What kind of front door??

[Greenstar22]

I have a white upvc front door which I hate. Looking to replace but I'm wondering is a composite, upvc, wooden door best? Looking at it from a security and warmth point of view.

I've replaced two pvc doors. They're great for security and being not drafty but are so ugly. My builder guy said it wasn't a good move to change to wood and suggested composite as a compromise for the similar security, but we live in a safe enough area and wanted wood. It will take upkeep, although it's been in 4 years now and the paint hasn't needed a touch up yet. There's a bit of a draft but we have an inner door so it doesn't bother us.

Get a good quality wooden door if you can afford it. Looks so much better

We gave a composite front door- looks smart and very secure. Some properties suit a wooden door better - my parents have a wooden front door and in the wet it expands and sometimes they can't get out

I got a composite door because I wanted a colour. Looks great & it's really solid & secure.

I don't have a porch so it will be totally exposed to the elements if that makes a difference. The pvc door is actually fine but I just hate it, my dh thinks it's fine 🙂

I’ve just replaced our ugly upvc door with a composite. We went for a really modern looking one with long handle bar and a smooth finish. We love it and everyone always comments on how much nicer it makes our house look. For security the long handle bars are better than standard handles as the lock system is different

i have just got a lovely composite door, i am very happy, it is more secure and much easier than a wooden door (comes ready coloured and with all the locks etc) less draughty. go for this I say 😊

@Fleetheart thats lovely colour

Don't get uPVC because the panels end up popping out like a bubble in hot weather and they don't go back.

@Greenstar22, thank you! had a very ugly pvc door for a long time, so am now happy every time i arrive home to my nice green door 😅. this is the before door so you can see what a difference it makes

@fleetwood that's my exact front door now 😂

My new, so called 'hardwood' wooden front door has LASTED LESS THAN SEVEN YEARS ! Was so rotten, you could poke your finger into it, as if it were sponge cake. Nothing looks better than a well-painted wooden door, but the quality of modern timber is poor, and much of what is sold as 'oak' - in my experience - isn't ! In particular, beware of an African timber called 'Sepila'. Looks the part, but isn't !

‘“Rot in ‘oak’ front door, less than seven years after being installed ! Location, West Yorkshire.

Foam composite are warmer that wood composite.

they both have a hard shell resistant to impact.

brands are Solidor, xtremedoor, rockdoor, endurancedoor.

we’re north west , going with a small company saving almost a thousand quid on a well known (in the area) company.

if you’re getting a new frame at the same time, have a think whether you’d like to swap which side the door opens.

I would go for composite but if you are only changing it because you think it’s fugly then maybe try painting it first. It makes a huge difference when they aren’t white imo.

My before upvc and after composite

I've got the same dilemma at the moment, the costs seem to escalate as well! @Fleetheart your green door is gorgeous...who was the supplier?

@Letmedowneasy it was a company called door-stop,
it was fitted by a local builder. like I say, am very happy with it!

@Greenstar22 how funny! i guess they were very popular at one time 😅

@Fleetheart that's lovely where did you get it if you don't mind?

@Fleetheart hi can I ask if your builder was fensa approved? I couldn’t find a builder that was fensa approved.

i don’t know if he was
fensa approved to be honest; he had done lots of work for me previously

Oh ok, we planned to use our builder as it would have been cheaper but then the door company told me about fensa. Tbh I never even heard of it and neither had my builder