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I've noticed that most of the new construction here seems to omit having a nice storm door on the house. When I first moved in to my new home, I kind of felt "naked" with only having a solid front door. I see that many HOAs (mine included) restrict the kind of storm door you can have. I've purchased one that meets all of the requirements( a nice Pella) and it does have a screen in it which is kind of why I wanted a storm door in the first place. I plan to put a storm door on the family room door in the back also, so when the spring and summer come, I can get some fresh air in the house. All of these new homes probably have "outgassing" of many of the materials used in their construction which can't be healthy to breathe in! I think they would also help keep more of the heat in the house. Am I an "odd duck" in a way for wanting storm doors? I'm not sure that the storm door "thing" is limited to NC, some of the newer homes in NJ didn't have them either. Did they go out of fashion? - kind of like the the bedspreads I had as a kid! What's a duvay?(sp)?
Also windows, even some of the very expensive ($800K) homes I looked at had only single-hung windows. When I asked some of the builders if Double-hung windows were an option, they looked at me like I was asking them to replace the clay soil in the back yard with Martian sand. What gives on that one? All of your comments are more than welcome. S'plain to Me!
I would love to have a storm door. Problem is that our front door is wooden. It will void the warrenty.
Burgi - I have one of those doors with the side-glass on both sides and the wooden frame around the door itself is not deep enough to do one of those "easy installations", so my neighbor who installed his own door and knows how to do it, will help me frame out the door a couple of inches so the storm door can be properly mounted. It's a real pain - my NJ house had much thicker walls and mounting a storm door was childs's play.
I've noticed that most of the new construction here seems to omit having a nice storm door on the house. All of your comments are more than welcome. S'plain to Me!
Okay. Here is the scoop. Storm doors are considered visually distracting and not as "upscale." And single hung windows that tilt in are easier to clean and make a visually less distracting line to the house. That is the reasoning.
I, myself, like a storm door. It is not only this area that has adopted the "no storm door" construction . . . I was shocked when we moved to Kansas, a place you definitely need all storm protection you can get, and none of the houses had storm doors, and the HOA had very strict rules about what type of door you could put on if you chose to do so. Only solid glass and only certain styles/colors. I was the first person in the neighborhood (all new homes) to install a storm door, and it was quite the curiosity - for a while, until others decided - good idea.
The whole thing w/ storm doors . . . sort of a status symbol thing. In decades past, people who couldn't afford a/c had storm doors and windows w/ screens to keep air flowing. I don't know who decided it was low-class to have storm doors and screens on your windows . . . but someone along the way did, LOL. I love screen doors/windows myself . . . but as crime has increased all over this country, few people use a screen door anymore, even at the back of the house, for security reasons. At least that is what people have told me.
I did something that really threw our HOA in KS for a loop. We were in upscale neighborhood w/ a bizillion regs . . . shake roofs only . . . committee review of house colors/doors/shutters, no garage doors open, etc etc. I got disgusted w/ my french doors at the back of my house - air would whistle through during blizzards like a sieve . . . so I checked out regs, saw nothing that prohibited it . . . and I installed sliding glass doors on the outside of the french doors. I could take the doors off the track during the summer, but during the winter, my glass sliding doors protected my french doors from the elements, plus stopped the wind from swooshing inside.
HOA members scratched there heads, but there had been nothing to address this modification, and indeed, over the course of the next five years, one by one, people started adding sliding doors on the outside of the house, to cover their french doors!
There is nothing chic or upscale about wasting resources and paying for heat that is going out your doors and windows . . .
Last edited by brokensky; 01-18-2008 at 06:40 PM..
Reason: misspell
Okay. Here is the scoop. Storm doors are considered visually distracting and not as "upscale." And single hung windows that tilt in are easier to clean and make a visually less distracting line to the house. That is the reasoning.
I, myself, like a storm door. It is not only this area that has adopted the "no storm door" construction . . . I was shocked when we moved to Kansas, a place you definitely need all storm protection you can get, and none of the houses had storm doors, and the HOA had very strict rules about what type of door you could put on if you chose to do so. Only solid glass and only certain styles/colors. I was the first person in the neighborhood (all new homes) to install a storm door, and it was quite the curiosity - for a while, until others decided - good idea.
The whole thing w/ storm doors . . . sort of a status symbol thing. In decades past, people who couldn't afford a/c had storm doors and windows w/ screens to keep air flowing. I don't know who decided it was low-class to have storm doors and screens on your windows . . . but someone along the way did, LOL. I love screen doors/windows myself . . . but as crime has increased all over this country, few people use a screen door anymore, even at the back of the house, for security reasons. At least that is what people have told me.
