Composite Door Shop Blog

Just like a suit from a bespoke tailor, made to measure front doors from The Composite Door Shop are not manufactured until every dimension has been thoroughly checked. Our front doors are designed to fit first time and be comfortable for the rest of their lives. In addition, the door is made to survive everyday wear and tear, staying durable and attractive for at least 10 years (see our guarantee).

Front doors made to measure

The composite front door process goes like this: normally within 48 hours of your order being place, one of our surveyors will contact you to arrange a home visit at your convenience. The surveyors will check and double check all of your door dimensions, discuss options and answer any questions you may have. Our made to measure checking process also includes a confirmation order for you to approve to make sure we have everything absolutely correct – then (and only then) do we approve your door for manufacture.

Online door designer

You know your home best, and we pass the majority of the design process over to you with our online door designer.

We have a huge range of options for your new front door including:

• eight frame styles in a choice of three colours,
• a door range of twenty styles in a choice of seven wood grained finishes,
• over forty glazing options,
• accessories in a choice of gold, chrome or black.

Quality composite doors at a fantastic price

All of our doors are composite doors, factory manufactured to stringent quality control standards and are made up of:

• a reinforced PVCu frame,
• a solid thermally insulated polyurethane foam core slab,
• a 2mm thick and durable GRP skin to prevent warping, twisting or bowing,
• a thickness of 44mm that creates a strong, secure door.

In order to ensure that our statements about door strength are up to date and correct, we submit them to independent testing authorities to ensure we are providing the product you wish to purchase. All Composite Door Shop doors are tested and accredited to relevant standards, “Secured by Design” and “PAS 23 & 24”.

Easy installation service

We know how stressful front door installation can be so we have pledged to make the process as fast and convenient as possible for our customers. Aiming to offer a full bespoke service from the design to installation, we have partnered with a highly regarded installation company who operate nationwide.

As well as being authorised service providers to the insurance market, our installation team has the depots, network and administrative capacity to fully support our service and ensure that you get the bespoke front doors made to measure, supply and installation service that you deserve!

Composite stable doors are composite doors that are split in the centre, allowing for the top half to be open whilst the bottom half is closed – just like doors in horse stables. These doors look great on older cottage properties (or even modern cottage-style properties), although the vast range of styles available means they can be well-suited to any kind of property.

Today, I am going to focus on the many benefits of composite stable doors.

SAFETY

Preventing young children or pets from going inside/outside, but allowing air flow on hot days/communication between areas.

Keeping the bottom half of the composite stable door closed means you can get a good flow of air into the house without worrying about your child or pet wandering out. This is especially useful if the door opens onto a road or if the garden contains risks such as ponds or sharp tools.
As well as keeping children and pets inside, you can also keep them out – preventing muddy paws and hands from running into the house or overactive kids from touching that cake you’ve just finished baking.

SECURITY

Another great example is security without blocking the outside world completely out. If you live on a nice road or in a small village, you might like the social aspect of keeping the door half-open on warm days. Keeping the bottom half of the door locked makes the house more secure than leaving the front door wide open. An open front door is easy to slip into with little detection or suspicion, whereas someone climbing over a composite stable door is bound to make noise and look extremely suspicious to anyone passing by.

Similar to using a security chain on doors, opening just the top half to visitors allows for easy communication and easy receiving of parcels without giving complete access to anyone that might force past you.

 

Composite stable doors are available from Composite Timber Doors in many styles and colours, as well as custom sizes.

Essential criteria for a new front door include safety, strength, durability and attractiveness. Composite doors fit the bill for all of these important features, which explains why so many people choose these doors above others on the market today.

Safety first!

As our composite doors are made from the very latest manufacturing methods, you can be sure that safety is of foremost concern from the moment the door begins to take shape.

Sophisticated modern lock mechanisms are a standard feature of doors from the Composite Door Shop and, compared with more traditional alternatives like uPVC panel front doors, composite doors feature double or triple glazing for extra safety, durability and strength. Study Yale locks are fitted as standard in all our doors, and for a small premium you can upgrade these to Secured By Design Approved locks for extra peace of mind.

30 year life span

Built of very high quality composite materials, composite doors are 44m thick. Compared with the 28mm thickness of traditional uPVC doors, it’s clear which has the upper hand when it comes to strength. Doors are finished with a coat of GRP as well as a range of latest hardware for further durability.

With an incredible 30 year life span whether or not you use oil to maintain them and coming with a 10 year guarantee, these doors are built to last.

In addition to the safety and durability enhancing features of composite doors, they are also chosen for their sheer attractiveness.

