Front Entrance Doors ?

[jaizan]

I would like to replace my front entrance door & side panel.

What I would like is something that meets the following requirements:
1 Contemporary style, probably in dark grey or perhaps a genuine wooden facia, in natural colour
2 Good insulation performance
3 Reasonable resistance to theft, probably including a steel frame

What I find is a lot of door makers don't even quote any insulation performance.

Then when it comes to theft, door makers will make claims about multi-point locking systems & various vague security claims. One even has a picture of police attempting to smash through a door in the brochure, yet the door is made of PVC with a polyurethane core. There is no evidence of any steel inside the door, so the multi point locks are likely to be attached to plastic. Showing a picture of police attempting to smash down a door says absolutely nothing about security. For a start we don't know whose door it is and whether or not it collapsed at the first attempt.

My idea of a composite door has a steel frame, with multi-point locking attached to that. It would be about 75~100mm thick and filled with polyurethane insulation.
The manufacturers seem to have lower standards.

Any recommendations ?

[BullDog]

You want 3 to 4 inches thick? Really?

[Dod101]

Sounds as if you want an armour plated door. What are you hiding? Seriously, I would not have thought that many thefts are full frontal against the front door and in any case if you have an alarm that is the first protection. In my experience, most front door forced entries are via a glass side panel so ensure that that is sufficiently robust.

However, I assume you are not in a conservation area? I only ask because my daughter is doing just the same and she was obliged to submit a planning application and use timber doors. I think on the whole that timber doors not only look better but are more robust and you have the choice of changing the colour every now and then. A bit more expensive but may be worth it. As for insulation, wood is not a bad insulator and if you ensure that the top and bottom are properly rubber sealed that should be fine.

Dod

[staffordian]

As I understand it, modern composite doors use a solid wood (or wood fibre?) core which is completely enclosed by a plastic skin. I'd imagine a well made and installed one would have pretty good insulation properties given its wooden core, and be pretty robust too. They seem to have more or less replaced the older polystyrene filled upvc types as far as I can see, and generally look far better.

[Dicky99]

I would like to replace my front entrance door & side panel.

What I would like is something that meets the following requirements:
1 Contemporary style, probably in dark grey or perhaps a genuine wooden facia, in natural colour
2 Good insulation performance
3 Reasonable resistance to theft, probably including a steel frame

What I find is a lot of door makers don't even quote any insulation performance.

Then when it comes to theft, door makers will make claims about multi-point locking systems & various vague security claims. One even has a picture of police attempting to smash through a door in the brochure, yet the door is made of PVC with a polyurethane core. There is no evidence of any steel inside the door, so the multi point locks are likely to be attached to plastic. Showing a picture of police attempting to smash down a door says absolutely nothing about security. For a start we don't know whose door it is and whether or not it collapsed at the first attempt.

My idea of a composite door has a steel frame, with multi-point locking attached to that. It would be about 75~100mm thick and filled with polyurethane insulation.
The manufacturers seem to have lower standards.

Any recommendations ?

You could start by reading up on "Secure by Design" accreditation:-

https://www.securedbydesign.com/

[gryffron]

I have to say, having watched a few of those Police Camera Action type things, I am much happier with my uPVC doors. They normally take a dozen blows from the burly plod with the ram. Whereas single point/yale locks take one little tap.

I have a friend who is a locksmith. His points:
1) The hardest point about opening a yale lock, is distracting the client so they don't see you do it.
2) If your house has windows, it's not worth going insane on door locks and/or security. A determined thief will access via the easiest route.

Gryff

[Grumpsimus]

I think it would be worth your while to have a look at the Hormann range of doors. They appear to meet all your requirement for insulation and security. Unfortunately, they do not come cheap, as you might expect.

I have one of their front doors and a garage door and the quality is excellent.

[stewamax]

For good insulation, just buy a thick door-curtain. I hang them floor to ceiling rather than just on the door itself - not much good when you are out (because you cannot draw the curtain) but otherwise insulates well not just the door but the gaps around the door.

When I was young, all downstairs doors - internal as well as external - had door curtains plus loose sausage-shaped draught excluders. Some door curtains were on swing arms where there was no room for them to be opened sideways.
(Central heating was unheard of and ice formed on the inside of bedroom windows.)

[UncleEbenezer]

For what it's worth, I've just had someone round to give me a quote for an Endurance (it's a brand name) front door. My current door does the job, but the frame surrounding it is way past its replace-by date. Next-door has one, and as far as I can tell it's as good as anything I'm likely to get. But I won't try and parrot their brochure: I expect you've encountered it in your researches.

[jaizan]

For what it's worth, I've just had someone round to give me a quote for an Endurance (it's a brand name) front door.

Thank you. That's sounds interesting from a structural perspective.
If you don't mind, guidance on what you were quoted would be appreciated, either here or by PM.

You want 3 to 4 inches thick? Really?

Ideally, yes.
I'm not space constrained
I prefer something that feels solid
My ideal door would have a steel frame & be well insulated, by being filled by polyurethane foam of sufficient thickness.
Some of the German passive house doors are thicker than this.

I also want to avoid the type of door a close relative has, which feels quite flimsy and doesn't fit properly a couple of years after installation.

Then eventually, it comes down to a compromise between what I want and what I'm eventually prepared to pay.
I will pay more for quality, although whether my budget rises fast enough to match the quality remains to be seen.

[UncleEbenezer]

For what it's worth, I've just had someone round to give me a quote for an Endurance (it's a brand name) front door.

Thank you. That's sounds interesting from a structural perspective.
If you don't mind, guidance on what you were quoted would be appreciated, either here or by PM.

I don't have the quote yet. He's only just been round to view the prospective job! Bug me if I don't follow up in a few days.

They may be supplying a job lot: in addition to the front door, also a replacement (patio-style) back door, and front-facing (sash) kitchen window. But it was the front door that seemed relevant to mention here!