to withstand the ravages of wind, searing sunshine, sleet, hail, rain and snow for years to come.

There are so many considerations in selecting a front door for a new custom home, but fortunately there are also a myriad of resources to fit any décor, budget or special need.

Of course, it’s not just a front door. There’s the door (called a “blank” in the trade), the door jamb or frame, and often the surrounding panels, or lights, that are all part and parcel of the gateway to your home’s entry. And, of course, you will have hardware (doorknobs, handles, locks, hinges, etc.), windows, frames, weatherstripping and all the components that make up a quality entryway.

The door business is big business, and there are every type of door imaginable available from a variety of sources and in any size. There are wood doors,  of course – the most popular choice by far – and also doors made of steel, aluminum, fiberglass, composite doors, and some that are a mix, like wood veneer over composite or steel, for instance. 

You could march right down to Home Depot or any number of home improvement centers and find a broad selection of front doors and accessories, ranging from the pedestrian to the regal. These shops also have the jambs, pre-made surrounding materials, lights, and a whole host of hardware and security options.

At Chase Custom Homes of Denver, however, we have found that our clients like to think outside of the “big-box” and look for front door solutions that are unique and more completely match the fully custom design of the rest of the house.

There are dozens of door manufacturing companies out there which you will never see at a typical retail location, and most offer door programs ranging from fully constructed and pre-hung, to fully customized components that are installed by the builder. These firms have extensive catalogs and often, in bigger cities like Denver, showrooms where they showcase doors and entry solutions that can be mixed and matched, customized for size requirements, installed by their technicians or delivered to the job site where the builder or subcontractor will handle the task. Of course, you will probably also spend hours combing through catalogs and showrooms looking for just the right hardware, window and light treatments, and trim options. The variables are so broad that it would be rare to find two finished front doors alike no matter how hard you looked.

Another option are antique or reclaimed doors, hardware, lights and trim accessories that have come out of historic but now gone glory homes of old. At Chase, we keep close track of the salvage and reconditioning market and over the years we have found some doors and lights (think: antique leaded windows that surround the door or are in the door) that are a hundred years old or more, made by craftsmen in an age when craftsmanship was a widely practiced art.

And the good news is that there are a few high-quality craftsmen left in the world, and a few of our clients have opted for a full customized front door and entryway treatment made by an old-school woodworker. In this way you can have a new front door that not only is unique but will be a conversation piece for years to come.

When building a custom home there are thousands of decisions to make – roof treatments, cabinets, flooring, windows, and on and on – but in our experience the front door of that new dream home is among the most time-consuming and pleasurable choices a custom homeowner will make.

The front door is, after all, your first impression, and it should say “Welcome” with a touch of “Wow.”

Chase Custom Homes of Denver handles every detail in the design and build of custom homes, with clients fully engaged in every aspect of the project. Our motto is “A Chase Custom Home creates an address for a lifetime,” so in fact our business is making dreams come true. For more information visit     http://denvercustomhomebuilder.com/