How to Choose the Best Front Door Material

Choosing a front door material can be a daunting task as you want to ensure that your home is secure as well as stylish.

You’ll want to make sure you choose a door that suits your budget, the look of your property and your personal tastes. But how can you go about choosing the right front door material? We’ve picked the top 3 door materials so you can weigh up the pros and cons of each.

uPVC doors

upvc front door material
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uPVC front doors are very popular these days, with lots of properties having them installed in the 80s and 90s. They are cheap and need hardly any maintenance, so are great if you’re on a budget.

uPVC stands for unplasticised polyvinyl chloride, and is versatile and cost-effective. As well as door and windows, it’s also used in plumbing and drainage for pipes and guttering.

Advantages of uPVC front doors:

  • Low-maintenance
  • Cost-effective
  • Durable in harsh weather conditions

Disadvantages to uPVC as a front door material:

  • Cheaper doors can look very cheap
  • Limited choice of colours and designs
  • Difficult to repair
  • Become brittle and can discolour with age
  • Less secure than other types of door

Timber doors

timber front door material
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Timber doors look great, and they last a long time. They look perfect on traditional homes, but are not always the most practical.

Advantages of timber front doors:

  • Dents and scratches are repaired easily
  • Range of styles and colours
  • High-end finish

Disadvantages of timber front doors:

  • Can warp and bow in the heat or buckle in the winter
  • Can rot at the joints if not sealed properly
  • Will shrink or swell in the rain, meaning the door can stick
  • Will need re-painting and varnishing every year and cleaning monthly

Composite doors

composite front door material
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Composite doors are the new standard. They are more secure and more thermally efficient than uPVC doors, so they’ve overtaken as the market leader.

They are made from composite materials including a strong fibreglass woodgrain skin on the outside, with an insulating foam core in between.

Advantages of composite doors:

  • The fibreglass skin looks like a timber door, but doesn’t require maintenance
  • Strong and durable
  • Thermally efficient and weather-resistant
  • Range of colours and styles

Disadvantages of composite doors:

  • Expensive compared to uPVC
  • Not all composite doors are made to the same standard

Before you decide on which front door material to go for, make sure you weigh up the pros and cons.

You could ask a door specialist to come to your home and go through the options with you before giving you a quote.