Is 6k a ridiculous amount to spend on a front door? Make me feel better with your stories of house extravagance...

[Wokeuptwirly]

We aren’t loaded, but have a decent amount of savings and are undertaking a huge renovation project. We are having the whole of front of the house ripped off and remodelled as it is hideous. We have budgeted hard to make our money go a long way, but feel that the front door is the first thing you see and has to have an impact. We can’t find anything we want ‘off the peg’ so have had a local company design us something bespoke. I love it, but feel incredibly guilty about spending so much on a door (even though we have haggled them down from over 7k). Please can someone come along and tell me some items they have splurged on which have improves their home to make me feel more at ease with parting with such a huge lump of cash (for us)...

Im currently looking for that exact door style but in wood. Can I ask why you need an iron front door???

I think it depends on the value of your house. If its a semi worth about £500k then you'd be mad.

If its a mansionette worth about £2M then probably not so mad.

I think it's depends on your financial situation and the overall spend on the house.

My husband would say, it won't add any value.......

An iron door??

Are you buying a door for a 2 up 2 down terrace, a 3 bed semi in the middle of a Barrat's estate, or a large mansion set in its own grounds?

It's a lot of money which ever of those it is, but probably more fitting to the large mansion than the 2 up 2 down terrace.

www.ebay.co.uk/i/252712522164?rt=nc&_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D1f5878a2ee1949ee8b76ea830f1c07b4%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D30%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D253471413303%26itm%3D252712522164%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2386202%26algv%3DDefault

suspect these people could make one for half that if you went for wood

here

Crikey I defo live in a different money land!

Ooh, pretty.

I'm think one expensive impact piece of craftsmanship is hugely worth it in a renovation.

Front door seems as good a place as any to have it

Okay, to answer a couple of questions. I can’t stand the maintenance with wood so that is an absolute no for me and composite doors all tend to be standard designs and sizes so that rules them out. Have been unable to find anything that looks even a little bit like that picture despite expensive online searching for ‘door design’ composite companies. House is not a mansion, but a decent size detached. Approx .5 acre with long drive and gates (which is why I am unbothered by having a large amount of clear glass). Someone said work it out as a percentage and it will be well under 1% of home’s value so looking at it that way I suppose it isn’t a bad idea.

Thank you to all the posters who have made me feel better with their stories of bold expenditure 😁 I am cautious with money as I grew up in a household with very little so do struggle sometimes to ‘splurge’. I do recognise it isn’t very bling or exciting as someone upthread put it, but I spent a good few years in the Middle East so have had my fill of ostentatious and was going for understated classic on this house. We’ve made lots of savings in general on the renovation (no 4K purple baths here as amazing as they sound! 😁) so it does feel a bit unnatural to make such a huge purchase, but on balance I think it will be worth it.

Extensive online searching - I clearly have expense on the brain!

DH has just corrected me - it is steel not iron, which apparently is more expensive to manufacture and more durable, so allegedly we are getting a bargain 🙈. He is sold - I suppose I just need to give my head a wobble and let him crack on!

Front doors are expensive as I am finding out! Ours is hideous, even more so on the inside and I would like to replace it with an art deco style door but I doubt I will be left with much change from two grand so I will have to wait a while. The tiles I picked to surround our woodburner were £250 a square metre but I didn't need many and they really made the fireplace into a center piece. If you can afford it, go for it, while I chew my fingers in envy!

I would also give my right arm for a copper bateau lite, but considering they start at 4 grand, that won't be happening in my lifetime!

My DDad paid £5 for two pretty bog standard doors - white UPVC with a half window .

The phrase Fucking Ripped Off springs to mind .
Unfortunately he was not able to use the 14 Day Change of mind because they were "bespoke" - were they Hell.

I had Trading Standards on my side and we had a Soliciter ready to send a letter but unfortunately my DDad (who was the customer) wouldn't go through Legal routes .
He was/is Of Sound Mind but the company are reknown for this behaviour .

Ypu know the ones , call round to the house , book an appointment (so no 'Cold Calling' and basically don't leave without a deposit )
Of course they convonced him of "Special Offers" if he signed .

He paid the £500 deposit but he'd have been liable for the full amount if he cancelled .

He's usually very savvy too

I don't know how these people sleep at night .

Your door Woke looks fabulous .

£5 - should be £5000

That door doesn’t even have a letter box

I bought a bespoke (wooden) door from Sash Window workshop for £4K. Would have been another £2.5k for the stained glass I originally wanted but eventually couldn’t justify. I do love it though and it makes me smile every time I come home.

That door doesn’t even have a letter box

Maybe a fancy door like that comes with a long driveway and a postbox?

Very nice door!

My massive extravagance was the wallpaper in my bedroom at (gulp) £120 a roll. It's the most beautiful wallpaper in the world and I wish I could scrape it off the walls and take it with me when we move.

@mrsfeatherbottom - I would love to see a photo of your tiles.

It’s easily done.
Last autumn I got quotes for a pretty trad Georgian door for our house. Jon standard size (period house) and previous owners had removed original and put nasty upvc door so a new secure frame was needed for London-level security. They wanted 5.5 k- this was for primed but not painted, with a mid-spec sustainable wood but banham locks.

We were going to do it to sell the house but we have sold now. It would have looked so much better though

@DeeplyMovingExperience

Very nice door!

My massive extravagance was the wallpaper in my bedroom at (gulp) £120 a roll. It's the most beautiful wallpaper in the world and I wish I could scrape it off the walls and take it with me when we move.

@mrsfeatherbottom - I would love to see a photo of your tiles.

Oooh great idea! I would love to see the tiles too. And the wallpaper please @deeplymovingexperience 😁

Okay - here is a pic of the tiles as requested.

We also had door extravagance - the house had beautiful 1940s stained glass French doors but the wood was rotting and needed replaced. We managed to keep them in for 6 years (skirting boards nailed to the inside) while we saved up the thousands of pounds needed to restore them and get new doors custom made. We also got a new front door to match (they are beside each other) and two port holes made in stained glass to match as well. We could have got PVC doors for a fraction of the price but I couldn't do it. The door we got made, we got the joiner to copy the design from a picture off Pinterest. Was nowhere near £6k but was wood, not steel! Here is the door, which I love.

The tiles are hard to photograph as they are iridescent (is that the word?)

I have just had something very similar made although in wood (actually had two!)... and cheaper. Do PM me if you want the details...

A steel door??
You know that new doors need to pass building regs right? And it would need to meet a minimum u-value (heat loss.) Please check it does before spending that much money.

I paid about €20k for a bathroom (yes, just one bathroom). There was a lot of bespoke joinery in walnut, a special build shower and deep, Japanese style, soaking tub. I still feel much happier in there than anywhere else in the house. The downside is that if you have two bathrooms upstairs, one which is a perfectly nice but boring family bathroom and the ensuite which is beautiful and perfect then the entire family will want to trapse through the master bedroom to use the beautiful ensuite. We might as well not have two bathrooms.