Advise re composite doors

[mummysbigtummy]

We’ve just had our front door and garage doors on our Edwardian house replaced in composite. I was advised that as my house is in direct sunlight all the time it was best to go with black as other colours fade (our previous wooden door was ravaged by the sun and rain - everything seems to hit our house). The front door is okay - it’ll take some getting used to but it’s the garage doors (two door openers a bit like French doors) that are the problem. We chose cottage style - so tongue and groove effect but because the wood grain is so shiny that’s all you see l. It looks flat and almost animal print. You miss the cottage tongue and groove style completely. I know they are only doors but it’s breaking my heart and every time I see them I want to cry. I can’t find any advise on trying to dull down doors (most people want to make them more shiny) and I’m concerned that if we paint them, as the tongue and groove effect is created purely by a very small indent, it will disappear and it’ll look like we have flat plastic doors on our Edwardian house. Any ideas? Anyone have any experience they can share? I don’t think my husband is very pleased with the suggestion that they’ll just need to be replaced when they have just been fitted - but I have them front and back of the house and there is no escaping them…. It’s making me so sad. Thanks

Have you got a picture ?

Here you go. You can see from the second pic that there is a tongue and groove effect but the wood effect is so shiny it hides it

I’m not sure that it is the finish per se, but the fact they are very big, a huge expanse of one surface ( btw I’d love double doors like this!) I’m quite surprised that the installers didn’t recommend something slightly more ornamental.

could you put some beading on them to make a panel effect? I’ve done this on lots of interior doors which are just slabs and it is very effective; you put the panelling about 10 cms in from the edge, picking a groove maybe to guide it. Two panels, the upper one being slightly larger than the lower would make the doors more in keeping with the period and break up the surface. You would need to mitre the corners, but that is not hard. You could paint them black to match or possibly a very dark grey for contrast.

Yes we are getting to thinking that maybe sticking something onto the doors is the only solution. Maybe panels that create a more pronounced tongue and groove effect… we previously has softwood tongue and groove garage doors which clearly needed to be replacing but at least looked appropriate for the house. the tongue and groove that is there on These doors is barely visible and I’m not sure that it would even help to dull down the crazy woodgrain effect. I’m really disappointed with the installers too. They’ve done all our windows and we’ve had Edwardian style upvc in put in which I was dubious about but looks fantastic. We’ve been talking about these doors with them for over a year as I tried to ensure they would look right. It’s a costly lesson unfortunately.

What brand are they? I can see exactly what you mean.

I was ready to say that you’re being dramatic. You’re not - i Can see completely what you mean.

Thank you @CaptainBeakyandhisband i am being talked to like I’m being dramatic! Oh it’s just a big change etc etc you’ll get used to it. but it’s not that at all. We’ve got a carpenter friend coming round when he’s back from holidays to see if he can build up a proper tongue and groove effect on the outside. I don’t mind maintenance. It’s just building regs would not sign off wooden doors (it’s not really a garage at all it’s a utility and store) and we’ve lived with a temporary solution for about six years whilst we tried to find anyone who would produce doors like this with a window above. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was - spoke to the likes of solidor etc and they were very dismissive. They are from door stop international.

It looks like the entrance to a 90s nightclub 😱🤣

I can see what you mean too. If you’re going to replace them, I have a composite door in a south facing position but it isn’t black. I think it looks great still, years on. It’s only if I look at old photos I can say it’s a smidge lighter than when new, it doesn’t look sun bleached at all.

I wouldn’t call that T&G myself, more of a ‘plank’ look.
but agree , you can’t see the groove.
its come out more like a big sheet of shiny black plywood ( sorry OP! )

as you don’t have glass to worry about I’d be surprised if they couldn’t be spray painted in a (Matt) colour.

out of interest are the doors wood composite or foam composite?