THE MOST BUDGET FRIENDLY WOOD DOOR YOU’LL FIND

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This post is only 3 years behind schedule…but as the saying goes, it’s better late than never!

In the fall of 2016 we remodeled our living room (which also happens to be the entryway) and I was determined to get rid of our “beautiful” Christmas front door. As much as I love a red and green theme year round I was ready to say goodbye to that beauty.

Side note: I was also ready to get rid of the red siding, green shutters, blue porch, and delightful landscaping the day that we moved in but we’re tackling this home remodel one project at a time. We’ll make the exterior look stunning some day I swear!

So since the Christmas door was on its way out, I was hoping to find a beautiful wood door to replace it. What I didn’t realize at the time was just how expensive wood doors are! Holy cow you can easily drop a couple grand for a slab of wood that swings open and shut!

We were working with a tight budget (we’re talking $3,000 for a complete living room renovation and makeover including furniture) so we had to do some extensive google searching to come up with some options! And then out of nowhere Chris found the exact door I wanted from Lowe’s for only…wait for it…$188!!

It was just the door slab (no door jam), and it came unfinished. Now if you’re not handy or good at precision work this may not be the best door for you, but I personally loved that I could pick whatever color/stain I wanted for it.

In our case, we used the existing door jam and just replaced the old door with the new wood door. And as far as it being unfinished, I happen to have some experience in the refinishing department so I felt fairly comfortable staining and sealing the door myself.

UPDATE: It looks as though our door has been out of stock for some time. Here’s another option that’s nearly identical but comes with a door jam. Slightly more expensive but still a good deal in my opinion!

Side note: It ended up being slightly more difficult to stain than I anticipated. The wood soaked up the stain in some areas and not so much in other areas so I’d recommend using a wood conditioner before staining. All in all, I was (and still am) pleased with the outcome.

I used Puritan Pine by Minwax to stain the door. I wanted a lighter wood tone that still highlighted the grains and this stain color did just that!

To seal the door and protect it from the elements, I sealed it with Indoor/Outdoor Helmsman Spar Urethane and I applied 3 coats on each side. This was most definitely my least favorite part because it took some time and precision…but it’s necessary to protect the wood from rain, snow, etc.

We then finished the look with the Schlage matte black handleset and that my friends is the most budget friendly wood door you will find!