Solidor

[partywalladvice]

I have just received a quote to have a Solidor installed. I am impressed with what I have read and seen with the door and the customisation that is possible but I wanted opinions from anyone who has had one fitted.
Is it secure and retains heat well? Is the locking straightforward? We are considering the thumbturn inside. Any upgrades (on lock or otherwise) you would recommend?

If you don't mind disclosing, how much did it cost you for yours?

We have one, yes it feels very secure and hall seems much warmer. We didn't upgrade the lock but have never worried that it isn't substantial enough. Had it about 4 years now and very happy with it. I think it was about £1200 from memory but was part of an extension so that was supply only, our builders fitted it.

My reservation is that the lock.

If you want to be able to exit easily, maybe in case of fire, then you would fit a 'thumb turn' on the inside.

This also allows anyone who has accessed the property from elsewhere an easy egress, burglar perhaps.

So I would need a more secure 4 lever Chubb style and I don't know if that is possible with this type of door.

On a personal note; I always avoid any trade supplier who will not provide a price list. One price for the fool they can mug another price for the regular tradesman.

Thanks both

I would prefer a thumb turn if I am honest as easy exit for us in emergency trumps an easy escape for burglar. I wasn't particularly keen on ensuring front door keys were near door previously so if there were a fire, we could get out easily. This eliminates that concern completely

The price aspect is one of my reservations - I hate that I cannot see the impact amendments will have on price myself and that I need to keep requesting amendments to establish this. The quote we have been given is more than double what @Africa2go has stated but it does include installation too. I think I may ask our builder to get a trade quote as he is happy to fit a door for us.

We had one fitted a month ago. I love it. I've always been paranoid about fire and the kids are forever mislaying their keys when they are alone in the house or leaving their keys inside the lock so no-one else (me) could unlock the door from the outside so the thumb turn has been brilliant.

We do have to be very vigilant when mil with dementia comes to visit. I would never recommend one to fil as he has to stop her escaping.

Dh persuaded me to have a peephole which I think was a waste.

Ours cost £1,470 including fitting.

Our door

We have the thumb turn on ours.... much better than looking for keys every time you want to open the door. We had the one without handles so you use the thumb turn to unlatch it as well.

The upside is it’s always locked from the outside so nobody could wander in but the downside is you can lock yourself out ( like a cylinder lock , Yale ). So id recommend hiding a key somewhere in the garden in case that happens.

The ultion locks soiidor use are expensive for extra keys (£50) so when we had the french doors fitted we had a ultion thumb turn on them too and had them keyed alike and got another 3 keys. For some reason the lock barrel and 3 keys were only £38 😀

If a burglar had broken into the house I wouldn’t be bothered about him letting himself out, better that than kicking the door in 👍

We have one, the London with the thumb turn lock.

It looks lovely, is so solid, great for heat retention, feels very secure, as a PP mentioned spare keys are expensive.

We had it fitted as part of a whole front renovation but I think it was approximately £1200.

Mum and Dad have a Solidor with a thumb turn lock and it’s certainly made their hall warmer. They’ve had theirs about 4 years now and it’s caused no issues.
Theirs was fitted by a local contractor and as far as I know there was no secrecy about costs.
We went for the slightly cheaper Rockdoor with a locking system that means that there is a handle inside but the door can only be opened with a key from outside. I much prefer a handle to the thumb turn but if I’m being honest the Solidor gives the impression of being a more sturdy door than ours.

We have gone for a thumb turn on our new one too . So much easier .
Have to wait 7 weeks for installation though

Thumb turn is brilliant. It is great. I paid about 1300 I think for a cottage style door in Painswick with door knocker and letterbox and bulls eye glass.

Should say key on outside and thumb turn inside on mine.

We had a Solidor fitted last October, I think it was the flint design without a window with 2 door length windows either side. It was around £2500 with fitting.

I find having to put the key in sideways on to open the lock quite annoying (I’m used to Yale) and it’s really needing an oil as it’s stiff to close up when I’m leaving. They do say it needs this yearly so I shouldn’t be surprised but having never needing to touch the lock on my old door it’s another annoyance!!

I bought a Solidor Ludlow around 5 years ago for an investment house I had. £1300 fitted. I had a knocker and numbers as extras. Cannot remember the lock/handle but tenant was very happy! Still looks good. I sold the house 3 years ago but drove by it the other day. Mine was grey. A few on the road were cheaper ones but they faded!

Thank you all, really reassuring to know everyone is generally happy with end product

I've ordered a solidor and just waiting for fitting. Not seen one in person before so I'm glad people have had good experience with them.

Just to update - the price was a bit of a sticking point for me as most of you paid around £1500 mark for a door and our local supplier quoted close to £2700 (no glass on the door). I also looked around at other composite door suppliers who supplied doors with timber cores and Endurance Doors. Other suppliers were quoting around £1300 + installation for a similar door with Utilon lock, Endurance doors quoted £2000 (inc fitting). I asked my local Solidor supplier and they insisted the price quoted was the absolute minimum they could give.

I have also found an online website that supply Solidor across the country and their quote is almost £1000 cheaper than my local supplier. I am going to research them a little bit more then decide between them or another independent composite door. I am not sure why my local supplier is so expensive compared to all other options but it unfortunately has put me off them completely.

I also had the same price issue. One local windows and doors place wanted nearly 2,500 pounds for the same door! I went a little bit further out for my door to the next town and have had no problems at all. They must have had a huge profit from each sale. I was also very surprised in the difference.

The difference is insane! I have always tried to shop local and made even more effort since COVID so almost all our suppliers for our house renovation have been local companies. We visited our local Solidor supplier, they showed us samples and discussed options with us so I would much rather give them my business than an online business. Appreciate their showroom costs money to maintain and staff so would happily pay a small premium but not an extra £1k!

Comment above and inconsistency with add ons is what made me investigate other options - I was told auto lock would cost an extra £100 when I went to visit their showroom. Later I said their price was out of my budget and requested they amend to standard lock to try get the door closer to my budget, they said it was just £40 and not worth removing. Couple of other things like this too so I feel like my local supplier is exactly as @purpleleotard said to be wary of.

Some of the prices on here seem really cheap - my mum paid £2400 and I’m paying £1800 (different style). I also had some much more expensive quotes. Mums door’s amazing so I can’t wait to get mine. I do think though that because there’s so much demand at the moment for home improvements everyone’s quoting high.

@partywalladvice Sorry to revive an old thread but we're hunting for a Solidor at the moment. You mentioned you shopped around and looked a little further afield for another supplier. Did you get someone cheaper in the end? And did your original quote include side panels at all or was it for just a door?

I'm finding the lack of transparency when trying to work through the options really tedious so am just interested in how it panned out in the end.

if you have a thumbturn, please don't have a letterplate in the door.

A simple tool, made from common materials, can be put through the slit to turn, pull or push a knob, handle or thumbturn on the inside of the door.

A box or cage in the wall on the hinge side of the door is more secure.

bear in mind that a tin box hanging on the inside of the door may deter a child with thin arms, but not a determined person who doesn't care if he damages your door.

Our front door will be in a porch (and unless we lock both porch and front door with keys from the inside all the time, both are always open to anyone ) so, hopefully, that reduces the chances of any burglars having a go.