The material of your front door is a crucial factor in choosing the right exterior door for security, durability, and insulation. Style is another important factor to consider when selecting one. The size of your door is more than just having the right measurements; it also influences the overall appearance of your home.
When purchasing an entry door, it’s essential to weigh your budget against durability when choosing the design and material. The right door will provide smoother operation, less maintenance, and added energy savings. It should welcome guests and keep elements out while keeping them in.
There are various materials to choose from, including steel doors, fiberglass doors, wood entry doors, sliding patio doors, terrace doors, and more. Steel doors are stronger than wood and fiberglass, making them ideal for durability and security. Wood doors are preferred for their aesthetic appeal.
There is a wide variety of materials to choose from, including wood, fiberglass for outstanding weather-resistance, aluminum for durability, and contemporary designs. The general rule is to choose a front door that doesn’t detract from the overall appearance of your house.
Determining the purpose of the door involves considering function, energy-efficiency, security, appearance, and compatibility. The material of your front door is a key component of choosing the right exterior door for security, durability, and insulation.
In summary, choosing the right exterior door for your home requires considering various factors such as style, material, size, and design. By doing so, you can create a first impression that showcases your style and contributes to the overall aesthetic appeal of your home.
📹 What Side Should the Hinges Be on When Installing an Exterior Door?
What Side Should the Hinges Be on When Installing an Exterior Door?. Part of the series: Home Sweet Home Repair.
📹 How to choose a fridge? -French doors vs side by side vs freezer on top- Watch this before you shop
How to choose the fridge? This question is the most popular among homeowners when I deliver the bad news to them – your …
I prefer side by side because the French door version still need to bend the knee to the ice queen to get frozen items. With side by side, I keep frequently used items on top. Also, I noticed those french door with ice maker/crushed ice often have issues with either water leak and frozen/stuck icemaker. I think logically with a mixed temperature environment (ice maker and regular refrigerator together), there’s a difference in temperature. That might create that froze up issue and not able to make ice. I could be wrong if their insulation is good.
Thanks for the article. Your opinion is very important. I notice the door at the bottom in some of that appliances are not very stables. As for example in some models of Ge. Others like the profile GE brand are very stables. But i saw the new Frigidare refrigerator and i like it design very much, what is your opinion about that model? I appreciate your answer. (The model that i saw was an independent Refrigerator). the freezer, they sell apart. (Each one is apart). I like this model a lot. Thsnks!!
Thank you for great informative article. I stopped at french door bottom freezer no water or ice maker i need, I am in new york in terms buying choices. I saw previos comments regarding bosh and other brands. What other brands and model would you reccomend in terms price quality and waranty time. Thank you
Hi, Garrick, Thanks for the article. Very enlightening. The GE PFD28BYNFS model was recommended in an earlier comment. Yes, we’re considering this one. My concern is that it was mentioned to stay away from water and ice and is dispensed through the refrigerator door and this model does that. What problems should we expect? We’ve had 2 GE profiles. The first one was great. With the 2nd one (a side-by-side), I’ve had to defrost the refrigerator every 2-4 weeks for the last tears. Question #2: what are your thoughts on Electrolux ERMC2295AS? I hear this unit is very noisy. My GE Profile is very quiet, except when the refrigerator freezes. Question #3: because my family wants a water/ice dispenser on the outside, what are your thoughts on the Bosch B36CD50NS? Is this a quiet running unit? Question #4: maybe I should ask, which refrigerator with an outer water/ice dispenser do you recommend? Many thanks for your reply!! M. In Texas
I was recently at several relative’s houses and they all had the French door type fridge. I put ice in my drinks several times a day and having the ice maker down in the pull out drawer is a pain! The drawers were full for Thanksgiving and really heavy to pull out for me. Also, it reminded me of a chest freezer, which I hate—digging through your food in a big chest to find the frozen corn or a package of hamburger is annoying to me I’ll stick with my side by side–ice in the door so you don’t have to open the freezer for ice and I have the individual freezer shelves categorized for chicken, pork, beef, and other frozen foods with the frozen veggies in the door shelves. We bought an extra freezer shelf to accommodate our system.
Garrik Everything you have just mentioned I have had problems with!!!, And now just the compressors went out they wanted charge me $800 to change it to a $100 compressor and yet this is supposed to be covered under the 10 year compression warranty what a rip off, My unit’s 6 years old it’s always had problems with the ice maker ever since I got it I was waiting for the class action lawsuit to combut right now I’ve got to buy another refrigerator can you tell me what is good, Or better yet who has the best warranty parts and labor that’s what I’m looking for now!!!
