Back door

arielsmelody

Hi! I'm trying to help a family member with a door problem. They have a lean to single glazed unheated porch in front of their back door. At some point the door from the house to the porch has been replaced with what is obviously an internal door, which is looking shabby now. They would like to replace this door with a similar one to avoid changing the door frame, but I'm not sure if that is allowed?

chrisw

It probably doesn't conform to building regulations but in practice that will only be an issue if/when they come to sell. 

But it would seem to make more sense to bite the bullet and replace it with a secure, better insulated door now.

rob7475

To comply with building regs it would have to be an external door. As Chris has said though, it's only a problem if you come to sell.

We have a largish porch on our house and when I replaced the old door between the house and porch, I decided to go with a wooden external door so it kind of matches the internal ones. Our porch is much colder than the house so the thicker external door helps keep the heat in the house.

FreeBear

chrisw said: But it would seem to make more sense to bite the bullet and replace it with a secure, better insulated door now.

I have a single skin (4.5") porch with uPVC DG windows & door. The main door just inside was an exterior grade half timber, half glazed (single sheet of glass), and wasn't particularly well fitting. It got replaced during the summer of 2022 along with the original 1928/9 side window - Instant transformation of the hallway in both the amount of light and extra warmth. It is one of those things that I should have done years ago...

Would strongly encourage your family member to get on and put in a proper exterior grade door. The energy saving will be welcome and the quality of life will improve dramatically.