New External Doors

miltipello

We're currently in the process of buying our first home (NE London), and as part of the homebuyers report it has flagged the external doors as a concern. We identified this when we viewed the property, so this wasn't a surprise; although the price of installing new doors certainly was! The going rate appears to be £1,000 for an external front door inc. installation.

I've read a number of threads on MSE discussing the merits of composite doors (Solidor,Rockdoor, etc.,) which seems to suggest they're not what they seem. Unfortunately, it seems as though currently there are few alternatives.

Ideally for our front door we'd get something secure, durable and energy efficient without also breaking bank. For the back door it probably just needs to be efficient as access from the street is incredibly difficult.

I've looked at a number of options, but it's all incredibly overwhelming for those who don't have any knowledge, and the threads on here have got me worried about making the wrong choice (hence signing up to post!).

Can anyone help point us in the right direction on either construction types, or companies that people have had positive experiences with?

thebaldwindowfitter

Having installed Rockdoors for almost 20 years i can say that in all the thousands of doors we have fitted we have only had 7 warranty issues where we have actually had to change the door slab .We have changed door barrels and gone back to make adjustments occasionally but thats it there are actually posters on here who can vouch for my work a superb product is only ever as good as its instalation as can be said of the instalation this poster has had https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5422656/draughty-rockdoor . If you read the post you will see i have responded to posters who have only posted on that thread and one post only who never respond yet have made a complaint about a rockdoor now believe it or not there are people who make bogus posts to undermine products which i feel a lot of these have been due to the fact that they have never again responded .
There are many good composite doors about but they are only as good as the instalation try and find a small company who is fensa or certass registered who come with some sort of recommendation ask friends and family

miltipello

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to respond.

So in your opinion there is nothing inherently wrong with composite doors, as long as they are fitted correctly by a competent professional?

Out of interest, why is it that you recommend using a small company over a national? Is that directly linked to price, or is it nod towards better craftsmanship?

Friends and family was the first port of call, but as with so many other 'one-off' purchases like this it's difficult to find someone who actually has done this recently enough that such a recommendation, if they have any, is still relevant.

thebaldwindowfitter

nationals in a lot of instances use sales people were as smaller companies tend to be owner/installer .Why does it matter if the recommendation is a recent purchase surely one from some years ago is even better especially if there were no falts or if there was theyve been rectified quickly

miltipello

Basically, more likely to be attached to the final product and not just a salesman. That makes sense to me.

That's fine, location was also a part of my consideration, but you're right it shouldn't necessarily discount the experience.