What Is the Process for Getting Custom Doors for My Home?
Simply Doors and Closets has been helping homeowners improve the look and functionality of their homes with custom doors. One of the most common questions about custom doors is how long does the process take. This guide answers the questions about the process of designing, creating, manufacturing and installing custom doors and how long the process takes.
Customized doors are an excellent addition to any home, whether you’re adding them to an existing home or building a home from the ground up. These doors are beautiful, functional, and can be an elegant addition to a space—if you can find someone willing to make them for you. But the process of getting custom doors can be complicated, because all custom work requires an extensive amount of planning. An average project takes 1-2 months to complete, but if you have lots of customization requests, it may take even longer. Before you start your custom door search, it’s important to understand this process so you know what to expect before you even make the call. To help, we’ve created a guide that articulates a few of the most important steps that occur during the time it takes to get a custom door.
1. Deciding on The Budget
Before you start ordering custom doors from a company, you should create a budget for your project. You don’t want to settle for a certain style or design just because you don’t have the money to fit every detail. Plus, if you don’t create a budget for yourself, you might get so caught up in the excitement of the project that you lose track of your spending. To begin, find out what kind of budget your custom door company requires so you can determine how much you’d like to get out of your door project.
2. Choose Your Material
Next, you should decide which material you’d like your doors to be made of. While many companies will give you the option to choose the material you’d like, some may require you to use specific materials. With that said, deciding on your material is a critical step, so you’ll want to think it through thoroughly. From wood to glass to metals your options are varied, but it’s important to consider the quality of the material, the look you’re trying to achieve, and the feel of the door when opening and closing it.
A family in the Wilton Woods neighborhood of Alexandria in the 22310 zip code off Franconia Rd chose California Redwood as the material for their interior doors. They loved the look and sturdiness of the California Redwood material.
3. Picking the Style
Some people think that the style is the last step in the process of ordering custom doors, but it’s actually one of the most important steps. Even the best design isn’t going to look good if the building is out of square or isn’t square in the middle. Because of this, you’ll want to not only pick the style that you want but also choose a company that can help you to select a style that will complement your layout and design. Remember: if you don’t like the design, you can always change it in the future. Because of this, you shouldn’t feel tied down to a design that you’re not crazy about. Discuss the design, the style, and your budget with the company, and make sure that you can get everything you want before you commit.
4. Timeframe
The amount of time it takes to get custom doors for your home will depend on the amount of customization you require. The more customization, the longer it will take to get your doors. When you’re doing the planning portion of your project, be sure to have an idea of when you’d like your doors to be ready by. If you have a timeline, your company can begin to work out the kinks in your plans so that you can expect to get doors that are just what you want when you want them.
Recently at a home in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood in Arlington a family had their custom doors. Material shortages and transportation issues slowed down the process of getting the doors to their house in the 22202 zip code off S. Hayes St near Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.
5. Advising
Before you finalize your plans and order your doors, you’ll want to talk with the company to make sure that they like your plans and understand exactly what you’d like to get out of your doors. To do this, they’ll work with you to make changes and advise you on your plans. This step is particularly important if you haven’t had custom doors installed at one of your previous homes.
Why Does It Take So Long to Get Custom Doors Made?
Customization might be one of the biggest benefits of having custom doors, but it is also the biggest challenge. The time it takes to make custom doors is the major factor that many people find surprising. It isn’t surprising, however, if you stop and take a look at how custom doors are made and why they take so long. It takes time and effort to make a custom door, and we’ve outlined these reasons and other important considerations for you.
1. Design Process
Every design process involves weeks and months of discussion, revision, and observation. If you’ve ever designed something – a car, a house – you know that it takes time to get the design just right, and you’re looking for major change – not a slight adaptation! These discussions lead to the first draft, which then leads to an increasing number of drafts until the product is finalized and ready to be made. Once the design is finalized, it is time to create the molds – the first step of the production process – and this takes a lot of time and effort.
A homeowner in the Rock Spring neighborhood in Arlington recently completed the design process for getting custom doors in their home off Williamsburg Rd in the 22207 zip code. They choose the Brighton Style of Raised Panel Door for their house near Discovery Elementary.
2. Mold Making
The process of creating the molds is extremely complicated, as they have to meet several high-quality standards. Not only that, but molds also have a short lifespan, as they wear out as soon as the first piece of glass is made. Each step of the process requires a lot of time and energy, so the process can’t be rushed. This is why the mold making process is a crucial part of the production process, and it is also a huge storyline in the making of custom doors.
3. Material Selection
If you’re going to have custom doors made, you have to have a clear idea of what you want them to look like. Do you want them to be hand-sanded? Do you want them to be painted? Do you want them to be colored? Once you’ve decided on what you want for your custom doors, you can move on to choosing the material. This part isn’t quite as easy as it sounds though, as there are several materials that can be used to make custom doors. These materials aren’t immediately available, and manufacturers have to find them, which can take several weeks. From stupendous Californian Redwood, to oak, to cherry, you can have your door made in any material you like. And every material has its own unique properties, so the manufacturing process will vary to include or exclude certain steps, depending on the material you choose.
4. Production process
Right after the molds are completed, the custom doors production process begins. This process requires a lot of man-hours, and it takes a lot of time. The total leave-time depends on the industry the customer works in – again, this is a major factor in the average time it takes to make custom doors – and this is why production depends so much on the process. In addition, the production process is also a very distressing process, as it can be truly difficult to create a product of this caliber. It is a lot of pressure, and it is a lot of time, but it is well worth it.
5. Final Installation
Once your custom doors are complete, they are placed in a shipper and shipped to your door. Of course, Installing custom doors is the easy part! If you do not already have solid wood custom door frames, you will also need to have those custom-made by a contractor. All in all, your custom doors can take anywhere from a month to a year to be made, depending on the process.
Final installation was just completed for a home in Woodburn neighborhood of Fairfax near Eakin Community Park. Installation of all of their doors took less than a day for their home in the 22003 zip code off Prosperity Ave.
Are Custom Doors and Closets Right For You?
The process of getting custom doors designed, created, manufactured and installed in your home can be a lengthy one, but the final results are worth the wait. Custom doors add value to your home and increase its functionality. If you’ve ever struggled with doors that stick or don’t open properly, you’ll love custom doors. If you have any questions about getting custom doors in your home, the experts at Simply Doors and Closets have been helping homeowners for over twenty years and are happy to answer any questions you might have. If you’d like to learn more about other home improvement projects that can increase the value of your home, click here to learn about why you should get a custom closet instead of an off the shelf system.
