The time has arrived to start shopping for a new front door for your property. The perfect front door will add an aesthetic appeal to your home, but it must also be secure, guard you against the elements and provide some degree of soundproofing.
The number of materials used and the types of front door available on the market are extensive. If this is your first time purchasing a front door, or if you haven’t done so in many years, you might be unsure of what properties each front entrance door can provide.
From UPVC doors, composite front doors, wooden front doors and beyond, we’ll be talking through different types of entry doors and their qualities and benefits.
uPVC Front Doors
uPVC external doors remain one of the most popular among our customers. A PVC door is generally cheaper to purchase than wooden or composite options but remains weatherproof and safe.
Some customers deem PVC doors safer than their wooden counterparts as they do not split, more difficult for intruders to break into than wood doors, and they do not ignite easily; giving you increased fire safety.
uPVC windows and doors are an excellent means of heat retention, and they pose reduced levels of condensation, therefore making your home more energy-efficient.
The downfall of a uPVC front door is often its downfall. Generally speaking, people appreciate the timeless appearance of a classic hardwood front door but feel the need for increased safety. In recent times, the modern composite front door provides all of the safety of a uPVC door but with the quintessential and customisable appearance of a wooden front door.
Modern Composite Doors
Composite front doors are the latest hot-trend on the market, and with good reason. Modern composite doors are slowly overtaking uPVC doors in popularity due to their many benefits and smart appearance. Composite doors are manufactured from a range of materials to provide the most secure door that is still aesthetically pleasing and energy efficient, including timber, glass, uPVC and reinforced plastic, to name a few.
A composite door is a durable and robust option, with a reinforced, multi-layered outer frame. Composite external doors also ensure safety and protection against intrusion, with cylinders that are anti-drill, anti-snap and anti-pick. The thermal efficiency of the composite door is unparalleled, perfect for those looking to create an energy-efficient environment and reduce their carbon footprint. It is the double rebated door with triple glazing that also helps composite doors to reduce noise pollution in your home drastically.
In contrast to uPVC front doors, you have more freedom with the appearance of a composite front door. Typically, they have a woodgrain effect giving you the timeless look of a wooden door with added security. But, the combinations of modern front door colours, hardware and glass patterns are endless, allowing you to customise the “modern classic” composite door to suit your home’s appearance.
Hardwood External Doors
One of the biggest appeals of wooden front doors is their appearance. Exterior wood doors have a timeless look of authenticity and grandeur about them, and they can be made from a variety of different woods from oak and elm, beech and walnut, sycamore, mahogany, ash and beyond.
Carpenters can manipulate the wooden front door to look however you wish, whether this is in overall design, wood pattern, intricate detailing or unique placements and shapes of glass. Another benefit from the design perspective is unlike other materials when you want to change up the colour of your front door, all you have to do is paint it rather than buying a new one; allowing you to refresh your home as often as you wish.
Many people believe that because the finish and quality of a hardwood front door is luxury, the pricetag must be on the luxury end of the scale, too. Many hardwood external doors are very reasonably priced, especially when compared with uPVC or composite doors. That said, they do require more maintenance than the latter two, and wooden front doors don’t provide the impeccable safety levels of a composite door.
