Help to choose composite door

Furts

PlanetX wrote: »

Your door was supplied as a whole kit by doorstop or did you get frame and door from different places? I'm puzzled how can they supply a door with a frame that has weak hinges?

I read reports both companies don't provide the warranty to the end user, but to the installer. So if the installer goes bust, it seems you may be without a warranty?

Whilst I give you credit for your thorough approach you are the type of customer Rockdoor and all the others would like to avoid. They would deem you a customer from hell. I do not categorise you as such but the composite door industry wants to produce dross aimed at consumers who have no interest in quality, engineering or anything other than the colour, the appearance and keeping up with their neighbours.

So to answer a couple of your points - Doorstop know their hinges are rubbish, and the entire hinge concept. However their competitors are exactly the same so there is no compulsion to do anything about this. It is a collusion between companies where the consumer cannot go elsewhere because the elsewhere products are equally as bad.

My Doorstop door is the everyday door fitted within its own frame.

Yes the warranty goes through the purchaser, which is the installer. So your comments about going bust are correct. You could try to get the parts required from the manufacturer after this going bust stage.

As I have alluded to, it is all a con. Think back thirty years. Then doors were timber,and they could last for a lifetime. If repairs or adjustment was required this was easy, and anyone could do it. There was no need for warranties, and no need to contact manufacturers. Composite doors have replaced these to de-skill, dumb down, and offer dross to consumers. but in fairness, they are cheap, and are aimed to be a short life throw away product. This in turn explains my comment about local authorities and housing associations replacing composite doors by the thousands.

Furts

To add an insight into the overall composite door issue ...I receive endless supplies of replacement parts for my Doorstop door. Why? Because I chose to order direct from Doorstop which means they are duty bound to deal direct with me. They would probably prefer not to. They would prefer there to be an installer acting as a buffer between me and them. This installer would have a vested interest in fobbing me off, because they would not want the endless warranty repair visits. Equally that installer may have chosen to have gone out of business by now so as to avoid having the warranty repair visits.

99.99% of consumers do not take the route I took. But it has meant I retain some control of the situation.

Any consumer who is discerning about their composite door requirement should be considering this route. Perhaps you too should do this, because you are the type of consumer most installers would prefer to avoid!

PlanetX

Furts wrote: »

Whilst I give you credit for your thorough approach you are the type of customer Rockdoor and all the others would like to avoid. They would deem you a customer from hell. I do not categorise you as such but the composite door industry wants to produce dross aimed at consumers who have no interest in quality, engineering or anything other than the colour, the appearance and keeping up with their neighbours.

So to answer a couple of your points - Doorstop know their hinges are rubbish, and the entire hinge concept. However their competitors are exactly the same so there is no compulsion to do anything about this. It is a collusion between companies where the consumer cannot go elsewhere because the elsewhere products are equally as bad.

My Doorstop door is the everyday door fitted within its own frame.

Yes the warranty goes through the purchaser, which is the installer. So your comments about going bust are correct. You could try to get the parts required from the manufacturer after this going bust stage.

As I have alluded to, it is all a con. Think back thirty years. Then doors were timber,and they could last for a lifetime. If repairs or adjustment was required this was easy, and anyone could do it. There was no need for warranties, and no need to contact manufacturers. Composite doors have replaced these to de-skill, dumb down, and offer dross to consumers. but in fairness, they are cheap, and are aimed to be a short life throw away product. This in turn explains my comment about local authorities and housing associations replacing composite doors by the thousands.

Yeah, makes sense. So in this aspect the brand to go would be hormann, but their prices are outside my budget

On another note, were those old wooden doors made to seal well against the door frame and all those fancy things we get on those new composite doors? I believe the thermal efficiency and better precision is what would make them stand out (if manufactured and installed correctly)

It is a shame the market has not evolved more than the current situation. So many other products have advanced so much and is way clear to find quality stuff that regular human beings like me can afford

PlanetX

Furts wrote: »

To add an insight into the overall composite door issue ...I receive endless supplies of replacement parts for my Doorstop door. Why? Because I chose to order direct from Doorstop which means they are duty bound to deal direct with me. They would probably prefer not to. They would prefer there to be an installer acting as a buffer between me and them. This installer would have a vested interest in fobbing me off, because they would not want the endless warranty repair visits. Equally that installer may have chosen to have gone out of business by now so as to avoid having the warranty repair visits.

