Make sure you are comparing apples and apples. Is the hardware included with both doors? If so, is it Quickset, Schlage, Baldwin Brass etc. Do both doors come primed, or factory painted? What is the gauge of steel used in both doors, is it cheap 26 gauge or 20-22 gauge? Do they both have steel ball-bering hinges? What is the R-value of both doors.

What about the installation, do both doors come in a new construction frame? Do they have a steel security plate? What about the door sweep, is it a single, double, triple or quad blade? Does the price include a new threshold and is the threshold thermally broken?

The same, if not more consideration, should be given to purchasing a door as is given for any exterior product for your home. The worst mistake you can make is to buy a door based on price without understanding what a little bit more money will buy for you.

You aren't talking about an interior doors here. You are talking about exterior doors that need to be able to stand up to the elements ie. heavy rains, high wind, hot and cold weather etc. Buy cheap get cheap, regret it later....

Hi,
Skydawggy, I appreciate your response and good advice.

We will definitely do our research, and ask these questions of both the lumberyard folks and lowes.

Thanks so much for your checklist...it will defintely come in handy, in terms of which questions to ask.

All I can say is you get what you pay for. A $139 door is not going to be the same quality as a $400 door. If you want to look at a high quality door, look at provia doors

In windows and doors, you definitely DO GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!! I bought a reliabilt door from lowes 3 years ago. After shopping around I was convinced that the amount of money I saved on a cheaper door was worth it. However the 26 gauge steel door dented after 2 weeks, the sweep at the bottom did not prevent air from coming in under the door, and after about a year I noticed the bottom of the jamb was showing signs of water damage from improper capping. Unfortunatly for me the warranty from lowes did not cover improper installation, even though they installed it. I tried to track down the sub that was used without luck. Make a long story short I ended up paying over $2800 for a pro via door and I couldnt be happier. Word to the wise, the most expensive home improvement you will ever do, is the one you do twice.

We have a existing single family home that has 4-48" wide patio sliding doors (2 fixed 1 per side, 2 sliding in center) and would like to replace them with (4) French doors (2 fixed 2 swing-in). Want shades between the glass and screens on 2 swing doors. Please let us know if handle doors like this. Thank you!

I recently purchased a reliabilt entry door with sidelight from Lowes at around 1300.00. The price was less than most of the other brands we looked at. Most of my contractor friends recommended Millguard, and recommended against Reliabilt. I wish I had listened to them. The reliabilt door was built incorrectly, the hinge side leg was shorter than the strike side. This caused some installation challenges and eventually resulted in our having to move the header up on the hinge side, leaving a gop in the molding that had to be caulked in. Not the end of the world, but not what you would expect for 1300.00. When I contacted Reliabilt with the issue they said it was our fault for not catching the problem when we picked the door up at Lowes. Not the answer I was looking for. I would now recommend what was originally recommended to me, don't go with Reliabilt.

139 bucks for a door !!! Good luck with that ..Reliabilt is a low quality door and typical of a contractor who doesn't have a clue about quality and is only concerned with price. Unfortunately many consumers ignore quality as well and only focus on price and then want to blame everyone else when the product fails.
If you want a steel door get at least 22 gauge at a minimum; I prefer 20 gauge.
Reliabilt doors and windows are lower grade products.

I just had a custom ordered Reliabuilt door wall installed. It's a 12' doorwall with two stationary panels and two sliders in the center. Door wall is very poorly constructed. Aluminum on the sides is very warped requiring installation of trim to cover it up. They sent two left screen doors. I would not ever recommend a Reliabuilt product nor Lowe's. First delivery was the door frame only, they forgot to put the doors on the truck. Really??? Very disappointed.

You are so right Billy. I worked so hard to save for this. And Lowe's customer service is a joke.

It would be MUCH easier to sell a door if I was paying only $139 than the price I pay (think multiple x's that for a quality unit), however service call after service call and dissatisfied customers don't bode well long term.

Reliabilt has no customer service! I went on line and called a dead end phone number that nobody answers? I wrote them an email and no response? I need bottom door insulation strip and cannot find the right piece? Lowe's says try this strip its the replacement for the bottom of door. I did try and its too thick to fit. Does anybody have a clue?

FWIW, I installed a Reliabilt in sunroom. The door was $110 and install was $350 by a lowes guy who probably overcharged me. So far, the door held up really well and have zero air leak in north east winter.

People buy the cheapest product that money can buy, and then get poor service after the sale. SHOCKING.

“Spent a lot of money” compared to what? There aren’t many cheaper doors. It is a lot money when you have to buy a new door to replace it though.

Exactly. I dont know how someone can claim they “spent a lot of money” on a reliabilt door which is total garbage. They are one of the cheapest doors you could buy and what a coincidence, the homeowner is unhappy.

when will homeowners realize they cant beat the system and buying something cheap is just an irresponsible decision. If you buy cheap and dont expect problems, you are fooling yourself. Its par for the course.

Reliabilts can get expensive when you start adding sidelites, custom sizing, and paint. Expensive is often a matter of perspective.

The best door or window sold by Lowes = the best cut of beef sold by mcdonalds, or the best 3 piece suit sold by Walmart

I guess we all can’t be as knowledgeable as you. Thanks Bob Vila

We just purchased a Reliabilt black craftsman door from Lowe’s. Waited months for it only to find out reliabilt only offers white frames which come with the doors of any colour. So disappointing to find out we spent all that money and it looks terrible!

sounds like you didn’t do your home work. i have ordered things through home improvement stores and in the end you have to sign off it before You pay.

Enlighten us with your story.

Sharlene Gilmore

you mean to tell me you didnt request the colors? Anytime you order a door, you need to sign off on the specs which include the color. You dropped the ball. No offense. Why blame someone else? Blame youself. This is why you should always go through a reputable company that installs doors and not through a home imorovement store where you then have a family friend or handyman installing it.

i also venture to guess you kind of knew Reliabilt wasnt the best quality. Good luck.

Don't stand behind their products!

Installed a patio door, the door was bowed and wouldn't allow the door to close properly. Their guy from the company came, looked at it and said it was bowed due to a shem put in by the installer. Installer returned, no shem , installer said the door was plainly bowed and defective.

Lowe's took the door back and contacted the manufacturer to obtain credit for the door, they would not credit Lowe's for the door.

Wake up call to Lowe's, I hope, quit carrying their product, problem solved.

Sadly...folks will continue to buy their products and wonder why higher quality products cost more.

I just bought my 2nd Reliabilt barn door. The first one was easy to install with quality installation materials. Well the 2nd one NOT SO MUCH. What a disappointment. The “plugs” for where there are no studs were horrible. They fell apart, I promise it was professionally installed. There was no board for bracket (it was there for the first door) it turns out it IS it is important. Between purchasing new “plugs” PLUS A BOARD (We chose oak for durability) it was an additional $50+. I am terribly disappointed.

I feel you probably don’t really care, however, I am sharing my disappointment. I will not tell my friends to use your product. BTW, this might be the reason Lowe’s has not been selling them🤷‍♀️, just saying. Donna Hammond

"this might be the reason Lowe’s has not been selling them🤷‍♀️, just saying"

Nah, they found another door they can buy for less money and a better margin.