Looking at getting a replacement front door for the house…currently have a PVC thing and associated pvc frame with single handle lock multi point latches. A quick Google is quite overwhelming with lots of options and prices that vary very wildly!

Father in law is a retired joiner and we would consider a proper wooden door.

Any pointers or tips on this? Don’t quite know where to start apart from a visit to b and q!

Parents have just gone from a proper wooden door and frame to some sort of PVC. It’s ****, feels cheap and nasty. No idea why they changed it

What’s the exposure to the weather like? Our house is listed and one of the conditions is a wooden front door…which becomes unusable after about three years as the wind/rain kills it.

We are the end of a terrace of 7 old workers cottages, and our front door is a bit more sheltered than the others – none of them can use their front door.

I’m replacing with the closest looking composite one I can find!

We are also going composite on the other 2 external doors. We got some of the big boys in and were shocked at the price (£8k+ for 3 doors!!!!) ended up going to a local indy and getting my mate to fit them.

We went from wooden to aluminium.
Always closes properly regardless of the weather (which the wooden door didn’t as there was movement throughout the year) and I’ll never have to paint it again!

Was it a window company named after your neighbouring village (WW’s)? @sc-xc. If so that’s where parents doors are from, not happy with initial fit/quality

We didn’t go to them as I’d heard bad feedback already…

It was Bek who did the calling around, there were at least three people that came round with the ‘the price is this, but I can phone my manager and see if we can get a special discount’ line.

OP I’ll dig out the names of the national worst offenders so you know who to avoid!

They’ve done all the windows and built a conservatory about 12 years ago and the work was good so they wanted to use them again. There was a 10mm gap between the top of door and frame when it was shut, they tried to fob it off due to the heat

Omg all the replies just for a door! Agreed the pvc one feels crap and wobbly so would like to get something more substantial. Luckily for us the door is fairly sheltered…

Heh sorry for the hijack

Got a Solidor from https://www.timbercompositedoors.com/ last year, was about £1600 fitted but we went with the pricier heritage mechanism (no handle, just a fingerpull and it all engages automatically when closed) and the high security locks, in a nice 1930s style. All arranged on web/email, surveyor came out soon after, door fitted a few weeks later.

Made a huge difference to noise and warmth in the hall and closes as precisely as when it was fitted.

Got a composite door in black, sun beats down on it all day so it has faded and it does expand/ contract quite a bit with temperature.

What’s the current price range for composite doors, anyone?

Might need to replace my wooden one.

Father in law is a retired joiner and we would consider a proper wooden door.

We had a bespoke front door and frame made for the house. Think it was £2k ish (10+ years ago). It was designed extra thick (60mm) so it can have leaded glass lights, which match the period, but also double glazed units behind the leaded glass, so it’s warm and very secure. Looks amazing.

Down side, being real wood, is the joints do move a bit with the seasons and it needs a full re-paint ever few years. Every few years I completely strip it back to wood, sand it all down, seal, prime, undercoat and re-paint it.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/dndT67]New Front Door (Paint)[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr