Composite door - where to buy, supply and fit

[jicms]

I’ve been quoted £1600 (fitted) for a new composite front door, nothing fancy, plain white with large glass panel. It has a side light and top light which bumped the cost up by £400. I’ve been to two local double glazing shops and think that’s the going price.

It needs to be measured and fitted especially considering it has a side and top panel. I’m wary of ordering online and sourcing a local fitter so would feel more comfortable with supply and fit.

Can anyone suggest where I can go to bring the price down as it seems very expensive and won’t even be very visible in the location it’ll be fitted. I thought uPVC would be cheaper but it’s not much saving especially for an inferior quality door.

I presume the DIY stores don’t fit.

 

[dishman]

£1600! How big is the door. A neighbour of mine had an composite door installed and it cost less much less than a grand with installation...£800 tops.

You say "nothing fancy" but it sounds like you are adding lots of extras which is bumping up the price. Integral lights? That sounds fancy to me.....

So you need to ask yourself....do you really need all the things the brochures/marking claim you may need.

How integral are those lights? Do you need them? Easy to replace the electrics if they fail? You say you are getting a door with a large glass panel? Are you paying extra for an A rated one? As it is not a in a living room do you really need an A rated door? The actual difference between A and C rating is tiny. The most efficient door is one without a glass panel! A cheaper composite door with a small C rated panel will be more efficient than a door with a much larger A rated panel.

Are you choosing the door with all the re-enforcement under the sun....just for those rare occasions where you are ram raided by triad gangs? Do you really need all that re-enforcement when any burglar will probably just smash the large glass panel or even a window.

So with all things, it depends on what you need and what you think you need after reading all the marketing.

Composite doors can start at £600 and go up to ludicrous amounts.

Furthermore a good installtion is the most important thing. I would take a well installed cheap composite door over a poorly installed expensive one any day. Don't skimp on it!

 

[jicms]

I'm looking at the most basic doors there are. My only stipulation is a good area of glass. No fancy leading.

The styles I've chosen for my front door are plain white with one side glass infill panel and one top infill panel. I don't have any choice to exclude these. All the doors I've looked at come out at around £900, just including a handle and letterbox, then adding in the panels for around £400.

I'm not upgrading to higher ratings or security. There is no lighting around the door!

If there's a cheaper company I'd love to know who they are!

I live in the London area so pay a premium but haven't found online prices much lower.

 

[dishman]

Ahh sorry I misread your post and thought you meant lights as in electrical lights!

Fair enough....just get as many quotes as you can from reputable local dealers. £1600 seems steap though.

Alternative is a good solid wooden door with good draught proofing. Easily maintainable, looks good and you can change the colour!

What is wrong with your current door?

 

[jicms]

Ahh sorry I misread your post and thought you meant lights as in electrical lights!

Fair enough....just get as many quotes as you can from reputable local dealers. £1600 seems steap though.

Alternative is a good solid wooden door with good draught proofing. Easily maintainable, looks good and you can change the colour!

What is wrong with your current door?

 

[jicms]

As you can see it's a state! We're just buying the property. Handle's missing and it's so badly warped it has to be kicked shut. I think it would be quite a big job to build the panels and custom fit a wooden door and we'd still have future maintenance.

 

[DHFrames]

Depending on the width I'd do away with the side screen, cost for a basic composite door and toplite would be £900-£1000 down our way
Gods in your area, he's your man

 

[Gazman16]

Its only a little bit on the pricey side, That may be to do with your area.
Composite doors are generally £700-1000 (they can be much higher with some makes and options) depending mainly on the make, Color and glass.
A composite door is normally around £200 more than a PVC door which is why they are so popular now.
As for the sidelights and toplight your looking at about £200-300 each.
Fensa costs have gone up recently and we have to give an insurance policy on every job now so that accounts for about £80 of the price.

Personally I would say its more of a £1400 job but my area may not be as expensive. Do you have any more local company's you could try? Ask around on Facebook for local recommendations.

One thing I would recommend is having a color on the door (not the frames) the white ones look a bit tacky like council houses fit, A color on the door itself should only add about £40.

Will you be getting any windows done too?

 

[Gazman16]

I forgot to ask how wide is the aperture there (brick to brick)?
About 1.1m is the max width for a door (with 2x 50mm addons) if you could do that and lose the sidelight you could save about £200-300.

 

[jicms]

Thank you all for your input.

I definitely need to keep the side panel both for the extra light in the dark hallway and to retain the space alongside it for a narrow storage unit.

The building is retro 1960s style and the majority have white front doors (annoyingly all in different designs) so I want to retain the style. The coloured period-style doors are much more characterful and better value but aren't suitable.

Door measurement is 102 w x 226 h and panels are approx 15.5 wide. I haven't measured the exact width brick to brick but don't want to save by removing the side panel. Best prices I've found for the panels are £180 top and £200 side but their door alone was £1200.

The windows are all good condition uPVC replacements so no replacements required.

 

[jicms]

I've just found the ideal door for £1240 fully inclusive of installation, fittings and panels from JustValueDoors. I'm going to go ahead unless anyone has any particularly negative opinions!

 

[God]

Hello all. I'll price it and see what comes up. Give me an hour

 

[God]

Coming in at around £1300 all in

 

[jicms]

I've ordered the one I mentioned above. It's a retro 60s style that suits the shape of the building "Underbelly". I'll give feedback on the installation.

God - thank you for giving a price. Sounds like you work miracles?! Or do you have a door business?

 

[God]

Yeah I do Windows and doors