The entrance door to your home is usually a focal point on the front of your house. Quite often the main front doors are made from wood. Hardwood doors are fantastic and great looking. Some people however do not want the hassle of having to carry out regular maintenance to a wooden exterior door such as sanding, re-staining or repainting in order to maintain the appearance of the door. Doors such as oak doors can also be prone to warping and twisting resulting in the door not closing correctly against the door frame making them draughty.
PVC front doors on the other hand require very little maintenance but are considered boring in appearance and lack character. UPVC doors are also generally weak due the existence of the central plastic panels within a plastic frame. UPVC doors can contain multi point locks but if the door is attacked by an intruder the panel is the weakest point. During the attack the locks and frame will probably remain in place while the panel is easily knocked out of its frame and therefore leaving your home vulnerable to intruders.
There is an alternative? Composite doors made from advanced composite materials are a perfect alternative. They are maintenance free and available in a wood grain effect that is very convincing. It is without doubt that a composite door is much more aesthetically pleasing on the eye and much superior in quality to an uPVC door. The compositive door manufacturer combines the best of high performance materials with traditional wooden appearance. There is a wide choice of door styles and colours available to suit all your requirements. With the addition of multi point locking systems the doors are very secure. The doors can take a severe hammering and will still remain in place preventing access to unwelcome visitors. The individual doors are also quite heavy providing the look and feel of a traditional wooden door.
A range of standard sizes are generally available from composite door suppliers and there will be one to meet with your specific needs.
The Benifits
Composite exterior doors have a number of great benefits over traditional wood doors:
- Thermally efficient up 6 times more efficient than a traditional wooden door
- Choice of rich colours and wood grain effect for doors and door frames available
- No warping, twisting or cracking therefore draught proof
- Easy to keep clean
- Resistance to impact denting
- Excellent sound proofing qualities
- Choice of any glass designs to meet your requirements:
- Secure with 4 hinges and multi point lock systems
- Very low maintenance and durable – no repainting required
- Weather resistance
- Very realistic wood grain effect that replicates a traditional wooden door
- They have an expected life cycle of up to 35 years
- With this type of door lengthy guarantees are available from composite door manufacturers for up to 10 years
Typical Specification
A typical specification for a Composite Front Door as follows:
| Door outer skin | 2 – 4 mm thick either side through coloured fibre glass (GRP) skin; 5.2 mm thick edge band |
| Door overall thickness | 44mm (1¾”) |
| Standard door widths | 762 mm (30”)838 mm (33”)915 mm (36”) |
| Standard dimensions including frame – single door sets | Min. width – 850 mm (2’ 9½”) |
| Max. width – 1024 mm (3’ 43/8”) | |
| Min. height – 2025 mm (with low threshold) (6’ 73/8”) | |
| Max. height – 2125 mm (6’ 11½”) | |
| Standard dimensions including frame – duble door sets | Min. width – 1589 mm (5’ 2½”) |
| Max. width – 1917 mm (6’ 3½”) | |
| Min. height – 2025 mm (with low threshold) (6’ 73/8”) | |
| Max. height – 2125 mm (6’ 11½”) | |
| Door colours available | Red Composite DoorGreen Composite DoorBlack Composite DoorWhite Composite DoorBlue Composite DoorGolden oak Composite DoorRosewood Composite Door |
| Glazing | Double glazed units – 26mm (1”) thick with framing to match main door colour.Glazing incorporating laminated and toughened glass. Glass can be clear, bevelled, frosted, coloured and leaded |
| Hardware | Multipoint locking system, anti-drill, anti-pick door Euro profile cylinder – brass or nickel finishLock setLever handlesCranked hinges 4 per doorLetter plate 180 degree, fully sleevedSpy holesDoor security chainDoor numeralsDoor knocker |
| Door core insulation | Injection filled rigid polyurethane coreFoamed density – 42kg/m³HCFC and CFC freeOzone depletion potential (ODP) rating: zero |
| Door frame | Dedicated uPVC composite 70 mm thick door frame fully reinforced with galvanised steel and triple weather seals |
| Door threshold | Aluminium low threshold in accordance with building code for access |
Of course the above specification can be changed to suit your exacting needs.
Door Styles and Colour Range for Composite Front Doors
Typical example of door styles and colours Green and Red
Typical example of door styles and colours Green and Black
Typical example of door styles and colours Rosewood and Red
Typical example of door styles and colours Blue and White
Typical example of door styles and colours Black
Typical example of door styles and colours Rosewood and Golden Oak
A somewhat related subject:
Have you got the latest lock security on you existing PVC door – check out uPVC door locks.