Buying and fitting a hardwood front door, advice needed

[dylanswall]

Hi, our wooden front door is a mess and I am looking to replace it with a Hardwood door (toyed with PVC until I read the forums on the subject) so have the following questions (apologies some are very basic, but have no experience of doors before).

What wood is best to use regarding strength, wear, finish etc (someone mentioned not to bother with exotic woods due to environmental considerations so was thinking of Oak or is there better options?)

Where is best to look for a door (I am assuming the local DIY stores stock is going to be pretty inferior). How much should I roughly be looking at for a door and frame?

Do the doors come fully treated (i.e. will I need to varnish them myself).

Do I have to buy and fit the locks separately? If so, what are the best sort of locks to go for (I am assuming whatever my insurance documents mention as the best/ offer the biggest reduction for is a good start)

How much (roughly) would it cost to pay someone to fit (am assuming I will need a new door frame fitted aswell).

I have a horrible pane of glass small above the front door, what is the best thing to do with this? REplace the glass or block in?

Cheers for any help offered

 

[gregers]

well assuming its a bog standard size etc,then you can buy the correct frame and door,possible from 1 of the sheds or places like travis perkins/alsford etc.
you could if costs allow go for a hardwood of some decription?why not softwood???
what ever you buy you will have to treat/paint anyway,so the choice is yours.
iirc you will need normally a night latch and a 5 lever mortice/latch set.
i in the past have managed to rip out and replace in 1 day,but i didnt do any treatment to it,the customer did.
dont forget the letter plate as well.
could you not just overboard on the inside and decorate the small glass pannell?so it leaves the glass in situ??

 

[ebee]

How do you lads treat a new door, say it has to be stained/varnished I notice instructions say to cut it to size then "seal" it.
Any recommendations of products to use both in sealing and/or varnishing ?

 

[RigidRaider]

The recommendation to seal the door is to stabilise it; timber absorbs a hell of a lot of moisture and will swell in damp weather or it will shrink and crack and panels become loose in dry weather. Three layers of paint or varnish will seal it and slow this down. I have done all our internal doors with three coats of Dulux trade polyurethane varnish in satin, this gives a nice sheen, which doesn't reflect so doesn't show imperfections. It is also very forgiving of bad painting technique. I rub down in between coats then dust off carefully. I tried Ronseal in satin and it was horrible shiny and looked really naff; the current fashion seems to be for satin or matt finishes anyway.

We needed a new back door as sunlight, driving rain and wind had ruined the cheap pine job so we bought a door that is wood sandwiched between two layers of aluminium in a planked design. We couldn't be happier with this; it is heavy, strong, stable, well sealed, keeps a good finish, is well insulated and generally an excellent choice for an exposed location. Because of the size it needed a new frame so we got a carpenter to install the whole thing. I can email before and after photos if you let me have your email address.

 

[ebee]

some say sikkens or yacht varnish after staining - any comments?