Composite Door market

[Nozzle]

I'm in the market for a set of composite front doors (yes, two front doors). My most local fitting firm has now gone out of business, but when I got a catalogue from them last spring they stocked Apeer. It seems now I can't get a local company to actually fit one, for some reason not apparent to me.

Having done the basic trawl of duckduckgo the following brands are available in UK
Permadoor
Truedor
Door Stop
Solidor
Endurance Doors
Rockdoors
Virtuoso
Apeer

Any obvious ones worth avoiding? Please send me a PM if you have strong views but don't want them public.

The odd thing about my searching is that the name GFD Trading appears to be associated with more than one brand, perhaps it's a co-operative, perhaps it's a stitch up! Sites by said GFD Trading appear to take the form of "comparison" or "review/opinion" site but of course there are bad reviews

Trust Pilot (and the like) contributors seems to also have themes steering away from a certain brand, but it could well just be they turn over way more units than the rest.

Nozzle

 

[God]

Get an aluminium door

 

[ronniecabers]

Deal with Truedor, Doorstop, Solidor and Endurance. No major issues with any of them. Solidor are the top end of the range , being a solid wood door faced with Grp. Endurance , fairly similar to Solidor. Doorstop do a solid wood version but never used it . Both Doorstop and Truedor have foam filled Comp doors, nothing wrong with them , easy to fit , easy to adjust if necessary. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of the four I listed

 

[Nozzle]

Thanks for the feedback god and ronniecabers.

@ronniecabers... some of the the grumbles out there on the web suggest a Solidor composite that is open to the rain and the direct sun (i.e. south facing) might warp. This might be true of any composite door! Are they measured/manufactured/installed to take account of this or would it make no difference if being in north or south facing aspect?

Nozzle

 

[ronniecabers]

Never had a Solidor warp yet, have had other manufacturers though ( none that I listed though!). One of my suppliers many years ago said that the reason a lot of doors warp us that very few people pull the handle up every time they use it , thus it is susceptible to warping due to only the centre being held in position by the latch, if you pull the handle up all locking points are engaged and it shouldn't be able to move in sunlight

 

[Nozzle]

Good tip, nice!!

Nozzle

 

[God]

Had to change 2 solidor slabs due to cracking

 

[Nozzle]

Had to change 2 solidor slabs due to cracking

Were they south facing? My missus doesn't want a modern look door, so I tink ali is not on the menu.

Nozzle

 

[Ian H]

My Solidor has a slight warp, it’s south east facing and a dark grey colour.

 

[God]

Make that 3 solidor slabs. Just had another crack

 

[Nozzle]

Nuts! What brand do you recommend that is still a composite door?

Nozzle