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)...

@excelledyourself A lot It was a very kind and generous gift but I feel really unsophisticated and common every time I think about it, because I think it’s ugly. We also live in the Middle East, where despite crime being close to non existent - insurance costs (and everything else) are a premium

Sounds about right for that size and bespoke. I was expecting about £5k. Maybe you could try squeezing them a bit more?

My extravagances are small but numerous. I'm a firm believer in buying what you LOVE. It's like those Jim Lawrence adverts: "nothing similar is quite the same". If you try to buy a cheaper imitation of the thing you love you will never be satisfied with it.

OP think of it this way: how many years are you likely to live there? Divide the cost per year and it won't seem as bad. it's what I do with coats

It's all relative. If you can afford it and love it then go for it. But it is a lot.

@sergeilavrov I'm sure they meant well, but imagine gifting someone something that costs a bomb to insure. And assuming they have the same taste and would even want to!

With an art piece that I didn’t love that but was costing me a fortune to insure, I would loan it to a museum and use the excuse that it should be available for more people to enjoy.

I always admire people's front doors and have front door envy. I particularly love a stained glass window door. I have an ordinary wooden door but repaint it every other year in a new colour.
I don't think that is too much to spend if it will make your house look lovely and you will see it every day and love it. Plus modern made to measure doors will have great security and great insulation too.
Go for it!

Yep that's a crazy amount!

I'm not surprised at the cost, although I've never bought a new front door I had the idea that nice ones are very expensive. I do think it's worth splashing out to get something you love.

I mean the kitchen I ordered (units only) came to £4k... so in a word, YES!

I just had a bifold three metre door fitted in my extension. New front door, back door, three downstairs windows, three upstairs windows all leaded for around 3k. UPV. I personally think it's a lot as the cost of those windows plus a 25 x6 metre two story pitched roof extension with a roof light, 2.5 metre foundations and a new entrance porch with downstairs loo was 65k. But that's just for the waterproof sherl and basic plumbing.

Depends on the value of your house and the finish you want. I just want a nice sturdy family home. Nothing is high end.

Life is too short for these agonies of guilt OP If you really love it and you have the money for it, have it and use and admire
it and adore it. FWIW, the picture you posted of the similar one is lovely.

Wow I am baulking at spending £500 on my front door.
Will reconsider my thresholds.

@ihatethecold- can you not look in one of those big reclamation yards for a better version? You will need someone handy with a plane and a paintbrush to fit it though. Make sure you measure yours properly beforehand!

I liberated an original door from a skip that my Victorian terrace should have had, and DH worked hard on it, fitting and painting. It looks great.

We just had two front doors fitted (because who doesn't have two front doors these days.... internal and outer. The external composite cost £900 fitted negotiated down from 1400. The internal cost 640. Both included removal of old PVC and fitting of new frames. That door is very nice but you shouldn't expect to be paying any more than half of that. Does the cost including building work and supports perhaps? That'll be where the money is (apologies Ive not read the entire thread)

Our porch door was £50ish off eBay. I love it. I can’t even get my head around spending £6k on a door. That’s an extravagant family holiday or a new car as far as I’m concerned.

Not in that league of expense, but I bought VERY expensive Sanderson fabric for two very large roman blinds for my kitchen after a refurb and they still make me smile everyday. I have to move sadly, but they are coming with me and I will have remade in a new size if necessary!

@Grufurlough can you give me details of the company you used please?
I’d prefer composite to wood for my new front door.

Yes it's ridiculous, any local craftsman would make you a door nicer than that. They are taking you for a ride.
I had a bespoke door made for me by a local bloke for my curved archway entry out of solid oak and it was 1k. I thought that was extravagant but it's your money, you can do what you want with it.

It's a stylish door, but I think the crittal style ones are a waste in a front door - if they're clear they're a robbery risk, or clouded glass defeats the purpose. Also, it's such a popular look that it's guaranteed to date (and I say this as someone with an internal crittal door). It's on the expensive side, but I can see how it could get there, needing security features as well.

I was thinking that you were going to get something handmade out of timber and incredibly security-reinforced for that. Would really think twice, unless you've got cash to burn...

If it helps, I spent £2k on a massive gorgeous ornate bookcase. I love it. It totally makes the lounge, and I dont regret it at all. It makes me smile every time I look at it. I paid for it out of my savings.
I think its really worth splurging on a few gorgeous items which raise the look from boring to amazing!

Where I come from we generally have "security doors" so they can cost well over £6000 . Your door will be understated and elegant and I am sure it will give you a lot of pleasure every time you look at it. We just spent approx £1000 for an insect screen door.I could have had a cheaper one but it wouldn't have been as nice as the one we had made to measure and spray painted the exact colour of the door .

In SW London it wouldnt surprise me at all. I was quoted that much for a new front door for a humble 2 bed flat back in 2003 (although I thought it was a rip-off at the time). I have heard figures like that mentioned for terraced houses in my neighbourhood over recent years as well. It seems an awful lot though but then new double glazed sashes can also seem outrageously expensive. You could try and get a reclaimed door from a house being refurbished and restore it/paint it, probably for a fraction of the cost. However, yours is going to be iron not wood so that may be very hard to find as a reclaimed door. Iron possibly more expensive to make, needing specialist machines and skills? Also probably very heavy so specialist hinges/frame and special skills or tools needed to hang it? I can see how it could easily amount to a £6k bill in London or any affluent neighbourhood. Presumably you want iron for extra security? In which case, perhaps £6k is worth it for that type of door?

I’m replacing our front door with something similar in hard wood. Although the door is solid wood and the 2 sidelights are fully glazed. My quotes from local joiners are all between £4-4.5k.

It’s a lovely design OP, but only you know if it represents value to you and if it’s affordable.

Also no letterbox in door 😂

As in...we don’t have a letterbox in the door either. That’s elsewhere.

That’s elsewhere

Oh, now that is so vague as to be interesting . Is it in an obvious place or would a temporary postman have to hunt for it?