The Art of the Entrance

A vast selection of entryway and interior doors at Premium Plywood + Specialties in Hyannis offers a selection for discerning homeowners.

There are few elements of a home asked to do quite as much as a door. The front door must welcome guests, provide security, withstand the elements, contribute to a home’s energy performance and, perhaps most importantly, make a statement about the architecture—and the people who live behind it. Inside, doors take on another role, carrying the home’s design vocabulary from one room to the next.

At Premium Plywood + Specialties’ expanded showroom, a broad collection of exterior and interior doors demonstrates just how far this once purely functional building component has evolved. From handsome mahogany entry doors to virtually maintenance-free fiberglass options, and from substantial paneled interior doors to streamlined contemporary profiles, today’s choices allow homeowners to consider a door as part of the overall design rather than an afterthought.

The front door, in particular, can become a punctuation point for a home’s personality. Color can make the statement—a classic red, sophisticated black or unexpected coastal blue—or the material itself can command attention. Premium Plywood + Specialties offers wood entry doors from manufacturers including Signature Door^®, Upstate Door^®, TruStile^® and Simpson^®, with options in mahogany, oak and other species, as well as fiberglass alternatives from manufacturers such as Therma-Tru^® and ODL^®.

For homeowners drawn to the warmth and authenticity of wood, the possibilities are extensive. Glass can be incorporated or omitted entirely, and molding profiles, panel configurations, sidelights and proportions can all be tailored to suit the architecture. Increasingly, that includes height. Eight-foot entry doors have become a dramatic choice for new construction, lending a sense of scale without relying on the wide double-door configurations once commonly used to create a grand entrance.

Wood, however, comes with a commitment. An unfinished wood exterior door must be properly finished on all six sides—including the top and bottom—and maintained as it is exposed to sun, salt air and changing New England weather. Even a beautifully prefinished door requires ongoing attention to retain its appearance and integrity.

For those who prefer less maintenance, fiberglass has become an increasingly convincing alternative. Today’s fiberglass doors can be painted in an almost unlimited range of colors or manufactured with wood-grain finishes that offer the visual warmth of the real thing. They are lighter than their solid wood counterparts and particularly well suited to homeowners who want durability and weather resistance without sacrificing style.

Glass adds yet another dimension. Clear panes can flood an entry with natural light, while reeded, rain and other obscured glass options provide privacy without eliminating that daylight altogether. For homes with a coordinated window package, Marvin doors offer another solution, extending the look and performance of the home’s fenestration into the entry.

Performance matters as much as appearance. As increasingly rigorous energy standards affect new construction and renovation projects, windows and doors have become an important part of the home’s total energy equation. A properly selected and installed exterior door must close securely, resist air infiltration and perform as part of the building envelope—all considerations the Premium Plywood + Specialties team can help homeowners, builders and designers navigate.

Step inside, and the options multiply again.

Many of today’s interior doors are crafted from MDF, a stable, substantial material that paints beautifully and resists the movement associated with natural wood. Premium Plywood + Specialties’ offerings include everything from simple flush doors to traditional paneled profiles, beadboard, B-notch and nickel-gap styles, as well as louvered and glass doors. Glass-paneled options can be especially effective for offices, pantries or other spaces where borrowed light is welcome, while obscured glass can offer greater privacy.

Thickness makes a noticeable difference as well. Interior doors are available in both 1 3/8-inch and 1 3/4-inch profiles, and the showroom allows customers to actually open and handle each, experiencing the additional weight and substance of the thicker option. That extra heft can contribute to sound control while also giving moldings and panel details greater depth.

Natural wood remains an option indoors, too, with mahogany, red oak, fir, white oak and poplar among the available species. Custom heights allow interior doors to respond to the scale of a home just as exterior doors do.

Doors can be ordered as individual slabs for an existing opening or as prehung units complete with frames and selected hinges—often simplifying replacement projects. And because no door is complete without its hardware, Premium Plywood + Specialties also offers options including Rocky Mountain Hardware, allowing the handle, knob or lever to become the finishing detail in a cohesive design.

From the first impression at the threshold to the doors encountered throughout the home, the right selections can be remarkably transformative. At Premium Plywood+ Specialties, choosing them begins not simply with what fits the opening, but with what fits the house.

For more information, please visit the Premium Plywood + Specialties showroom at 700 Bearses Way, Hyannis, MA 02601 or premiumply.com.