What Is the Ideal Specification of a Composite Door?
If your house is presently fitted with a door that is largely made out of just one material – such as wood or UPVC – then you may have become frustrated with its performance in a number of different areas.
You may be angst-ridden about the way its poor energy efficiency is elevating your heating bills, for example… or you may have observed deterioration in the material that leaves visitors with a poor impression of the front of your house.
That is why so many people choose composite doors, which consist of various different composite materials and therefore offer many different strengths… but ensuring that your door is a composite one is not, in and of itself, sufficient to ensure maximum longevity, strength and security.
That’s because it’s also well worth examining the exact specification of your composite door, to ensure that it truly delivers. You can find composite French Doors here french-patiodoors.co.uk/french-doors
A high standard of construction
A guarantee of 30 years or more is a strong sign that you have found a composite door that will continue to look and function well, many years into the future… and the right door is likely to consist of a fully welded chamfered composite door outer-frame, in addition to galvanised steel reinforcement.
The door’s top box construction should consist of a single piece welded frame that uses a dedicated composite door ‘T’ transom.
For maximum energy efficiency, you are also likely to appreciate a polyurethane thermally insulated core, while the door slab edging of many of the best composite doors is white PVC with ash grain effect embossing.
There may also be trimmed edges to match the door leaf. The composite doors and/or their side panels should also be compliant with the British standard of plus or minus 3mm.
It’s all about the glass!
Speaking of energy efficiency, did you know that a great amount of a home’s heat escapes through the windows? That’s one reason why, when you are selecting the glass for your composite door, you’ll want it to consist of double glazed units, which are renowned for their ability to retain heat… and then, there’s your safety and security to consider.
Whereas single glazed windows can be much more easily broken by a determined intruder, a double glazed unit will offer greater resistance. When the glass in your door is also laminated and toughened, you can look forward to greater safety as well as security, given that laminated glass is specifically designed to remain in place if it is smashed. That prevents dangerous fragments of glass breaking free.
Speaking of security, the door that you choose should also have a security rating of BS6375/PAS024. The best doors will give you access to the best strength, security, appearance and more, thanks to a long list of options.