Find a Door Fitter you can trust in Sidcup.

If you’re looking to upgrade your home or considering a remodelling project, doors can be a cool and fast way to improve the value of your property. Whether you wish to increase the visual appeal of your home with a new exterior door or simply to alter the appearance of an outdated or plain bedroom or bathroom, doors can also go a long way to improve the look of your home. If you’re thinking about taking on such a project, one of the things you might want to consider is length of time it’ll take to complete the installation process. In this post, we’re going to give you a good insight into the time it takes to complete a door installation process to help you make informed decision moving forward. Let’s take a look!

Just like any home improvement project, the duration of time it’ll take to install doors will depend on a number of factors. These factors include the style/type of door to be installed, the ease of access, the skill and experience of the installer and lots more. In general, replacing an exterior door should, on the average, take about 5 to 6 hours. An interior door, on the other hand, should be much quicker as it doesn’t require same flashing, caulking as well as other weatherproofing processes. In general, the installation of an interior door can be completed within 2 to 4 hours. If you choose to take on this task by yourself, you can expect the duration to be longer due to the little or no experience possessed.

A French door simply means a door style which features two sections that pivots on hinges installed on the door framing’s opposite sides, which opens and closes at the centre. Glass panels are used to make each door’s section covering the middle of the door ( either individual panels that are muntins framed or a single panel of glass). When open, the whole doorway is an open space with no post at the middle. French doors are popular for a number of reasons. Not only do they bring a particular level of charm, class and elegance to your home, but also allow natural light into a room and create a wide opening unlike a sliding patio door. They’re mostly installed at the rear of a home so as to allow for a direct walkway exiting the house and straight into the garden, thereby making your garden even a lot more closer to your home.

There are 3 main types of patio doors which includes the following:

• External or French patio doors

As the name suggests, they’re the French door that leads outside mostly into the garden. Generally when opened, the two door swings outwards, but there are some that can open inwards. They mostly possess a number of large glass panels which enable natural light to brighten up your home.

• Interior

This basically means fitting double French doors between two rooms in a house. This is very similar to the external ones with two doors and also made up of glass panels.

• Sliding

They are very similar to both the external and interior designs but rather than the two doors swinging open, they slide apart to create a great amount of space to walk into the garden. This is the classic charm that sliding French doors provide.

Do you have a composite door and wondering the best type of lock that can be used on your prized asset. To choose the right type of lock for a composite door, it’s of utmost importance to select one that’s designed to work perfectly with the composite configuration. By doing this, you’ll improve the security of your home while also achieving the desired look. To secure a composite door, the most common way is by incorporating a high security multipoint lock. Therefore, depending on the look you want for your door as well as how you want it to function, here are the four types of locks you can consider to go with your composite door.

• Split Spindle Lock

A split spindle lock would be your best bet if you’d like to automatically prevent access to your home from the outside. This lock allows you to open your door smoothly by utilizing the inside handle, however, you’ll need a key to turn the latch bolt to gain access back inside.

• Lever or Lever Lock

If you want an unhindered access in and out of your property, a lever lock gives you this opportunity without the need for a key until it’s totally deadlocked. The lever lock is installed to the back door which makes unauthorized entry even less likely.

• Slam Lock

If you’d prefer a super fast locking, then this lock type is your answer! It automatically triggers the lock hooks immediately you close the door - without having to lift the handle. However, to gain access to the inside of your home or bolt the door from the inside, you’ll need a key.

• Key Wind-Up Lock

This lock is wholly key operated and totally handle-free. Immediately the door is closed, the latch bolt will be automatically activated, ensuring that a key would be needed to gain access back inside.

If you’re going through new constructions or renovations and looking to change your old front door and install a brand new composite door, then you’re at the right place. Composite door fitting can be a DIY project but it’s essential to have the necessary training and experience before commencement. If not, we’d recommend you hire the services of a reliable professional to guarantee the best results and save yourself some time and money.Here, we’ll give a good insight into the composite door fitting process.

