A Plano company is making a grand entrance into the construction specialty arena with dramatic entryways that are dressing up many Metroplex businesses and homes. Grand Entrances is a 6-year-old firm marketing high-end, custom-forged steel doors.

The work is done in Monterrey, Mexico. Artisans there combine the age-old craft of iron working with technological advances to produce 10 to 20 doors every month, all exported to the United States. The company works with architects and builders to create entries for hotels, retail and commercial structures and multi-million-dollar homes in the states and several foreign countries. A number of elaborate companion pieces -transoms, sidelights, other ornamental elements-can send the cost much higher. That doesn't seem to bother Muñoz' customers. While the majority of his business comes from uncommonly wealthy homeowners, a growing number of commercial buildings now feature Grand Entrances doors.

Quatrine Washable Furniture at 3120 Knox St. in Dallas features one of the company's imposing doors. Getting the door was "a stroke of luck," said owner Gary Pride. "He came by and we needed a door. We were wearing out a wooden door every year; this steel door should last a long time. Besides, it looks really unique, just like our furniture." Treasures, a banquet facility in Lake Charles, La. got some help achieving an expansive Old South look for its building by adding 8-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall ornate double doors on the 12-foot-deep porch. "They are absolutely gorgeous. Since they are complimented by a large bronze fountain in the drive, the approach is spectacular," said Treasurers owner Marilyn Dawdy. "They are truly impressive."

Four massive doors and additional decorative ironwork will mark the entry of The Englishman Antiques, an antique mall along Dallas North Toll Way now in design stages.

"Buyers generally purchase the doors because the are attractive, but the undercurrent always is security," Muñoz said.

Apparently that's important to one buyer living in Kuwait, who inquired about backing the ornate ironwork with bulletproof glass.

Other potential customers are in Bahrain, Jordan and Germany. The doors he designs are hot forged solid iron stock and steel framing of 14-gauge steel with factory-installed dead bolt locks. Each one is hung with three heavy-duty, anti-pry hinges imported from Spain. Heavier models usually require roller bearing hinges. The standard for backing the ornate ironwork is double-pane insulated glass. Designs range from reproductions of doors on 14th century castles, the Titanic to the Southwest and art deco motifs. Some doors have been manufactured with company logos or other custom design elements.

Muñoz has a showroom in the World Trade Center. His only other formal marketing is a web page and a booth at top trade shows nationwide.