I did something that really threw our HOA in KS for a loop. We were in upscale neighborhood w/ a bizillion regs . . . shake roofs only . . . committee review of house colors/doors/shutters, no garage doors open, etc etc. I got disgusted w/ my french doors at the back of my house - air would whistle through during blizzards like a sieve . . . so I checked out regs, saw nothing that prohibited it . . . and I installed sliding glass doors on the outside of the french doors. I could take the doors off the track during the summer, but during the winter, my glass sliding doors protected my french doors from the elements, plus stopped the wind from swooshing inside.
HOA members scratched there heads, but there had been nothing to address this modification, and indeed, over the course of the next five years, one by one, people started adding sliding doors on the outside of the house, to cover their french doors!
There is nothing chic or upscale about wasting resources and paying for heat that is going out your doors and windows . . .
ani - I knew either you or loves would provide insight into this. Thanks! I applaud your ingenuity in solving your French door problem - original thinking can go a long way in improving things. If energy prices keep rising as they surely will over the next few years, perhaps little energy savings like storm doors will increase their popularity. It can certainly provide a little more security also, if a potential burglar has to get through another door! Now, for another pet peeve that I have with HOA's (and I'm on the board of one!). . Clothes lines seem to be on every HOA's verboten list. I assume it reminds people of those old women hanging their laundry on the tenement clothes lines. But to me there was nothing better than the smell of clothes brought in after drying out in the back yard. I guess most people don't want to be reminded of their more humble origins.
ani - I knew either you or loves would provide insight into this. Thanks! I applaud your ingenuity in solving your French door problem - original thinking can go a long way in improving things. If energy prices keep rising as they surely will over the next few years, perhaps little energy savings like storm doors will increase their popularity. It can certainly provide a little more security also, if a potential burglar has to get through another door! Now, for another pet peeve that I have with HOA's (and I'm on the board of one!). . Clothes lines seem to be on every HOA's verboten list. I assume it reminds people of those old women hanging their laundry on the tenement clothes lines. But to me there was nothing better than the smell of clothes brought in after drying out in the back yard. I guess most people don't want to be reminded of their more humble origins.
Funny you mentioned that . . . cause I noticed a thread on another forum re: clothes lines and was shocked to find in most areas, they are, indeed, quite verboten!
I won't even get started, Em, w/ my "some people think they are just oh so precious" diatribe . . . but that is one of my pet peeves. Give me a break! Energy costs and being a conservator of this planet should be a concern for everyone. We are a throw away society and we are going to have to re-adjust our thinking . . . habits . . . and our <sniff> little pet snobberies, and get REAL.
Okay. Stepped off my soapbox. Glad you like storm doors, LOL, and I agree - new homes need to breathe . . . toxicity in new materials . . . rather scary stuff if you really research it . . .
Last edited by brokensky; 01-18-2008 at 08:45 PM..
Reason: misspell
Funny you mentioned that . . . cause I noticed a thread on another forum re: clothes lines and was shocked to find in most areas, they are, indeed, quite verboten!
I won't even get started, Em, w/ my "some people think they are just oh so precious" diatribe . . . but that is one of my pet peeves. Give me a break! Energy costs and being a conservator of this planet should be a concern for everyone. We are a throw away society and we are going to have to re-adjust our thinking . . . habits . . . and our <sniff> little pet snobberies, and get REAL.
Okay. Stepped off my soapbox. Glad you like storm doors, LOL, and I agree - new homes need to breathe . . . toxicity in new materials . . . rather scary stuff if you really research it . . .
ani - Maybe clothes lines need a new marketing campaign, "EPA-approved Solar dryers are available free of charge in this community".
So that is why! I want one so I can open the front door and let the light in! I doubt I would take the glass out (I would be afraid I would break it). Another couple years and I will have one. The warrenty isn't going to hold me back forever.
Solar Dryers(I like it)...What would Ed Begley Jr. say to the HOA?
So that is why! I want one so I can open the front door and let the light in! I doubt I would take the glass out (I would be afraid I would break it). Another couple years and I will have one. The warrenty isn't going to hold me back forever.
Solar Dryers(I like it)...What would Ed Begley Jr. say to the HOA?
Maybe we should pose that question to him! LOL! Our clothes dryers, ovens and dishwashers are big drains on electricity (or gas). I do everything I can to use these appliances efficiently. I have thought about putting up a retractable type clothes line to use in decent weather - for sheets, especially. Of course, I have to work around pollen, as that can be a problem in my yard at certain times of the year . . .
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What's a duvay?(sp)?
I want a solar dryer!
