Fitting new front door and leaving side window

Dedekind

Hello

We want to replace our front door -- it is solid wood and has a side window half way up. Both door and window frames seem to be the same kind of piece, made of timber.

Can we replace the door with a composite door and keep the side window as original? (It has a rather nice stain). If not, the only option for a new door would be a timer door with the original frame?

We can also just refurbish the original door but I just dont like it very much.

FreeBear

Dedekind wrote: »

Can we replace the door with a composite door and keep the side window as original? (It has a rather nice stain).

It might be possible but.... Is the door & window frame acting as a lintel for the outer leaf of brickwork - This is something that must be checked on older properties. If a lintel is required, it may be a case that the window frame has to be replaced.

J_B

Sorry, am I missing something here?


Remove door from hinges and replace with new one???

TELLIT01

J_B wrote: »

Sorry, am I missing something here?


Remove door from hinges and replace with new one???

Is it possible to trim a composite door to fit if the frame isn't 100% true (quite likely in an older property)

Dedekind

I thought most composite doors would come with their own frame? I mean it in the sense that its recommended to use that frame.

I will check the Lintel issue. The reason why I want to replace the door and frame is that from previous experience I never had a perfect nice finish with old wood.. an option would be to replace the door and frame like for like (all wood), but I am not sure how easy is to keep the stained glass in that case.

Amazing_Amy

I am by no means an expert but we are in the middle of replacing our front door and so have been doing quite a bit of research. We have an ugly uPVC door that is cracked and drafty and has security issues so we do not have the option of keeping our current door. If we did I would seriously consider renovating it, especially if it had beautiful stained glass in it.

But if there's no way of making it a door you like and you do want to replace it I would want to check about the guarantee and whether that would be affected if you do find a company willing and able to fit the old stained glass in it. I've read that composite doors have taken a lot of the skill out of front door maintenance as they cannot be repaired in the same way a solid wood door can. They hopefully require less maintenance but then if/when problems occur many cannot be fixed like they can with a solid wood door. A lot of the poor reviews online of composite doors are that when problems occur the manufacturers are not upholding the guarantee and a number of manufacturers will only deal direct with the fitter and not the end customer and so it's important to get a fitter you trust, who is likely to remain in business for the foreseeable future (as far as you can tell) and I'd check about any guarantee being made void by you using the original stained glass. As far as I've found composite doors do all come with a frame and they need to. They can be very heavy and the majority of break-ins especially any by force are by the frame being broken not the door itself. I'd also imagine that any benefits around drafts/insulation would be lost by fitting a new composite door in an old wooden frame.

The other factor I'd consider if you're going to opt for wood rather than composite is that I have read that modern good quality solid doors are now much more expensive than previously so if you want to replace your door for something of similar quality you are likely to be looking at spending quite a lot for that.

Anyway hope that helps in some way. Some of my research has used reputable sources but some has been from forums so may not all be right but I've tried to cross reference as much info as possible. Me and my husband have come to the conclusion that there are big improvements still to be made in relation to modern front doors and it's a purchase we would rather avoid if we could as there doesn't seem to be any particularly good products out there for what we consider a reasonable price (for us no more than £1500).

Dedekind

Thanks a lot. To clarify, the stained glass is on the side, not on the door itself.

I am not inclined to go composite now to be fair. This door leads to a porch that has an external uPVC door so we are not overly concerned about security/drafts. What I'm thinking is that even if I put a new wooden door, on the same frame, it won't look great since you will notice the difference. Adding a whole new frame may be overkill at this stage especially since I'm 99% sure that timber frame is structural.

So to sum up our most likely option at this stage is renovating the current door.. maybe with a new colour it will look nice.

ic

With care it may be possible to retain the stained glass, and have it built into a unit. Otherwise it could be reproduced to match.