Replacing a Front Door

LtMatt · 1 Mar 2018 at 08:51

Hi GD,

We're replacing our front door and are currently getting quotes from several door companies, Solidoor, Rockdoor, and a local company. We're looking for a Composite door that looks smart, is secure and is very well insulated. Our current door is letting in a bit of a draught.

Does anyone have any recommendations on a good company with an excellent reputation that we may have missed? From my own research it seems like Solidor and Rockdoor have good reputations but might be quite expensive.

Also, what do we do with our old door? Will the door installer/company take it away with them? Can we pay them to get rid of it for us? Will the council collect it? We have no way of getting rid of it ourselves, no way it would fit in the car. Worried that we'll be stuck with a front door in our back garden forever.

tedaC · 1 Mar 2018 at 08:57

No real personal experience, but do remember looking through this very similar thread not long ago
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/help-to-choose-composite-door.18790804/

kinobestew123 · 1 Mar 2018 at 09:01

We went with a Rockdoor Ultimate Indiana.

I set myself a trade account up with the manufacturer (called GAP) and used their online portal to design the exact door that I wanted. It then gave me a price.

I got a quote from a local fitter who was able to supply and fit the exact same door for pretty much the exact same price as I could buy just the door for. Presumably because he got a better trade discount than me. So I went with that option.

He dealt with removing and taking the old door away.

LtMatt · 1 Mar 2018 at 09:03

tedaC said:
No real personal experience, but do remember looking through this very similar thread not long ago
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/help-to-choose-composite-door.18790804/

Thanks I'll take a look.

kinobestew123 said:
We went with a Rockdoor Ultimate Indiana.

I set myself a trade account up with the manufacturer (called GAP) and used their online portal to design the exact door that I wanted. It then gave me a price.

I got a quote from a local fitter who was able to supply and fit the exact same door for pretty much the exact same price as I could buy just the door for. Presumably because he got a better trade discount than me. So I went with that option.

He dealt with removing and taking the old door away.

Excellent to hear.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 1 Mar 2018 at 12:35

Normally they will take away, but at a small cost
Ask for it to be detailed, if its more than a token amount, stick it on freecycle or equiv
People are always after doors for sheds, poly tunnel, zombie apocalypse bunkers

etc

LtMatt · 1 Mar 2018 at 13:04

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Normally they will take away, but at a small cost
Ask for it to be detailed, if its more than a token amount, stick it on freecycle or equiv
People are always after doors for sheds, poly tunnel, zombie apocalypse bunkers etc

Thanks for the suggestions.

pigeonguyuk · 1 Mar 2018 at 13:28

Could always try to sell the old door and frame. As long at its secure might be of interest to someone as a replacement for an outbuilding/garage where a draft isn't a major worry

Jean-F · 1 Mar 2018 at 13:50

It depends where you are I guess, I’m in central south London, one km from Tower Bridge, on the riverside.
We have two front doors, one double glazed composite and glass panelled one on the outside, which opens to reveal a stout wooden one, which opens to the passageway on the ground floor.
The outer one developed a fault, whereby although it closed, it was extremely difficult to lock it with the key.
I googled replacement doors in South London, and found londonlockandglass.com, they responded to a phone call by coming the following day and repairing the door for silly money, maybe £80, can’t recall now, but I was happy.
Apparently the door had “bowed” following a week or two of intense heat, with the sun shining directly on it, the guy said that it had probably been building up over the 12 to 15 years that it had been there.
Their website had a whole bunch of new street doors, ranging from around £350 up to a grand or more, including fitting.

Captain Chaos · 2 Mar 2018 at 07:56

GRP Composite doors. Great prices and a good quality door.

I decided to give them a go a few years back and had a go at fitting myself. I found them very helpful.

**Top tip** Go for 3d hinges, so much easier to align, actually found the whole front door fitting experience very easy and saved a fortune.

I took my old door out and even managed to save the frame! Stuck it on the bay for a few pounds and it was sold and took away the same day.

SiD the Turtle · 3 Mar 2018 at 07:24

We now have Solidors front and back. Zero complaints, love the doors. They're not cheap but then again not as expensive as Rockdoors. The local firm I got them through disposed of the old doors for free.

Delvis · 3 Mar 2018 at 12:20

Just changed it ourselves tbh

johnny6 · 4 Mar 2018 at 10:26

Anyone had any dealings with Birkdale composite doors?

Duke · 4 Mar 2018 at 15:42

I recently had my PVC door replaced with a composite door from www.valuedoors.co.uk. They send them to a local fitter (who does a survey to measure up on the first visit) who then delivers and fits it for you and takes the old one away. It'll probably be dependant on how good the local fitter is but am very pleased with door and fitting. I think the total was £900-950 which is quite cheap (had quotes of £1200 or so from local places), but it is slightly narrower door than average at a guess. You also pay on completion not up front which made me a bit less twitchy about using someone further away.

platypus · 5 Apr 2018 at 13:31

We're looking at Endurance/Solidor and I guess my only query is about the longevity/maintenance required. As they are timber cored doors are there any problems with the expansion/contraction?