Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Therma-Tru Home Additions & ADU: The Orlando Owner’s Guide
Adding square footage with Therma-Tru doors, frames, and hardware means the opening has to be exactly right. If you’re planning a home addition or ADU in Orlando, the installed price typically lands between $45,000 and $130,000 depending on footprint, roof tie-in, and finish level. Most owners discover their Therma-Tru product isn’t fitting correctly after framing inspection fails, or when a door that worked fine for a decade suddenly binds, sags, or won’t latch after settling. Penhallow Remodeling Orlando is an independent service and installation provider; we’re not affiliated with Therma-Tru, but we work with their product lines regularly and know what these openings require in Central Florida’s heat and humidity.
Which Therma-Tru Models This Applies To
Therma-Tru makes entry doors, patio doors, and door frame systems that show up constantly on Orlando additions and ADUs. The most common lines we see on additions are the Classic-Craft and Fiber-Classic series, plus the Tru-Defense impact-rated units that Florida code requires for large glazed openings on new construction. Here’s the compatibility gotcha most owners don’t know: Therma-Tru slab heights and threshold profiles changed across the 2015 – 2018 production run, so a door bought as a “standard 6’8″ may measure 81-⅛” or 81-¾” depending on the year. Pull the hinge leaf and look for the laser-etched SKU sticker on the door edge. That number, not the original order invoice, is what determines which frame kit, sill, and weatherstrip you actually need. When we plan a home addition or ADU in Orlando, we verify those measurements before we order anything, because guessing means a door that won’t clear the rough opening or a threshold that trips every code inspection.
On the OEM versus aftermarket question: Therma-Tru’s factory weatherseal, adjustable sills, and corner pads are worth the premium when the opening is exposed to Florida rain. Aftermarket weatherstripping from big-box stores compresses faster in heat and almost never matches the factory kerf slot precisely. Frames, on the other hand, we’ll build out of treated lumber or mill to spec locally when the original frame has rot at the base, because a milled-in-Orlando frame with the right scribe beats shipping a replacement that still needs site adjustment.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Therma-Tru Home Additions & ADU Is Failing
- Sagging door that scrapes the threshold at the latch side. Usually means the frame sides have settled or the hinge screws stripped out. A door that drags before it latches is a sign the rough opening was never properly shimmed during construction.
- Water staining at the bottom corners after heavy Orlando rain. Therma-Tru sills have built-in drainage channels. If you see water wicking up the jamb, the sill flashing was not lapped correctly behind the exterior cladding, or the weep holes are packed with construction debris.
- Fiberglass skin cracks or bubbling at the bottom rail. Impact-rated skins can crack if the door was forced against an out-of-square frame for years. Flaking at the bottom usually means standing water contact, common on additions where the slab pour sloped toward the opening.
- Door won’t latch during summer but works fine in winter. Florida humidity swells the fiberglass enough to move the strike plate alignment. It’s a clearance issue, and adjusting it without addressing the frame rack will get you one season before the problem returns.
- Fogging or clouding inside the glass unit. The glass pack in these entry doors is a sealed insulated unit. Once the seal breaks and Orlando humidity gets inside the glazing, the only correct repair is a replacement glass panel, not a resurface.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
A full home addition in Orlando runs $45,000 to $130,000 depending on foundation type (slab-on-grade versus elevated, which many College Park lots require), roof tie-in complexity, and whether the addition needs a new electrical subpanel. An ADU starts higher because of separate utility metering, which pushes you into the $90,000 to $220,000 range depending on size and site access.
If your current project is specifically the Therma-Tru door and frame work within the addition, our scope covers:
- Removing and inspecting the existing frame and rough opening (we don’t reuse rotted jambs)
- Plumbing and shimming the new frame square to the slab
- Installing the Therma-Tru door with factory sill pan and flashing
- Hardware alignment, latch adjustment, and full weatherseal
- Haul-away of the old unit and a clean site at the end of the day
Every job gets a written price before we start. The number you approve is the number on the invoice. If the door binds again within 365 days, we come back and fix it at no charge under the 365-Day Done Right Promise. You’ll also get a written guarantee on the work itself, not a verbal pat on the back.
DIY or Call Us?
There’s a safe middle ground here. You can check the SKU sticker on the hinge edge, measure the rough opening width in three places (top, middle, bottom), and take a photo of the sill from the outside at ground level. That information gets us most of the way to the right answer before we even visit.
What you should not do is try to pull and rehang a Therma-Tru door on an addition by yourself. These doors are heavy – a Classic-Craft with a decorative glass pack can weigh 140 to 180 pounds. The wrong lift wins every time, and a dropped slab on a concrete threshold usually destroys the corner. If the frame has been out of square long enough to fail a door, the problem isn’t the hinges; it’s the opening. Correcting that means cutting shims out, checking the header, and resealing the envelope. That’s the job. Give you the number first, then pick up the tool.
If you’d rather have us look, call (850) 427-6454 and we’ll schedule a walkthrough.
FAQs
A properly installed Therma-Tru fiberglass door in Orlando typically lasts 20 to 30 years before the skin or frame needs real attention. The weatherseal, sill, and hinges wear faster – plan on replacing those every 8 to 12 years, sooner if the door is south-facing and catches direct sun all afternoon. Call (850) 427-6454 and we can assess what’s worth replacing versus what still has years left.
Yes, if the failure is in the hardware, weatherstrip, sill, or hinge mounting. A sagging frame is almost always repairable by re-shimming and resecuring it to the rough opening. If the fiberglass skin itself is cracked or the glass seal has failed, replacement is the honest fix. We’ll tell you which one you’re looking at before any work is scheduled.
Most single-door replacements on an ADU take one full day including removing the old frame, correcting the rough opening, installing the new unit, and cleaning up. If the rough framing needs structural repair or the opening has to be resized, add a second day. You’ll know the timeline in the written estimate before we start.
We stock common Therma-Tru weatherseal profiles, adjustable sills, corner pads, and hinge sets for the Classic-Craft and Fiber-Classic lines. Specialty glass packs and impact-rated slabs are ordered to spec, which usually takes 3 to 5 business days in the Orlando market. We also work with KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone products on the interior side of additions, so the trim and finish schedule isn’t waiting on a second crew.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Orlando at Penhallow Remodeling Orlando, serving Orlando and nearby areas.
