By Alvin Curtis
Replacing your front door isn’t something you have to do very often; doors are manufactured from hard wearing materials for a long life. But you might have moved into an older property and it’s one of a number of tasks in a larger refurbishment project, if that’s the case please read on while we look into how to find a great supplier, what your design options are and what material might work best for your new door. It’s vitally important that you choose a door that compliments the rest of your home and adds to the overall aesthetic look of the exterior of the property. Your home and how it looks reflects on both you and your family and it’s also a key determiner in maintaining or increasing the value of a property.
Finding A Great Supplier
Unless your already aware of a specialist door supplier you’ll need to conduct a search of the available local businesses, an internet search is a good place to start, type in ‘aluminium front door Oxfordshire’ or something similar. This will give you a listing of local companies, take some time to view their websites and products, make some notes of any styles or prospective partners. Cross referencing any possible installers with consumer websites such as Trustpilot or Feefo, they show how well a business is rated by their previous clients, this should narrow your list. Create a shortlist of three or four possibilities, make contact and start the design process, it’s always good practice to get multiple quotations for any substantial project on your home.
What Material Is Best for Front Doors?
There are multiple different characteristics you might look for in a quality front door, aesthetics, thermal efficiency, security, and style are all factors for consideration. Modern front doors are generally manufactured from four main materials: timber, uPVC, aluminium, and composite which is also called GRP. Let’s look at these materials strengths and weaknesses –
- Timber is a traditional choice popular for it natural look, solid wood doors offer the best energy efficiency but are expensive and require more maintenance than it’s competitors.
- Upvc is the budget friendly choice and is very popular in modern homes, it’s low maintenance but can be restrictive in designs and finishing choices.
- Aluminium doors are very strong, require little maintenance and offer sleek modern designs, not as thermally efficient as other material but this has improved with the introduction of polyamide technology.
- Composite is a mixture of materials designed using modern technology, the outcome is a door scoring highly in all categories but is also the most expensive.
Front Door Designs & Styles
There are a range of different styles of front door, these include solid doors, craftsman doors and ornate doors, some feature single or multiple glazed panels with designs of coloured or leaded glass. With modern high security locking technology fitted to most doors as standard it comes down to your personal choice, use your suppliers experience and expertise to advise you as to what might work best in your home.
I hope you’ve now got a better understanding of what is available, look at this project as an opportunity to enhance your home for years to come with a modern stylish secure front door.
