Front Door Replacement - Need advise!

[chouglez]

Went around today looking for a front door but came back with a confused head. There are so many kinds and so many varieties. Composite, uPVC etc etc and boy a front door is surely expensive

Any ideas what to get and from where for which I don't have to break a bank

 

[magpieant]

Depends on your windows mate!!! Providing you want a match.

Not cheap though I know!!!!

Anth

 

[minimeeze]

We are sort of in the same boat as you at the mo. I wanted one of those lovely composite doors - until they said it would cost £1k. I went off them rather quickly. I mean, £1K for a door? they're having a laugh. I think we'll end up with a B&Q wooden door, painted to match the windows.

 

[Joe T]

Did the police break down the old door in a drug bust?

 

[magpieant]

I read somewhere that if the police DO happen to smash your door down, they then have to pay for the replacement.

Don't know how true this is (never had my backdoor kicked in (fnarr fnarr) ), but sounds like the type of thing I've come to expect in this country!!!

Anth.

 

[Steep]

Your door is for security, not just looks so dont be tight about paying for quality.
My house is ex council and I've not been able to find a better door than the one they fitted. Solid 1"ish ply sandwiched between two sheets of steel with thin ply outer layers. Had a hell of a job fitting a flap for the dog (that's when I discovered the steel sheets).

 

[Joe T]

Your door is for security, not just looks so dont be tight about paying for quality.
My house is ex council and I've not been able to find a better door than the one they fitted. Solid 1"ish ply sandwiched between two sheets of steel with thin ply outer layers. Had a hell of a job fitting a flap for the dog (that's when I discovered the steel sheets).

lol I bet!

Council houses are quite often fitted with reasonably good security. I do work for a company that sells the locks used in a lot of these properties, and they are pretty good!

 

[chouglez]

Did the police break down the old door in a drug bust?

Glad U asked Joe, they did actually but were looking for U for some reason. Do U wanna explain :razz:

 

[BRASH]

Don't go with Anglian. Twice I had arranged to get a free estimate from them. Stayed in for the whole day on both occasions and no-one turned up, no phone calls, letters, appologies - nothing. Waste of space.

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

Your door is for security, not just looks so dont be tight about paying for quality.
My house is ex council and I've not been able to find a better door than the one they fitted. Solid 1"ish ply sandwiched between two sheets of steel with thin ply outer layers. Had a hell of a job fitting a flap for the dog (that's when I discovered the steel sheets).

I have one of those too, flippin tough! ... A fireman friend says they have trouble getting through them and they'd go for my front windows instead, if I have a fire, which is fine by me.

... I've been burgled six times in the last 20 years ... not since fitting this 'stage one' fire door though.

£100 ish if I remember rightly, ugly though...I guess you could decorate it with some fake panels and suchlike.

 

[BRASH]

I read somewhere that if the police DO happen to smash your door down, they then have to pay for the replacement.

Don't know how true this is (never had my backdoor kicked in (fnarr fnarr) ), but sounds like the type of thing I've come to expect in this country!!!

Anth.

Dunno how it is in England but up here if the door is legally forced ie for the execution of a Drugs warrant etc, the bill goes to the occupier. All the responsibility the Police have is to ensure the premises are secure when they leave. Fair enough I think.

 

[chouglez]

Popped into B&Q at the weekend and Therma-Tru a door manufacturing company in association with B&Q are doing some decent doors for £650 including fitting and these are composite doors too.

http://www.thermatru.co.uk/

Thinking of going for them as they are in budget

 

[peanuts]

composite and PVCu are the same thing . A composite door is made up of parts .Plastic on the outside over a wooden door internally.
All you are getting is a bit of plastic over a very flimsy bit of cheap wood.
Make sure that you are not in a conservation area or you will need permission to fit a PVCu door or windows.
Personally I would stick with a good quality solid external timber door it will outlast a PVCu door by many years. And look better. As a Surveyor with social housing clients I program renewals and repairs and you wouldn't believe the problems we have with PVCu doors. Lucky if they last 5 years before the joints frame and locks give problems

If you have a period property like a cottage PVCu will devalue it and imo detract from the character of any period property.
Part of the cost of the PVCu door is the frame that comes with it obviously.

