Which is Better: Steel or Fiberglass Doors?

When it comes to entry doors for your home, you have several choices. Entry doors are most commonly made from steel, fiberglass, and wood. All of these base materials can be accented in various ways and made to fit with a wide variety of designs and architectural styles. So, how do you know which type of door is the best for your home’s entryway?

In this article, we’ll look at the differences between, as well as the pros and cons of steel and fiberglass doors. Be sure to check out the companion piece where we compare the various benefits and drawbacks of steel doors versus wood doors, to help you make the best decision for your home’s entry door.

What to Look For

To start, let’s consider what features are important when choosing a new entry door for your home. There are a lot of elements to consider, and some may or may not be important or relevant to you.

• Personal style: Do you personally like the style and design of the door?
• Architecture: Does the style of the door match the overall architecture and style of your home, both inside and out?
• Design trends: Is this door part of a current trend? Or does the design have a timeless look that will work for years to come?
• Home security: Once the door is installed, how secure is it?
• Energy efficiency: How well does the door protect your home from the elements? Is it rated for energy efficiency?
• Durability: Is this door made from quality materials and built to last?
• Size: Is your door a standard size, or will you need a custom door to fit your space?

Now that you know what to look for in an entry door for your home, let’s look at some specifics about steel and fiberglass entry doors.

Steel Entry Doors

Steel entry doors are one of the most common entry door choices in modern homes, because they offer a lot of benefits, with very few drawbacks. Steel has been used to make entry doors for more than 100 years, so they’ve stood the test of time, and continue to offer great options for residential entry doors.

Pros of Steel Entry Doors

• They are very durable. Steel is a strong metal that can stand up to a lot of abuse without showing any ill effects. A steel door won’t warp, crack, or rot.
• Steel doors offer some of the best protections against the elements, especially when it comes to wet weather, such as rain or snow.
• Most steel doors have a foam core, which makes them extremely energy efficient in a wide variety of climates.
• Steel doors are extremely strong, which makes them excellent choices when it comes to home security. Properly installed steel doors are very difficult to break down.
• When it comes to maintenance, steel doors are definitely the winner, because they require almost no maintenance over time.

Cons of Steel Entry Doors

• Though steel doors can be painted in any number of colors, they can otherwise be somewhat limited in their design style options, unless you purchase a custom steel door.
• Steel doors aren’t easy to damage, if they do get dented or gouged, they can be difficult to repair. However, Portella products do come with a paint touch-up kit that allows homeowners or contractors to make minor repairs and fixes easily.
• Steel doors can develop rust over time, especially when exposed to certain elements and/or climates. Salt in areas near the ocean, for example, can cause steel doors to rust. Of course custom steel doors, like those from Portella, can come with a galvanized steel process and rust or element resistant paint options that can help negate this quite a bit.

Fiberglass Entry Doors

Fiberglass doors are the newest comers to the market of entry door offerings, since they were just invented in the 1980s. Since that time, manufacturers have been working to improve the features of fiberglass doors, and they’ve come a long way to give us the options we have available today.

Pros of Fiberglass Entry Doors

• Fiberglass doors offer a much larger variety of colors, styles, and finishes than any other type of door. You can find fiberglass doors that have been designed to fit with every architectural style and design style imaginable.
• Fiberglass doors come pre-finished, so there’s no painting or other work to get it ready for install.
• Energy efficiency is another big benefit of fiberglass entry doors. Since they are made with a foam core, they offer a great barrier to heat transfer in most climates.
• Fiberglass entry doors are basically maintenance-free, since they don’t ever need to be painted, sanded, and they won’t warp, rust, or rot over time.

Cons of Fiberglass Entry Doors

• Fiberglass doors are difficult to customize beyond the specifications offered by the manufacturer. Due to the way in which fiberglass doors are made, it’s usually not cost-effective for companies to offer custom solutions, so if you need a unique size, you might be out of luck.
• When it comes to pricing, fiberglass doors are some of the most costly options on the market. 
• Although they’re durable, if your fiberglass door does become damaged, it will be extremely difficult to repair, if a repair is even possible. You might be forced to replace the entire door in the event of damage.

The Winner: Steel Entry Doors

While both types of doors offer a variety of benefits, there’s simply no beating the versatility and durability of steel entry doors. If you purchase a quality door from a reliable steel door manufacturer, you can be sure you’ve made a good investment in your home that you can enjoy for many years to come.

Portella’s custom steel doors are created with exceptional workmanship and attention-to-detail to create an unforgettable first impression for your home. With a variety of hardware options, configurations, colors, and sizes available, Portella can create the perfect door for your home.

At Portella, our goal is always to blend utility and beauty to create the best possible steel doors and windows for every design need. Whether you need custom windows throughout your home, or one custom steel door to fulfill an architectural vision for your home, we have the solutions you need. At Portella, we work with people to realize their visions of the perfect space, and we meticulously craft custom steel windows and doors to ensure the perfect aesthetic for every project.  

Do you have a front door you love? What’s your favorite type of design for entry doors?