Lowe’s ThermaTru Doors
jackofalltrades777
| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
Looking to get a reasonably priced but energy efficient entry door. Lowe’s sells fiberglass TheraTru doors with polyurethane that initially seem to be around U-Value of .21 which seems pretty good for a door. They also have a triple locking mechanism.
Any pros, cons or feedback on these doors?
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Based on my own experience with at least one type of ThermaTru exterior doors, in-swing with triple locking mechanism, I would say they are fine if installed in well protected areas like deep porch overhangs. Of the three I have, one is fully exposed to the elements and I found the sill to jamb construction utterly unacceptable. The jamb stock is not fiberglass on my particular doors and water immediately migrated into the end grain where the aluminum sill sets in. The wood has split and the paint has failed on both sides. Very poor detailing allowed rain to penetrate easily and the door flooded in at both corners until I reworked and sealed the interface of jamb to sill stock. I would suggest looking very closely at how the sill is set into the jamb with particular attention to the stop and gasket to check for obvious gapping. The adjustable threshold also posed a problem despite the exterior rubber gasket along the doors bottom edge which does not shed water far enough out. The gasket has also compressed at the sides where the V gasket squishes it which amplifies the short fall and causes the water to drop right at the threshold/sill intersect.
The three point is quite nice and does an excellent job and appears to be a Hoppe brand product. The thermal isolation between interior and exterior skins also seems quite effective.
I looked at ThermaTru but decided to go with an Intus door instead. The Intus was a bit more money, but I am very satisfied with the purchase.
Steve,
Was the Intus door all glass or partial glass and partial PVC filler?
@Peter. The front entry door is an Intus Eforte UPVC, which has a thermal performance of Uf=0.264 Btu/(h.ft2.F) with triple glazing (Ug=0.97 Btu/(h.ft2.F), double door seals, and a three-point locking system. Less glass would likely boost performance.