 

[CScottMcQueen]

composite and PVCu are the same thing . A composite door is made up of parts .Plastic on the outside over a wooden door internally.
All you are getting is a bit of plastic over a very flimsy bit of cheap wood.

Having worked for a double glazing company for 15 years I can tell you composite and pvcu are definitely not the same thing, Composite doors are precisely what they say on the tin. Normally a GRP or Fibreglass moulded skin over a composite reinforced subframe and a high-density polyurethane core.
When we send these things of to be tested for British standards some of these things take longer to get through with an axe than there steel/aluminium counterparts. Certainly not a flimsy bit of wood with a bit of plastic over it.

 

[peanuts]

I have to correct you on the definition of composite, if you look it up in the dictionary the word means simply ` made up of parts' there is no finite mix of parts that make up a composite door .Many items in the construction industry are composite items . It just means they are made up of 2 or more parts into a single functioning item
composite definition
Cheaper doors are made up of predominantly plastics better quality composite doors are constructed of laminated timber sandwiched between a plastic skin often with a simulated woodgrain finish ,grp, PVCu whatever its still plastic.

The more plastic in a window or door the larger the section of framing required to strengthen what is an inherantly weak material especially when the door incorporates glazed panels.This results in another drawback of plastic windows and doors they restrict the viewing area considerably compared to timber or aluminium.
As you might have guessed I don't like em much

 

[CScottMcQueen]

I have to correct you on the definition of composite, if you look it up in the dictionary the word means simply ` made up of parts' there is no finite mix of parts that make up a composite door .Many items in the construction industry are composite items . It just means they are made up of 2 or more parts into a single functioning item
composite definition

I am not arguing the definition of composite, it has many meanings including nautical, architectural, mathematical, botanical and even used in photography but a PVC door is still not a composite door at least not in the window industry.

Cheaper doors are made up of predominantly plastics better quality composite doors are constructed of laminated timber sandwiched between a plastic skin often with a simulated woodgrain finish ,grp, PVCu whatever its still plastic.

And now the timber in the 'composite door' has been replaced with a 'composite material' as well which is stronger than timber and not prone to warping or swelling

The more plastic in a window or door the larger the section of framing required to strengthen what is an inherently weak material especially when the door incorporates glazed panels.This results in another drawback of plastic windows and doors they restrict the viewing area considerably compared to timber or aluminium.

Couldn't agree with more the ratio of glass to material is greatly reduced in plastic windows which especially on windows can make some hideous designs but on the outer frame of a residential door the difference is not worth worrying about as you wouldn't put a wooden front door into a weak outer frame and a steel reinforced PVCu frame is pretty damn strong.

Oh and if we are going to throw qualifications around I am a Chartered Building Surveyor a Chartered Construction Engineer and a qualified Architect so I also know a little about plastic windows and doors.I I have been responsible for specifying and maintaining over 100,000 windows and doors over the past 35 years into special needs and social housing and I can assure you they receive the kind of abuse you could hardly imagine

I am not dismissing your knowledge or qualifications, only stating that over the last few years we have developed better products than a bit of plastic over a very flimsy bit of cheap wood.

My apologies if the last post came over as harsh, I did not mean to offend you personally or you professional qualifications just update your definition of a 'composite door' from the window industry.

Personally I don't like thin people (jealous you see) but doesn't mean I wont employ them to do a job if there good at it

 

[peanuts]

no apology necessary It was me that was being touchy which is why when I had calmed down I removed the last part of my post.
The problem is these days we are all very lazy about our use of the English language. Many people refer to PVCu elements as just `plastic' or `pvc' or `composite' without any real understanding and eventually the words get incorporated into our language like `hoovers' for vacumm cleaners . Which is why when we prepare contract documents and specify materials it is important to specify exactly what we mean by PVCu and Composite or we are likely to get either the wrong product or an inferior product.