French Patio Doors

[GettaWok]

We live in a 3 bed Victorian cottage in a riverside London location. We've finally saved up to replace the ugly and falling apart PVC doors that lead from the dining room to the garden. It's a 1.5m opening.

I really wanted a classic traditional wooden door with the hinges, bars and craftsmanship. Quotes are coming in at 6k which is much more than I thought.

I definitely don't want PVC as they don't last and don't fit with the general house decor.

Is there any other alternative if I want a more heritage look? We are also concerned about security. DH says PVC doors are more secure.

Get some more quotes. 6k really is too much for wooden patio doors. You should be able to do better.

We have Timberlook which I’m very happy with and give you pvc security and ease of cleaning/ not needing to paint, but with a more traditional look

Never heard of these, but just googled and they look fab. Are you able to share pricing detail?

My Timberlook French doors were about £3k from memory, that was about four years ago though. I have Timberlook windows throughout my house and the whole house cost around £20k for the 20 windows. So they aren’t as cheap as PVC but not as expensive as timber! Nothing to lose getting a quote

@Flippinec how wide are your French doors? 3k isn't really cheap I suppose

That included fitting btw!

2.60m wide. There are two half glass/half Timberlook side panels either side of the door.

I had a set of wooden french doors installed last year. I'm in North London. The doors were a little narrower than usual, so a non standard size. Total cost was around £5,500 including VAT, so I'm afraid your quotes sound about right.
Security is a non issue as far as I'm concerned. My doors are hardwood and are fitted with multi point locks - they feel much more secure than the uPVC french doors I have!

@Flippinec @LollyWillow are you able to share pics of doors similar to what you have?

Paid £8k for (larger) beautiful timber French doors last year - the cheapest of three quotes. I just couldn’t put plastic into a Victorian house.

Plastic are definitely not more secure. The multi point locking systems are just trying to compensate for the flimsy base material. Mine have concealed bolts into the frame and the doors are going nowhere. But a burglar would just smash a window, so it’s kind of irrelevant.

Inside and outside. Ignore the red frame around the outside view, that’s our electric shutters

Thanks, they look solid and very much like composite doors

Sorry @GettaWok, I'm away at the moment and couldn't find anything similar on-line. My doors were very plain with just a single sheet of glass on each side - full length. They are in the kitchen and replaced some multi-paned doors which I found quite hard to keep clean in that location.