[amillians]

A word to the wise--assuming spending $1200 on a door can be considered wise--on the STC 44 and STC 51 (THX) doors from Quiet Solution.


After nearly having a heart attack from the quotes I got from local carpenters to create a nice-looking pseudo-soundproof 36" x 80" slab door with Zero seals, I decided to bite the bullet and order a Quiet Solution STC 44 door online. They took the order, but they don't have any A stock left, and they seem to be exiting the door market altogether. They have 6 of the STC 44 doors left, but all are B stock (waves in the surface, blemishes, nicks, dings, etc.). They have stopped selling the STC 51 doors altogether. So, 18 months after launch, this line is toast.


They offered a decent discount on one of the damaged doors, but what really concerns me is that this company (or subsidiary) seems like it is run fly-by-night. I have the shipping and receiving guy telling me all the remaining doors in stock are damaged and will need to be resurfaced in the field, but the sales supervisor says you can't tell and they will guarantee the door is square and will seal to spec.


Anyone ever installed one of their doors? I was planning on painting one side back and one side white. Honestly, with the discount, the STC 44 door is now actually cheaper than the Frankendoor I was trying to create to "save" money.

 

[SierraMikeBravo]

This is interesting since I contacted them not more than 3 weeks ago in reference to the STC 51 THX rated door, and no mention of any problems or order delays. There are other companies out there though making these types of doors, so don't worry!

 

[Dennis Erskine]

How interesting. I'll see if I can confirm that. We were going to start making doors in our Marrietta millwork shop.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Just spoke with the company. They are still in the door business.

 

[amillians]

Well, this is interesting, isn't it?


I called the 800 number on Tuesday to ask questions re hinge color, lead time, etc. Not a word about any inventory issues. The sale rep said it takes 2-3 days to build the door and prep it for shipping. The rep stated all doors were built to order, thus the 2-3 days delay from order to ship (I'm under a time crunch).


I placed my order later that day, online.


This morning, I checked my order status, and the order was on hold. I e-mailed them for clarification.


This afternoon, John in shipping/receiving calls to say they can't fill the order with A stock. He said the doors were originally manufactured (to their specs) in China, and they had been selling off the original order, each time picking the "best" door left in inventory to ship out to the customer. In my case, there was no "best" door, as the remaining 6 were all blemished. Although the 6 doors were "guaranteed" square and to spec, they had various imperfections (not flat, waves at the center, nicks, dings, cuts, etc.). He told me to talk to Lana to get a discount.


So, I did. She said the issue was simply cosmetic and barely noticeable. I asked if they could give me a discount on an A stock STC 51 door, and she said they couldn't sell what they had left, as they were all too damaged. I asked when the next shipment/build of STC 44 doors was going to be available, and she said these were it (thus why I postulated they were exiting the door business).


I called back into the 800 number to make sure I wasn't getting punk'd; needless to say, this didn't give me a warm fuzzy that I was dealing with a "big" company that was going to stand behind its product, blemishes or not. Lana was there to take the call.


They may still be in the door business, I'm just not sure they're still in the unblemished door business.

I got a "deal" and I need a door pronto (can't wait for standard leads on other options), so they now have 5 STC 44 doors in stock.

 

[amillians]

Update:


Turns out that they have some A stock for *right* hand (knob on right, pulls towards you) STC 44 doors. So, I switched to that.


If you want/need *left* hand (knob on left, pulls towards you), you're SOL if you want like new. Slightly used, you're good to go.

And big props to John in shipping for helping make this right!

 

[amillians]

More, if anyone cares...


I have a right hand Quiet Solution STC 44 door installed, and, well, it just doesn't seem like it's performing anywhere close to where I expected it to be. I have previous experience installing an IAC STC 51 steel door (at about 2.5x the final cost, mind you), and it was obvious it was doing its thing when closed; this, it just seems like something has been compromised. It was installed by a master carpenter, we followed the instructions to a T, but normal voices are still clearly audible on the other side. The Zero seals and drop seem to be okay, but something is very much amiss--the jamb and threshold got hit with a *lot* of Quiet Seal caulk per instruction, and the walls are DD+GG. I will be testing once my equipment's in place to see if I'm being unreasonable or going crazy.


To boot, the wood surface is delaminating in about 6 spots. I guess you really do get what you pay for. Crap.

 

[Dennis Erskine]

Looks like we should build a door for you.

 

[amillians]

I believe my door budget is 110% spent.

 

[Ted White]

The drywall is run all the way to the jamb? What did you use all that sealant on?

 

[taker]

Kinetics Noise Control makes an acoustical door maybe you should give them a call ...

 

[JOHNnDENVER]

Building the jams right may have a lot to do with this.


I keep wondering how I got so luck with my doors... They were justsurplus solid core wood doors that were previosuly used commercially I would assume.


The threshes, are just a simple wood things with a half roll of a rubber sealing strip on the bottom. But heck it does the trick. I did my room in the early 90's for recording studio work then converted it to a theater in 2006. I did aply a simply weather stip on the seal part of the jams. But much of that has come off, but the doors close really tight to the jams.