Composite & Front Doors in Birmingham

What a Composite Door Is

A composite door is built in layers. The usual make-up is a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) skin, smooth or timber-grained, bonded over an insulating foam core in a frame with reinforced edges. It looks like painted timber but needs no repainting, and the core holds heat in. Doors differ widely inside, so compare the specification on the quote.

Choosing Composite Doors in Birmingham: Four Materials

Composite. The usual pick for a front door: solid, low upkeep, with a wide choice of colours and glass.

uPVC. Usually the lowest cost, and lighter than a composite slab. Sensible for a back or side door.

Aluminium. Slim and strong, suited to modern houses and wide glazed entrances. Ask about the thermal break that stops the frame carrying cold indoors.

Timber. Often right for a period house, and sometimes required by an estate or a listed building.

Measured and Fitted, Not Just Delivered

Every enquiry through this page is for a door surveyed and fitted by the installer who quotes it. Few openings are a standard size or square. The survey checks the reveals, sill and lintel, and how the frame will be fixed and sealed; guess any of that and the door drags and the lock binds. The building regulations certificate also covers the installed door, not one left on the drive.

Security: Questions to Ask

Ask the installer:

• Testing. Has this door set, frame and locks together, been tested to PAS 24? Can I see the evidence?
• Secured by Design. Does the door carry Secured by Design approval for the exact model and glass quoted?
• The cylinder. Which cylinder is fitted, and is it designed to resist snapping?
• Locking. How many points does the multipoint lock engage, and is the hinge side protected?

Building Regulations and Planning

In England, putting in a whole new external door counts as building regulations work. The door must meet a U-value of 1.4 W/m²K or Doorset Energy Rating band B; one more than 60% glazed can meet 1.4 or band C instead.

A door no more than 50% glazed doesn't need notifying to the council, but the thermal standard still applies, so get the rating in writing. For a door with more glass, ask for the FENSA, CERTASS or other scheme certificate. You may need it when you sell.

On a house, a new door of similar appearance is permitted development. Flats and maisonettes have no householder permitted development rights: like-for-like usually needs no permission, but a different look may. See flats and maisonettes. This is general information, not advice on your property.

Safety Glass in Doors and Side Panels

Approved Document K treats glass in a door, and in a side panel within 300 mm of a door, as a critical zone up to 1,500 mm above the floor. Glass there should be safety glass, toughened or laminated, so it breaks safely if someone falls against it. Ask for the safety-glass panes to be confirmed on the quote.

Letterplates, Thresholds and Lead Times

• Letterplates. A slot breaks the insulation; ask about a draught flap or a wall-mounted box.
• Thresholds. A low threshold suits buggies and wheelchairs but needs drainage outside; a raised sill keeps weather out on an exposed step.
• Lead times. Composite doors are usually made to order. Get the lead time in writing.

What Changes the Price

The door. Material, and the skin, core and frame quality within it.

Glass and panels. Decorative glass, side panels and a fanlight.

Colour. A different colour on each face usually costs more.

Hardware. A better cylinder, extra locking points, letterplate and handle finish.

The opening. A non-standard size, a rotten sill or a lintel needing attention, plus making good around the frame.

Our guide to door costs gives typical UK ranges.

Estate Rules in Edgbaston and Bournville

The Calthorpe Estate. It covers a large part of Edgbaston and small areas of Harborne and Quinton. You need its consent, freehold or leasehold, "in addition to planning permission" from the council. It encourages doors sympathetic "to the original design principles" of the house, though it "might be prepared to consider requests for replacement front doors in a modern contemporary style".

Bournville Village Trust. BVT approval is needed for external changes even where planning permission isn't. Timber is its preferred door material. uPVC and composite doors are allowed in the Bournville Tenants Conservation Area, and only at the rear in the Bournville Village Conservation Area; elsewhere they are "considered" if they match the original house in colour, style, appearance and size. BVT's map shows where its rules apply.

Get the estate's consent before you order: a door made to measure for your opening may not be cancellable once it's ordered, so ask about cancellation before you sign. See estate schemes and, for homes in a conservation area, conservation areas. Treat this as general guidance rather than advice about your own house.

Door Repairs

A tired door doesn't always need replacing. Repair enquiries include:

• Dropped doors that catch the frame or must be lifted to lock.
• Multipoint locks with a stiff handle or a key that won't turn, often a worn gearbox that can be changed on its own.
• Hinges worn or bent enough to let the door sag.
• Seals that have perished and let draughts in.

If the frame is rotten or twisted, replacement makes more sense. For windows, see window repairs.

Getting a Quote

1. Call or send the form about the door, and say whether the house is on an estate scheme. 2. A local installer arranges a free survey to measure the opening. 3. You get a written quote to compare. You're under no obligation to accept it.

Before you sign, see how to choose an installer.

Related Services

See also bifold, patio and French doors and uPVC windows, which can be quoted at the same visit.

Areas We Cover

Front and composite doors across Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, Knowle, Erdington, Edgbaston and Bournville. see all service areas