What do I need to know when buying a Composite Door?

Your Composite Door Questions Answered:

What do I need to know when buying a Composite Door?

Although they have been around now for a number of years and have proved to be very popular with public – the concept of what to look for and which questions to ask still remains a mystery to many. With so many Composite Doors now available the choice of colour and style may be the easiest of the decisions you will have to make, choice of manufacturer, specification and value for money may be the questions which it is harder to decide

• Door and frame Construction
• Security
• Weather performance
• Thermal Efficiency

are four of the key specification topics that should be considered for any purchase. Over recent months we have addressed each of these subjects as individual articles and in this article we will both revisit that information and suggest some of the questions that you should be asking your prospective door provider.

Door and Frame Construction see our blog – “How are Composite doors made” where we describe the typical construction methods and materials in the manufacture of the door –

Typical questions

• Does the door come as a door set?
• Is the frame reinforced?
• What is the core of the door made from – CFC-free insulating polyurethane (PU) foam or laminated hardwood?
• Is the door reinforced?
• Is the GRP cladding through coloured?

Security – see our blogs – How secure are composite Doors and Can Composite Doors be broken into

Security is one of the main reasons a consumer will consider the purchase of a composite door, so it’s important that it is as burglar proof as possible and this means that independent testing by third parties and issue of the appropriate accreditation is essential

Typical Questions

• Has the door achieved PAS24?
• Is the door recognised as Secured by Design?
• Does the door have a CE Mark?
• Does the door have a multi-point locking system?
• Is the door locking cylinder – one which is anti – pick , bump, snap and drill approved?
• Does the door have security chains, spy holes as standard or optional extras?

Weather performance – see our blog- Are Composite Doors Draught proof – the GRP cladding provided as the cladding to Composite doors provides a pretty impervious barrier to the threat of snow wind and rain it is therefore the provision of quality draughtproofing that will stop draughts getting through and give the additional benefit of energy saving costs.

Typical questions

• Is the door provided as a door set?
• Is draught proofing installed by the manufacturer as a factory operation.
• Is the letterplate correctly sprung and draughtproofed
• Is the door fitted with weather bars and drips?
• Are all glazing cartridges sealed to prevent water ingress?

Thermal Efficiency – not one we have currently written about (must put it on the list) but we have covered sound proofing in our blog Are Composite Doors soundproof and the enhancement of thermal and sound proofing are very similar. The materials used in a typical Composite Door CFC-free insulating polyurethane (PU) foam or laminated hardwood are comparative with timber when thermal efficiency is considered, but as the typical Composite door is considerably thicker at 44mm the efficiency is improved, add in the draughtproofing to frames and openings and the use of double or triple glazed glass units and it is substantially enhanced. As many products now seem to have some form of grading referring to energy efficiency, we have become used to seeing A-G listings for electrical goods and now the same ratings are applied to doors so you know just what to expect from your door before purchase.

Typical questions –

• Everything we have already raised re construction specification and weather protection.
• Does the door have an energy certificate and what is the grading?

Your Door supplier – they are not all the same – some are better than others and some offer so much more –

Typical questions

Are they reliable and do they have references? There reviews are frequently an excellent source of this information.

• Do they install throughout the UK or at the very least your local area?
• Do they have marketing information you can trust on their web site?
• Do they have good Sales and After Sales service?
• Do they offer Financial assistance for purchases – 0% finance packages etc?
• Do they advertise their awareness of Consumer Rights?

Finally, the easiest of questions –

Styles and Colours – the majority of door suppliers will either have brochures or a web site where they will display the options – it is now commonplace for styles to run into the hundreds for many manufacturers when all of the variations upon a style are considered individually and, in most cases, a basic dozen standard with half a dozen premium colours is the norm– some manufacturers even offer colour bonding to a colour of your choice as an option (an expensive one)

Composite Doors – all you need to know – styles and colours to suit any home, strong and secure, durable and weatherproof, draughtproofed and thermally efficient and best of all you can probably find one to fit any budget.