A door that looks as good as it performs

We are aware that as well as safety and durability, the other main priority when it comes to front doors is that the design of the door fits the precise aesthetic of your home. From country cottages to modern apartments, each property needs a different front or rear door and we offer a huge range of choice. We understand the need for the right door style to match your home and that’s why we offer a massive range of door style options as well as seven beautiful door colours to choose from, and a stunning wood grain finish to complete the look.

Try our online door designer to get exactly what you are looking for, right down to the door handle!

Choosing a composite door with a side panel can be an aesthetically pleasing as well as secure move when considering how to design your new door to best fit your home.

Are side panels secure? They are indeed: the strength and rigidity of the door are assured by a 20mm aluminium coupler which comes with the side panels.

Composite side panel or door with window panel?

There are two different sorts of side panels you can choose which we custom make to your exact specification, attractive bright windows (known as top lights or side lights) or side panels made from study composite door materials. See through windows or composite door panels can frame your door in any combination of top, full length sides or half sides.

You may be surprised to find out that there are a choice of 25 different side panel arrangements to choose from ranging from a full height composite framed panels to a simple glass top light over the door.

As these 25 options can all be made in the same materials and colours as your custom made front door, there is a huge range of options for your door and side panels.

To see our range of side panels visit the Front Door Side Panels page and explore your options today.

Wooden doors are traditional and attractive however they do have several major drawbacks that customers are often not aware of, making them inferior to the more modern composite doors now offered across the UK. Composite front doors offer a wood-look finish whilst being built from modern materials that offer the same performance as the more cheap uPVC front door.

Due to the nature of the material, wood can be quite a poor substance to make a front door from. Traditional wooden front doors warp, bend and shift, reacting to all weather conditions, particularly water and heat. This creates many problems for the front door.

How wood reacts to our climate

With the climate we experience here in UK, a wooden front door is actually a recipe for disaster, especially if you are looking for a long lasting front door. Warping in the heat or buckling under cold, not to mention how wood swells with exposure to rain, leads to a greatly reduced performance of the wooden front door, as well as a very short lifespan. Ill-fitting doors can also make your home far less secure, so choosing a wooden front door over a modern composite front door could potentially leave your home open to crime and burglary.

Composite front door materials

Investing in a composite front door is a great idea because composite doors combine the look of a traditional wooden front door, often using specialised fibreglass moulds that create a finish almost indistinguishable from real wood, with hardy materials designed to withstand almost any effects from weathering. You can get the attractive appearance of a wooden front door whilst also benefiting from the increased security and performance of a uPVC front door.

Better front door insulation

Composite front doors from the Composite Door Shop also insulate your home far better than a traditional wooden front door, due to the thermally insulating polyurethane foam filling. This makes your home more energy efficient and lets you save money on energy bills, very important in these lean economic times.

Composite doors set the standard for the rest of the door industry, so it is worth learning a few facts about composite doors.

As a relatively new product, there are a couple of misconceptions around composite front doors, the first one being the name. The word ‘composite’ refers to the varied materials that make up the front door and many people still spell this word incorrectly.

Common misspellings of the ‘composite’ keywords when searching for composite front doors include:

• compasit doors
• compasite doors
• composit doors
• compersit doors
• compersite doors
• compisit doors

Incorrectly spelling the keywords when searching for a new front door can cause many problems; the search results will be filled with websites with spelling errors, which can be a strong indicator of an unprofessional supplier.

The second common composite door misconception is that all composite doors are made from the same materials. There are actually a few different materials that can make up a composite door, all of which result in a strong, secure door that is more resistant to weather and constant use than wooden or uPVC doors, whilst maintaining the attractive appearance of a wooden door. However, as with any product, there are varying degrees of quality and price.

The Composite Door Shop supply only the highest quality composite doors. These are made using a fibre glass skin that is incredibly strong and long-lasting. Cheap composite doors tend to be made using a uPVC skin. These uPVC composite doors can still be better than non-composite doors, but they are not quite as attractive, strong or long-lasting as fibreglass doors.
The Composite Door Shop fibre glass doors are filled with a special thermally insulating polyurthane foam, which is injected into the core of the door. This ensures there are no draughty spots and that the composite door offers the very best in thermal insulation. Cheaper composite doors are filled with polystyrene, which works well, but can have its disadvantages. Good thermal insulation of your front door saves you money on heating bills and makes your house more eco friendly.

If you are looking to buy a composite front door, The Composite Door Shop supply and fit composite front doors all over mainland UK.