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Which type of front door: composite or solid wood?

tqineil said:
I recently replaced doors and windows on my garage, during negotiations was informed that long long waiting lists for composite as they're not made in the UK
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our supplier said the only delay would be waiting for his fitters to have a slot to fit. He reckoned for a door 2 to 3 weeks at most. We are also thinking of having the front windows done again. Our existing UPVC windows at the front were the cheapest possible when i bought the house, and are now eol some 30 years later.
 
Was going to do the same on our 30s semi as the original door is warped, draughty etc. Ended up enclosing the existing open porch instead and keeping the door as it just looked too nice :) Way better insulation and we still get to keep the original door. The porch was amazingly also cheaper than the posh composite door we were going for (also hate fake wood grain)
 
James Evans said:
Was going to do the same on our 30s semi as the original door is warped, draughty etc. Ended up enclosing the existing open porch instead and keeping the door as it just looked too nice :) Way better insulation and we still get to keep the original door. The porch was amazingly also cheaper than the posh composite door we were going for (also hate fake wood grain)
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i'd love to that, plenty of the semi's down our road have done that, and most look really good. Unfortunately being a terrace, with a shared entrance arch with next door this isnt and option
 
Last year I fitted a framed composite door from we-do-doors.co.uk (Vogue Rock Door). It cost about £1700 (supply only) and am very happy with it. The old wooden door was a bit draughty but the new is very well sealed and closes with a very solid sounding click. The only thing that concerns me is the gazing is incorporated into the door so if it got damaged or misted the whole door would need to be replaced.
 
If it's arriving quickly watch out for fit.

Ours was a big traditional front door and they put in a smaller standard composite, great in many ways for insulation and draught proof but looks wrong.

On close inspection of the quote it was what i sanctioned unfortunately so will change it one day.

The house is warmer and we can't see through the panels as we could with the seriously expensive old wooden door.
 
James Evans said:
We were going for a traditional looking composite one, a bit like the black one on this page:

https://www.johnknightglass.co.uk/doors/traditional-doors/

And made by solidor

https://www.johnknightglass.co.uk/doors/entrance-doors/composite/solidor/

The quote came in at over 3000! It was a bloody nice door though, with a very satisfying premium car door type closing thud/click
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very nice, neighbour got one similar at 950 fitted, a friend in the trade did it for mates rates
 
just as a follow up to this thread , had a phone call today 9.30 am sunday folks locked in their house as multilocking door lock has failed . bit of an emergency , a wonderful locksmith responded to a call and arrived 11am to rescue them . the gearbox has packed up and needs new mechanism which he will order . wonderful

. So the point being that a nice simple wooden door with a nice simple mortice lock is a lock easier to fix than a complex multilocking mechanism on a composite
 
We had a composite door installed last year. To have the design we wanted we dispensed with a letter box and put up a wall mounted one. Also reduced the risk of small draughts.
 
hifinutt said:
just as a follow up to this thread , had a phone call today 9.30 am sunday folks locked in their house as multilocking door lock has failed . bit of an emergency , a wonderful locksmith responded to a call and arrived 11am to rescue them . the gearbox has packed up and needs new mechanism which he will order . wonderful

. So the point being that a nice simple wooden door with a nice simple mortice lock is a lock easier to fix than a complex multilocking mechanism on a composite
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We'll probably go for wood (accoya is an interesting suggestion). Composite doesn't recreate a wood grain effect and enough comments have been made to put me off multi-lock systems.

The trick will be to find a supplier that doesn't charge the earth.
 
Solid wood- i have made from hayatcarpentry.com they claimed they are the best carpenters.
coordinate with them.
 
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Still have the original solid wood door on my 90 year old house, complete with sunburst stained glass. Looks great. Requires very little maintenance. Probably way better quality than anything you'd get for less than 5k now.
 
Composite all day long. I don't buy cars with ash framing any more, I don't fly in aircraft with wooden structures, I don't fit new wooden exterior doors. I've been in my place 9 years, the doors and windows were renewed 9 years before that. They are all absolutely A1, no draughts, no leaks, with zero maintenance needed. The only sign of wear is that some of the DG units are suffering condensation. I can live with that after 18 years.
hifinutt said:
just as a follow up to this thread , had a phone call today 9.30 am sunday folks locked in their house as multilocking door lock has failed . bit of an emergency , a wonderful locksmith responded to a call and arrived 11am to rescue them . the gearbox has packed up and needs new mechanism which he will order . wonderful

. So the point being that a nice simple wooden door with a nice simple mortice lock is a lock easier to fix than a complex multilocking mechanism on a composite
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A lot easier for burglars to break into too. You may live in a leafy lane, I live on the edge of a city and while my street is untouched a mate half a mile away has had 2 gaarge burglaries in 5 years. I'll have multipoint locks please, and the inside lower corners of the garage door are secured from the inside.
 
stevec67 said:
Composite all day long. I don't buy cars with ash framing any more, I don't fly in aircraft with wooden structures, I don't fit new wooden exterior doors. I've been in my place 9 years, the doors and windows were renewed 9 years before that. They are all absolutely A1, no draughts, no leaks, with zero maintenance needed. The only sign of wear is that some of the DG units are suffering condensation. I can live with that after 18 years.

A lot easier for burglars to break into too. You may live in a leafy lane, I live on the edge of a city and while my street is untouched a mate half a mile away has had 2 gaarge burglaries in 5 years. I'll have multipoint locks please, and the inside lower corners of the garage door are secured from the inside.
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Multi point locks are useless on modern glazed doors, as I recently found out to my cost. They just jemmied out the glazing. And because it's safety glass, it makes less noise.
 
kensalriser said:
Multi point locks are useless on modern glazed doors, as I recently found out to my cost. They just jemmied out the glazing. And because it's safety glass, it makes less noise.
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Well, on that basis any locks on any glazed doors are useless. I have glazed doors to the rear of my place and I'm only too aware that anyone with a small hammer could be in in seconds. The most secure part of the entire installation is unfortunately a locked rear gate. Break that open and there are any number of glazed panels that you can just smash and step through.
 
Composite, good luck breaking that 6" portal and finding you can't open it without the key
 
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