I had a phenomenal experience here!
First let me give you the setting...
My partner and I bought a foreclosure in Scripps Ranch and in the process of the previous owner moving out, the front doors got pretty well trashed. I'm pretty sure it was on purpose, but what can you do? (Side Note: We also had to replace ALL of the overhead light fixtures in the bedrooms.)
We decided that we wanted to redo the living room, which was right off the entry foyer, and in working with our designer, he suggested re-doing the front doors to really complement the overall plan. We KNEW we had to replace the doors (they were double doors, the kind where one is larger than the other with side windows and some glasswork over the door), but we never considered making it part of the overall design. We thought about it for awhile and he gave us an idea of how much cost it would add to the overall design plan and it wound up still being in our budget so we gave it the green light.
We searched around online and found out that there's only one major showroom in San Diego with all the doors we could want. We read the reviews and most of them were pretty happy, and the ones that weren't seemed pretty trivial, like they were blowing things out of proportion.
When we walked in, on a Saturday, we were stunned by just HOW many doors there really are, and the how many different types.
We were greated by Cesar, and we explained we were only looking and didn't feel any pressure at all. I asked for a "door 101" kind of brief and even though there were other customers in the store, he took his time and explained that depending on where our door was, if it faced direct sunlight or indirect sunlight, that we may want to look at different stypes. (They REALLY know EVERYTHING about doors!)
To make a long story short, we wound up really falling in love with a wooden door and were able to create a unique, custom contemporary design but weren't sure our community HOA would be cool with it. Even though our home is a single family, detached home, we still have a community HOA and quickly learned they're pretty strict.
A few days later we submitted the door design to the HOA and they had a few questions Cesar was able to answer and they approved it (in fact, the Treasurer of the HOA loved the design so much he asked Cesar for a quote!).
A few weeks later the door arrived, right on time to complete the rest of the remodel in the living room. The contractor who installed it spared no detail. He really was an old-school craftsman.
We plan on living in this house for a long time to come, but if we ever sell it, we know that the investment in the remodel, including the new doors, will absolutely pay for themselves in the added equity, and when we find the next house, you can bet we'll be back for Door number 2!
Until then, our next visit will be for some internal doors to the kitchen and the master bedroom! read more