What refrigerant is used in new fridges, old ones used R12 sealed system last for years low pressures. Had Hotpoint 25 years still ran fine. Made in Mexico & China not good. Sealed systems warranty 1 year maybe,shows how well companies stand behind product. Most R12 fridges freezers 5 years sealed system. Today obsolescence.
I had an LG french door frig that failed three months before the warranty was over. They sent a repair guy who worked on it for 3 hours and finally gave up and finally ordered a new compressor; he stated it was leaking freon. Three weeks later he installed the new compressor and guess what, it still leaked. He leak checked the frig for three hours and finally gave up. He stated the leak was somewhere in the freon distribution in the body of the fridge and couldn’t fix it without disassembling it entirely thus it was unrepairable. I spent the next five months fighting with LG to replace the fridge but they stalled by slowly escalating my problem through three levels of “customer service”. I finally gave up having wasted nine months of time with LG. The bottom line is, DO NOT PURCHASE LG, THEY WILL NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR WARRANTY!
i have to disagree with you on the french door when there is a indoor ice/water there is a problem. I refuse to ever get one again especially Samsung anything. I think the side by side is the best. we had a Side by Side whirl pool for like 14 years only issue was relay that went . and Ice make never had an issue. Samsung ice make issues and evap system issues. I hate my samsung fridge
And I have an side by side Maytag refrigerator Maytag refrigerator, an o en Maytag too. Is the the zig zag door model in white color. I bought it in 2023 aprox, . And I have it until today. I had to called a technichian only 3 times in that perood of time. The last one it was a problem with the door rubber and because i cant find it, I put a warm water in a tonel and apply to the rubber and i fin the problem. This shoul be temporARY so I HAVE TO look for aNother refrigerator. By now that Maytag APPLIANCE still working. I think It was a good appliance for me. Both the oren and my refrigerator INCREDIBLY still woking AFTER YEARS OF USE. My lovely model, the zig zag side by side was discontinued. 😪. The only bad thing was the rubber and in the left door, which have a little corrosión because of the use of the ice maker was the only bad thing. But its white color keeps and maintain in very very very good since I bought it.
Hi. I love your articles, great explanations. I have a 4-door french door Samsung RF31FMESBSR. The fridge works fine, the freezer wont freeze at all. Replaced the fridge evap motor freezer fan works. Still the freezer does not cool, below 18*C. I have had 2 techs out and they do something, the common stuff, and leave. Frustrated. Any suggestions?
You don’t mention the quality of the components and build quality. I have a five year old LG french door refrigerator and the water/ice dispenser cracked many plastic parts and small screws and springs fell out. This means I can’t use the ice dispenser. I imagine the repair cost is more than the fridge is worth since it will mean dismantling the left door. I will never buy korean made appliances again as they are just not durable
I couldn’t get past the “you’ll only open the freezer once or twice a week”. Who are you?? And the French door fridge in the article abuts a wall. BIG MISTAKE! You cannot open the door fully, and you’ll need to remove the buckets to get the shelves out to clean them. I’ve had all types of refrigerators and when I got my french door fridge, in a short period of time, I hated it. I now was opening two doors every time I wanted in the fridge instead of one. Crazy. Although I thought I loved the freezer on the bottom UNTIL we rented a house with a LG side-by-side. My sister always told me how she hated her side-by-side because she couldn’t place her pies in the narrow freezer. I get that. She likely had a 33″ or smaller refrigerator where side by side isn’t the best. HOWEVER I absolutely LOVED the LG 36″ side-by-side. NO MORE DIGGING into a freezer on the bottom, getting items stuck on the top freezer drawer and accidentally leaving a small gap in the door. The side-by-side allows me to easily see what is in my freezer and access everything. I’m not a pie baker and I don’t buy pre-made pizzas. I’m ready to push BUY on a LS23C4000V LG side-by-side to replace the Kenmore 2-door freezer on the bottom that came with our condo.
2 days ago, i got GE 19.1 cu. Ft (GTE19jtnrww). Only 1 temperature setting knob controls top & bottom. Problem is on recommended setting, bottom is at 43F & top is at 14F. Not acceptable.Why could that be. Is Frigidaire 17.6 cu. Ft (#FRFG1723AV) better overall (reliable refrigerant & well oriented main control board)?
