Front doors

exiled_red

Last year my wife and I bought a house and we are in the process of doing renovations, one of the next things to do is replace the front door. Our current door is wooden and is in starting to rotate in places. The question is whether to go for wood or PVC.

My wife really wants a wooden door so that she can choose / change the colour and so that we can have a greater choice of accessories which is a fair point. But I feel that wooden doors are always more prone to drafts in winter and sticking in summer. Last winter there was a noticeable draft coming around the door on all sides despite it having rubber seals on the outside. My wife insists that we won't have either of these problems if the door is installed properly. I wondered what people's experiences were in avoiding these problems and if any one tips of what should be done in the install process to alleviate these problems.

robatwork

We've "done" front doors on here several times.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.php?searchid=178182686

FWIW I went with a wooden one and am very pleased, but it was well fitted. It's oak, weighs a ton, and I just varnish it every couple of years as it looks so nice. Cheaper than PVC or composite too.

EssexExile

exiled_red wrote: »

My wife insists that we won't have either of these problems if the door is installed properly.

Your wife is right (sorry about that). We've had a hardwood front door for nearly 20 years & it's still fine. A quick coat of Sadolin every few years is all it gets. PVC doors are horrible (in my humble opinion).

tacpot12

Don't forget that your new door will need to meet building regulations. This can be harder, but not impossible, with wooden doors.

maisie_cat

tacpot12 wrote: »

Don't forget that your new door will need to meet building regulations. This can be harder, but not impossible, with wooden doors.

Has it changed? I thought that was only if the frame was being replaced as well, replacement door into existing frame used to be exempt

Doozergirl

maisie_cat wrote: »

Has it changed? I thought that was only if the frame was being replaced as well, replacement door into existing frame used to be exempt

It is. In fact new door in new frame is fine too. Just shouldn't be any worse than it was before.

We have a wooden front door and I'm completely with the OP's wife. It's just nice to be able to change the colour, I can't abide uPVC doors and composite doesn't donit for me either.

Ours came in-frame and has a multi-point locking mechanism just like a uPVC door with the lift-up handle. I found it on ebay for £250, but it was worth way more. It was surplus (or a rejection) from a new build job and came brand new but with a number 33 on it. Would have been really handy if we lived at number 33. I suspect that it contains a lot of engineered wood as it doesn't move about much at all.

We're going to have a wooden front door on our brand new house. It will be an investment at about £2,000, but it will last a century and I will enjoy it for a long time.

exiled_red

I'm not against a wooden door and I imagine that if fitted properly it shouldn't be a major problem. This might be a dumb question but how do you know that it has been fitted properly when it could take a few months to notice the problems? I have lived in a number of places with wooden doors and all of them have had one or both of the problems mentioned, it seems that if the problem is badly fitted doors it is a fairly common problem. Is it best to buy a frame and door together the way to go?

Slinky

Which way does the door face? We had a front door quality natural coloured back door that faced west, no problem, it was moved to be south facing when we had an extension and it needed varnishing a lot more often and seemed to warp.


Replaced it with a white composite.

exiled_red

It does get a bit of a beating from the wind and rain as the front of the house is quite exposed. Part of the problem with the current door is that the bottom of the door and frame have started to rot.