To get started, here are some of the tools that may be required - tape measure, hammer, stanley knife, crowbar, chisel, saw. Silicone sealant gun, spirit levels, electric drill ( including the hammer section), rubber mallet and 6mm socket spanner.

lPreparation

• Remove the existing door by rounding up the door frame firstly with a knife to reduce the possible damage to the wall.

• Cut through the door jambs.

• Remove each in two separate sections.

• Ensure the opening is level without any screws, mastic and filler.

lAlign Your Composite Door

• Ensure the sill of the door is level and flat.

• Make sure the frame is square and plumb in both planes.

• Bridge the cavity of the wall and cover the DPC

• Ensure that the frame is square. If not, your composite door won’t function as it should.

lInstall Your Composite Door

• Place the door in the frame.

• Hold the frame firmly in position with wedge packers

• Make sure the packers are positioned close to where the fixing will be placed.

• Make sure the jams are square and plumb in all planes by using a long spirit level.

• Secure the frame to the brickwork with the use of a drill.

• Place the fixings at the top and bottom of each hinge as well as each of the lock keep.

• Top fixings should be fitted 150mm and 250mm from each corner.

An engineered wooden door is a door made out of multiple pieces of wood. This is opposed to solid wooden doors that are made out of one piece of wood.Engineered wooden doors are usually covered by veneer to make them look like they are made from one piece of wood. They tend to be sturdier and straighter than solid doors.

Bifold doors can be made to measure to suit a huge range of properties. There are minimum and maximum sizes for door leaves. These dimensions vary between manufacturers. Different configurations of bifold door are suitable for different size openings.

What Is A Bifold Door?

Right from time the conventional choice incorporated in closing large doorways have always been French doors or sliding doors. However, with the advent of bifold doors design, there has been a great alternative which can go a long way to increase the value, visual appeal as well as space-saving functionality of a home or property. Due to the fact that these design is relatively new to the market when compared to its counterparts, the benefits are not yet defined. However being a popular option it’s definitely worth knowing a bit more of the pros and cons of installing bifold doors. Let’s have a look!

How do bifold doors work? They simply work based on a concertina principle, folding back hinged frames and glass panels into a compact storage area which appears to be a bit small in a room’s corner but opens up an entire doorway. And unlike their counterparts - the French doors or standard hinged doors, bifold doors feature panels that are hinged together and inserted on the runners in the floor as well as the upper lintel or doorway’s beam. As you open the door, the door’s panel slide and fold concurrently without limiting the doorway’s size in any way.

It may also incorporate what is called the “traffic door. The traffic door simply refers to the conventional swinging door which can serve as one of the bifold door’s components. This goes a long way to enhance the functionality of the bifold door by creating a standard door within its arrangement. What’s more? It adds convenience to the bifold door’s design in such a way that only a single panel will have to be opened to gain a quick access anytime its required without having to fold back all panels each time the door is put to use.

This is one of the most important factors to consider when considering the replacement of your old garage door. However, the replacement cost of a garage door relies on a number of factors such as the type of the preferred garage door, the size of the area in which the door will be installed and lots more. To get a more accurate estimate of the replacement cost you also have to consider the cost of removing the old garage door and the mechanism, the price of disposing the old garage door from the premise, the cost of installing a new sub frame and a new door panel, cost of the new operating mechanism and modern locking installation as well as the cost of purchasing and installing the new garage door. Here, we are only going to look at the purchase and installation cost of the new asset.

Today, there are a wide range of garage doors to choose from such as sectional, rollers, up and down, side sliding ( round the corner) and side hinged. They also come with varying materials which plays a significant role in the cost of the item such as steel, timber, aluminium, PVC and more. Furthermore, several garage doors include the option of being controlled electronically.

Generally, garage doors will cost between £300 to £5000, and include a price with the range of £150 to £1000 for the ones that can be operated electronically. With that in mind, the remaining cost would be that of the professional installer and that should be between £150 to £250 a person per day. For the labour, you can expect the installation of your new garage door to be completed within 3 to 6 hours (although an electric or specialist door may take longer installation time than the conventional or manual ones).