The main front door. It opens and closes more than any other door, takes the most weather, and makes most of your home's first impression.
Exterior windows and doors only. We do not install interior doors or interior windows.
How it opens
An entry door is the main exterior door into your home, usually the front door. For most North Alabama homes fiberglass is the best fit, because it holds its shape in humidity and does not need refinishing. What keeps it working for years is the installation, especially a sloped sill pan under the threshold that drains water back out.
The details
Any front entry where the door is warped, the threshold is soft, or the door has stopped sealing against its weatherstrip. It also suits homeowners who want a better-looking entry or more daylight through glass or sidelights, the narrow glass panels beside a door.
The door material is the first decision. Here is how the three common choices stack up in this climate.
A front entry takes more weather than any other opening in the house and more use than any other door. In this climate, that shows up at the threshold. The sill takes wind-driven rain, the door expands and contracts through a wide range of temperatures, and the weatherstrip gets squeezed a few thousand times a year.
A dark door on a south or west entry with no overhang will move more than the same door in shade, which is worth knowing before you choose the color.
Every exterior door we set gets a sloped, sealed sill pan with end dams. A sill pan is a shallow tray under the threshold that catches any water getting past the door and drains it back outside. It is invisible once the door is in, and it is the step most often skipped.
Head flashing goes above the door, and side flashing laps over the pan so water always sheds outward. The frame is set plumb with an even gap all around, so the weatherstrip presses evenly. An uneven gap is why some new doors still whistle in the wind.
We price after measuring, line by line, with the materials named. These are the things that move the number.
We walk your exterior, measure, and show you the options. There is no charge and no pressure.
You get a written scope with every line and material named. Then we order for your home.
Cut, fitted, trimmed, cleaned up and hauled away the same day. You never look at a pile of old frames.
Real ACM job photos. Every photo marked “ACM job photo” is from one of our own jobs.
ACM job photoPorch window replacement
Old porch windows with failing frames replaced with a new picture window and sliders, set and sealed from the outside.
ACM job photoDouble-hung window replacement in brick
A worn double-hung window with a deteriorated sill replaced with a new white double-hung unit.
ACM job photoNew picture window on a brick ranch
A large picture window installed on a brick ranch home, finished and cleaned up the same day.
ACM Pros replaced our windows and our front door in Hazel Green, AL. We are very happy with the work and the team.
Fiberglass, in most cases, because it does not move much with temperature and does not need refinishing. Steel is stronger against impact but dents permanently and can pass heat through. Wood is the right answer where the architecture calls for it and the entry is sheltered.
If the existing frame is square, dry and sound, replacing just the slab, which is the door itself, works. If there is soft wood at the sill or the door has been binding, replacing the frame is the only lasting answer. That is decided at measuring, not when the quote is written.
A sloped sill pan with a raised back edge, flashed and lapped so gravity drains water out rather than into the framing. It is invisible once the door is in, it is the step most often skipped, and it is the reason a threshold fails from underneath.
Humidity swells a wood door and can warp it out of shape, which is why a door that closed cleanly in February drags in August. Fiberglass and steel do not move the same way. Before replacing, check the hinges, because long screws into the framing at the top hinge fix a surprising number of sticking doors.
Often, yes. Sidelights are narrow glass panels beside the door, and a transom is a glass panel above it. Adding them changes the size of the unit and the work around it, so we measure first and spell out the scope in your written estimate.
For looks, choose what you like. On a south or west entry with no overhang, a dark door absorbs more heat and moves more than a light one. If you want a dark color on a sunny entry, talk it through at the estimate so the material suits it.
No. We install exterior doors only: entry, patio, exterior French and storm doors. We do not install interior doors, and we do not do any work inside the house.
Entry, patio, exterior French and storm doors, set on a sealed sill pan so the threshold stays dry for years.
Learn moreSliding glass or hinged patio doors that open onto a deck or yard, installed with a sill pan so the threshold stays dry.
Learn moreA hinged pair of exterior glass doors that seals better than a slider and opens wide onto a patio or deck.
Learn moreA second door outside your entry that blocks rain and sun and adds a screen for fresh air. Best on entries with no overhang.
Learn more
Every window style and frame material, measured and installed from the outside with a sill pan and proper flashing.
Learn more
Exterior windows9 minute read
Frame material, glass package and window style, judged against what North Alabama's long, humid cooling season actually does to a window.
Exterior windows10 minute read
Five window problems worth acting on in a North Alabama home, and two that look alarming but usually are not.
Exterior doors10 minute read
Fiberglass, steel and wood each have a place on a North Alabama front door. Here is how humidity, hail and hard afternoon sun should steer your choice.
We're based in Madison and work across North Alabama, providing entry doors in every area below. We do not work in Tennessee.
Tell us what you're picturing. We'll come out, measure up, and give you a free written estimate, so you know exactly what to expect before any work begins.
