Comparisons

On paper, in four columns. First, what the security layer is and what named tests stand behind it, not adjectives. Second, the warranty read for its exclusions rather than its headline years: hardware, installation labor, and coastal conditions are where coverage quietly ends, and the details differ between every brand on this page. Third, who installs: the company's own employees or a subcontractor, because that is who you call when something drags. Fourth, whether the price you were told is written down. Any company should survive those four questions in writing; our answers are on the pricing page and in every quote.

Because the years advertise the best case and the exclusions define the real one. A long warranty that excludes hardware, excludes labor, or voids on installation details can be worth less than a shorter one with plain terms. The brand comparisons on this page quote each maker's published exclusions with dates where we could verify them. Ours, stated in full: a 10-year manufacturer powder-coating color warranty on mesh and panels; 1 year on hardware, with the written terms attached to every quote.

The manufacturer's warranty on the product survives if the manufacturer is still standing, which is one reason a door built on an established system has an advantage: our doors are Vista Security Screens systems, a line that has been manufactured under three names since it arrived from Australia, and the product warranty is Vista's. The installation itself is only ever as durable as the company that did it, which is a fair question to put to every installer including us, and the honest answer is to judge the work at the measure, get everything in writing, and prefer companies that publish what they charge before they know your address.

Read them and judge. The rule every page here follows: only publicly verifiable claims, sources and dates named, competitor strengths stated plainly, and no numbers invented where a maker publishes none. Where a rival is genuinely better at something, the page says so - iron doors on sculptural presence, storm doors on weather sealing, alarms on notification. We think the honest version sells better than the airbrushed one, and if we are wrong about that we would rather lose the sale than the credibility.