With the front door usually facing the street, privacy is more of a concern here than at the back or side of the house where there is much less traffic from strangers. This doesn’t mean you need a boring slab of wood to make your first impression however.

The front door is the focal point of a house's exterior, showcasing your personal style, and welcoming you and your guests inside. Sidelights and transoms, decorative glass inserts and paneling give your front entryway a personalized feel that can complement any exterior finish.

A sliding glass patio door is most often made up of 2 frames with glass panels. One frame is operable, and slides past the fixed frame on a track.

One advantage of these types of doors is that their sliding operation does not have any space requirements inside or outside because they do not swing open. This means you don’t have to consider placing anything nearby which might create an obstacle to their operation.

These can also be larger than a swinging door. With the operational component set on rollers and guided on a track, their weight is not as much of a consideration as it is with a swinging variety.

One disadvantage is that; in a typical 2 frame configuration, it is only possible to open one side. These types of doors also don’t have the same options available when it comes to decorative glass inserts as the French, Garden and front entry doors have.

Usually found in more contemporary styled homes, they are ideally suited to areas where there isn’t much space such as apartments or condominiums with small balconies.

A garden door looks much like a French door, except that only one of the frames is fully operational. The other frame will often open slightly with a cranking mechanism for ventilation.

With a center mullion for the 2 frames to lock into these doors provide a more air tight seal than that of a French door which has two fully operating door slabs.