Decisions. OK Doors. First the exterior doors. Although I did find doors manufactured in Wisconsin from Wisconsin materials, they were all wood doors, which don't make for a very good energy efficiency. So I went with ThermaTru fiberglass entry doors as suggested by my builder and the supply company. But there must be about 1000 different choices. Wood grain or smooth. With or without glass, and if with glass decorative or plain. If decorative, which of the many styles.
Because of room, the main front door has one side lite, not two, like many doors. And I want a transom above it like the windows, but ThermaTru doesn't have a transom for a door with only one side lite. But that's where Nick the builder came through and said he could get that made separately. So I ended up with a solid door with panels in it, one side lite and a transom over all. Here is one similar, only mine will be painted red and the side lite will be plain glass.
For the rest of the exterior doors, I just went with something plain with a window in it.
Main level door style
Lower Level Door StyleInterior doors aren't much easier. What kind of wood? How many panels? How placed? What kind of hinges? Door handles? At least we have a Wisconsin door manufacturer, Woodport Doors from Shawnano, Wisconsin. I ended up with three panel doors with black hardware on the main floor and two panel with satin nickel hardware on the lower level. The hardware will be from Stone Harbor Hardware, an Appleton, WI company. I picked a door handle called Turin for the main floor interior doors. I originally picked a handle from Emtek - very nice - but after I found that I could save about $60 per handle for something very similar, the choice for Stone Harbor was pretty easy.
Then there is trim. Our supplier is Rosin Woodwork Corp. from Bonduel, WI. They are also providing the Woodport doors which they finish at their facility. I decided on birch for the main level and red oak for the lower level. The primary reason for the decision is that those two species of wood have the greatest probability of coming from northern Wisconsin. The Rosins said they could definitely get the red oak from Menominee Tribal Enterprises which means it was harvested from tribal lands in Menominee County.
3 piece traditional craftsman
Baseboard corner block. Mine will be plainer without the curvy part.OK so I have wood species decided on. Now what do I want for profile!! Egad, the choices. For the main floor, I picked what is call 3 piece traditional craftsman. (By the way my decor is "hodgepodge"!!) And for the baseboards, I have asked to put in what they call corner blocks at both inside & outside corners. My windows, however are going to be just drywall returns - no trim. Except I plan on putting black granite on the sills. Not sure what this is going to cost me though and some of it may not make the cut!
For the lower level around the doors and windows, I am hoping on having corner blocks with carved pine trees at the corners of the casings. We'll see. As the $$ add up, the details get left behind!