There are plenty of ways to define a “job well done,” but when it comes to retrofitting doors, there’s one compliment that always hits home:
“It looks like it was always there!”
That’s exactly what we were going for on this custom fiberglass entry door retrofit, where the challenge wasn’t the door itself—it was fitting the new door system and trim seamlessly into an already-finished space. And I’m proud to say… we nailed it.
Let me take you behind the scenes.
This project had one of those deceptively simple goals: remove the old door, install the new one, and make it look like nothing ever changed—without disturbing the beautiful existing wainscoting surrounding the interior of the entryway.
That meant working backwards. Instead of starting from the exterior brick opening (as we typically would), we began by aligning the door to the interior casing—and then installed everything from there. Not the easiest approach, but it was the only way to make sure the new trim would slot perfectly into the existing paneling without needing extra paint, drywall touch-ups, or post-install cleanup.
The casing? Brand new.
The oversized shoe mold? Also new—custom-made from the same step bevel casing to keep everything cohesive.
Margin for error? Basically zero.
This kind of work demands serious attention to detail. And when it all comes together? That feeling is hard to beat.
As the great Hannibal Smith from The A-Team once said:
“I love it when a plan comes together.”