99.99% of consumers do not take the route I took. But it has meant I retain some control of the situation.

Any consumer who is discerning about their composite door requirement should be considering this route. Perhaps you too should do this, because you are the type of consumer most installers would prefer to avoid!

Shame I can't buy Solidor/Rockdoor directly, they don't have any retail channel.

Would Solidor cover warranty terms then when I get my own installed to fit the door? That sounds a bit better indeed.

Furts

PlanetX wrote: »

On another note, were those old wooden doors made to seal well against the door frame and all those fancy things we get on those new composite doors? I believe the thermal efficiency and better precision is what would make them stand out (if manufactured and installed correctly)

It is a shame the market has not evolved more than the current situation. So many other products have advanced so much and is way clear to find quality stuff that regular human beings like me can afford

Two points here. First the door frames of 30 years ago had standard built in draft strips which still work today - they were not rubber/neoprene which degrades with time. Another topic one could debate! Plus doors came with shoot bolts top and bottom to draw the doors into the frame and counter warping. OK, people frequently could not be bothered to engage them, but that is true today with people not engaging the claws, or shoot bolts, on composite or pvcu doors.

Second, many construction and consumer products have not improved in the last 30 years. Plasterboard, insulation blocks, softwood, floor joists, stud partitions, electrical switches and sockets, ovens, boilers and countless other products are no better, or worse, than they were 30 years back.

Best of luck with your composite door purchase.

PlanetX

thanks for your help, much appreciated!

3892ben10

Hi all,

If been in the DG business for 12yrs now.

Composites are getting more and more popular to a point where conventional front doors will be a thing of the past by the end of the decade. They have been great for the industry as they stronger, safer and more hard wearing! They have given us something which is much easier to sell and possibly the biggest surprise is people are prepared to spend the money. The best thing for the end user is they can be original with vast choices of colours and glazing options.

In relation to original question £500 won’t get you a decent supply only door never mind a fitted one! My company’s average price fitted is around £995 but can be as low as say £850 for something basic. Grey frames and slabs will add around £150. Keep going if you have sidescreens and toplights.

The brands mentioned Doorstop, Solidor, Rockdoor, Endurance etc are manufacturers either of the complete door or simply manufacturers of the slab (the leaf). These people will sell to installers and not the general public. I believe many in the industry see Solidor as the market leaders in terms of quality also offering the solid core and have a huge choice of colours. Doorstop are a vast company mainly operating in the foam core sector although recently they’ve started to sell solid core. From what I’ve see from Rockdoor they seem to be geared to the trade. Endurance seem to be striving in the footsteps of solidor.
Please note I’ve only ever really dealt with Doorstop. I like there products, although I would like them to add more colours, I would be more that happy to have one installed on my property!

Please be sceptical about doors being offered that are fully installed for less than £600 even less than£750. You get what you pay for. I would alway buy from someone reputable, see product, look at the letterboxes. If they look cheap the door will be poor. Also get a guarantee - if these things are fitted poorly they will be doomed from day one plus if they fade you can claim on the guarantee.

The area in which I would stay clear of is the likes of the Eurocells where you buy the door from them and then have to get someone to fit. You will be left in the middle when these types say it’s fitted wrong and the fitter says the door was made wrong hence why it doesn’t work. I see this all the time. Saving £150 might seem great but when it costs you £1000 to buy another you know the Mrs will give you that ‘I told you so’ look! .... been there, done that and it’s not worth the grief!

I hope this helps

DanDango

£500?
You can’t even buy a UPvC door for £500
Upvc start at £800
Foam filled Residor £1100
No1 composite door - Solidor £1,550 inc and fitted