Thank you for this article. What is your opinion about Fisher Paykel refrigerators? If choosing between Whirlpool brands vs GE, which of those do you prefer for reliability and no headaches? I don’t want any water or even ice maker. I have a great RO system and if I want ice, I will buy a countertop ice maker.
As a domestic refrigerator repairer 40 years experience, I’d definitely say French door refrigerator are the most difficult to repair, can take an additional hour of repair time to repair the most basic issues, therefore EXPENSIVE $$$ to repair, therefore not recommended by me, Freezer on top or on the bottom my best suggestion, Side by side, not so convenient. But A large, pigeon pair, separate refrigerator, separate matching freezer is a fantastic option for a large capacity if that’s what you are after
You missed a huge downside to french doors, if you want a water/ice dispenser (which is important for me). fd fridges have a big, bulky ice maker in the fridge section. That is bad, more prone to failure. a sxs has a smaller, more efficient ice maker in the freezer compartment where it belongs. far more reliable. everything is easier to organize and more accessible in a sxs. and they are less expensive than comparable fd models. and yes, i use my freezer a lit more than twice a week!
Hello sir.Thank you this article was helpful.Soon I will be buying a brand new fridge.I’m not looking for a huge,super fancy(just me using it) but my main concern is noise. I’m super sensitive to unnecessary noise,the fridge I have now is so bad at times,I’m ready to smash it to bits (its a Maytag). I’ve been trying to gather information on noiseless fridges.Is no noise even possible?I scrolled through your articles but saw nothing on the topic. Brand suggestions that are reasonably priced?Thank you.I’m a new subscriber.
2:30 the door next to the wall seems like the handles get in the way. Currently have a 2004 Kenmore Elite Fridge. I have done many repairs over the years myself: 2 dual inlet valves, 1 ice maker, 1 freezer fan, 1 freezer thermistor. Eventually we will have to replace. It is top freezer with ice maker in freezer and water in door. They don’t make this type any more with water in door. If you get top freezer we need to find a countertop ice maker with water hose connector and water dispenser.
We had a side-by-side, it broke, we got a Bosch French-door. I hate it. It wants me (right handed) to always open the left door first and close the right door first, (pain in the neck with several things in hand) on threat of buggering the little flapper that pivots to seal the inter-door gap (reputed expensive repair). I tried to compensate by moving all the most-used items to the left side, a task complicated by the fact that the ice maker and thru-the-door water dispenser (which I like a lot) live inside and occupy a lot of space on that left side. I’m almost looking forward to the thing crapping out so we can try something else.
Thank you for your excellent article. Have you had any customers having issues with their Samsung 580L Top Mount Freezer with Twin Cooling Plus SAM-RT18M6211SG? I am looking for new fridge and this model layout seems to meet my requirement but the brand’s reputation has left me thinking, whether it’s a Go or No Go. Thanks for your help.
Help…I had the Samsung nightmare fridge frenchdoor bottom freezer 25.5cu where the ice drops inside the bin in lower freezer… now I LOVED all of the great space however over the time I had it..I can’t tell you how many times I brought repair person out due to freezer issues and ice building up in back of fridge and items not staying cool..recently replaced with Whirlpool French door bottom freezer 25.2 but shoot smaller…I couldn’t fit all the items I used to in Samsung..I need to return my Whirlpool (just got it delivered today) because I need the space like Samsung but afraid to go back to Samsung
Anything any brand that has a built in water dispenser and ice machine will fall apart after 2 years. All those mechanisms freeze and leak. The cost to send out a repair man is $150, then it goes up depending on how honest the repair man is. Buy a simple double door with lower or upper freezer. Thank me for saving YOU hundreds to thousands 😄
I’ve not seen a freezer that fits what I want. The side by side has too little space, the bottom freezer isn’t that great for people who can’t bend to reach it and the normal top freezer it’s the same bending but I do go into the freezer often so that one works best. Wished there was a french door similar to that.
You’re a young guy who now works on appliances and refrigerator’s is just one of the many appliances . I don’t think you can even remember or even know that in the U.S.A., the so called french door refrigerator was actually one of the first designs of the electric refrigerator which have now came back in style . It’s the most expensive of the 3 different styles you talk about and are the most expensive to repair and worst design of the 3 The refrigerator with the freezer on the top was the 2nd style made . It’s the cheapest costing refrigerator to purchase, has a much better design with the freezer on the top as coldest air settles down to the bottom which makes it more affordable to operate, but is the smallest of the 3 . The side by side was the most resent design which gave you more space, both freezer & refrigerator for it’s time and is the best for everyone’s back as to having to bend . I have had our side by side for over 35 years without any problem !! So it comes right down to the brand one buys and what they can afford and which they prefer !! Sorry to say, I find your article to give terrible information about refrigerator’s, PERIOD !!!!!!
Hi Garrik, so my family wants to buy a new fridge because we hear the simpler the better. But we still want a french door. And at least an ice maker thats not on the doors but in the freezer itself. We are also conisdering a top freezer fridge as well as long as it has an ice maker. What are some things to keep in mind? Is Frigidaire a good brand for either of these types of fridges? Are there any other recommendations you could possibly give?
I have a Samsung counter depth refrigerator. Nothing but problems. Had it for 8 years. First top ice maker stop working. 2 bottom freezer always freezing up. 3 now top refrigerator freezer up. I put it manually in defrost a couple times a week. I’m done with it. I’m tired of taking it apart every couple of months defrosting it. What’s the most reliable counter depth refrigerator out right now?
My wife was excited today when she thought my old basic white fridge was tore up because the door was not closing all the way. She wasn’t happy when I said ah I fixed it! It’s just a bottle of ketchup keeping it form closing all the way. She’s really wanting new stainless appliances but my old ugly white stuff like my fridge has worked fine since I bought the house at least 18 years ago. Only issue is the ice maker drips in the freezer which ends up freezing and doesn’t ever leak out. I’m afraid if I buy a new one it’s going to be a piece of junk.
Love your articles and your honesty. I thought that I had decided on a brand to buy, but servicing in my rural area is difficult. However, Electrolux/Frigidaire does have service here. Any thoughts about their French door, 36″ fridges? Is there really any difference between the two names, beside the price?
I agree completely with this man on how awful side by side refrigerators are. However my appliance repairman (repairs all types of kitchen appliances) who repaired my upright freezer told me to AVOID buying french door refrigerators because they have 2 motors? or 2 compressors? or 2 something something which means twice the chance of something breaking. He said to go with freezer on top or a side by side since both have been made for decades and manufacturers worked the bugs out. He also said to stay away from foreign brands. After my “made in USA” lemon of a Whirlpool dishwasher, I don’t know what to make of that. This article appliance repairman at the end of the article only mentioned the top freezer, side by side and French door but did not mention bottom freezer. Big complaints about French doors is that stupid meat drawer which forces people to open BOTH doors to access or the French door that forces you to open both doors to open any drawer OR having to use your hand or your shoulder to keep one or more of the 2 doors OPEN while you are rummaging around in the refrigerator trying to find something. I have read thousands of all type of refrigerator reviews pro and con. I have a very narrow 24″ wide bottom freezer which I can now now replace with any width refrigerator I want after a kitchen remodel. I have not decided yet. I do NOT want a side by side. I do not want a freezer on top. I like the idea of a French door or a bigger bottom freezer refrigerator but am leery of a French door since my repairman said to avoid them.
French Door is the least reliable because it works against natural flow of air which makes it complicated design. Also good luck with ice maker in French Door located in the refrigerator section. Top freezer is the best since cold air is heavy and naturally flows down from the freezer to the refrigerator. Top freezer is also the least complicate design to repair. This guy prefers French Door because he can charge $$$$$.
Nice article. Very informative. Can you please tell me what will be the best French door model in 33″ wide design and counter depth. I can’t go really high in price but want something with water dispenser outside. What will be the best time to buy. I want to buy full package for kitchen. Please suggest, I live in Chicago.
Good afternoon, Garrick! Thank you SO VERY much for responding! I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond with your professional opinion. Do you have time for another question? We currently have a GE Profile, side-by-side, PSS26PSTBDSS (15 yrs). Ice accumulates in the refrigerator on the wall behind the vegetable bin. Do you know what causes this and is there anything we can do (besides replacement) to stop/address this? Last December a GE certified repair person replaced the control board and defrost heater. The “repair” lasted 1 month and we’re back to defrosting about every 2-4 weeks. The “repair” was about as effective as leaving the unit to defrost on its own! Thank you for your time and comments!! From hot-n-sunny Texas! (101 today; will feel like 106!!)
French door models are too much trouble. The door seals need replacing way too soon. On top of that, the freezer is on the bottom and that makes it more difficult to access your frozen food. This makes them harder to work on, which results in higher labor costs. Stick with the side by side models and you’ll be much happier and keep more of your money. As for brands, stay away from Samsung and LG, stick with G.E., Whirlpool, Maytag, Amana.