Wooden Front Door

Hi Folks,

Currently renovating a house and we want to get a front door made. We don't want casement that the window manufacturers all offer and would like a wood finish to match some cedar cladding going on the new extension.

I have asked two joiners to price the job but neither seems convinced on the type of wood to use to achieve the effect we are looking for. Both said most of the wood they use is painted rather than treated.

Can anyone advise what type of wood I would use to achieve a finish like the attached photo? Or what is the best type of wood to use on a front door to tie in with red cedar cladding? I have seen it done on a few houses and it can look really well.

Thanks in advance

Calahonda52

you need to chat to the right people
see this links: these are serious players
https://mcnallyjoinery.ie/internal-doors/external-doors-gates/#jp-carousel-483

JonathonS

Where is the new house?

JonathonS

JonathonS wrote: »

Where is the new house?

Cork.

Calahonda52

Calahonda52 wrote: »

you need to chat to the right people
see this links: these are serious players
https://mcnallyjoinery.ie/internal-doors/external-doors-gates/#jp-carousel-483

Thanks. Struggling to find someone like that in Cork, though.

dreamer2009

We got one just like that made with solid teak from Southwood Joinery in Aherla. We were very pleased with it.

dreamer2009

dreamer2009 wrote: »

We got one just like that made with solid teak from Southwood Joinery in Aherla. We were very pleased with it.

Thanks a million. Yes, was in touch with them based on a recommendation and am awaiting them to get back to me. Hopefully, they will be able to sort me out.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks a million. Yes, was in touch with them based on a recommendation and am awaiting them to get back to me. Hopefully, they will be able to sort me out.

Hi guys. I have had a quote for the door to be made in accoya wood. It looks well but has anyone any experience of this wood and how would it compare in terms of insulation value and air tightness compared to a composite door?

My builder was a bit dubious of the quality and said it might be stupid to put in such a door when I am spending a lot of money on new windows and insulating the house.

JimmyMW

Deleted User wrote: »

Hi guys. I have had a quote for the door to be made in accoya wood. It looks well but has anyone any experience of this wood and how would it compare in terms of insulation value and air tightens compared to a composite door?

My builder was a bit dubious of the quality and said it might be stupid to put in such a door when I am spending a lot of money on new windows and insulating the house.

Used this wood on a project I was involved in over in London, technically it should be fine however aesthetically it stained quite easily from the rain etc, I would say your door would want to be well protected to use it IMHO

JimmyMW

JimmyMW wrote: »

Used this wood on a project I was involved in over in London, technically it should be fine however aesthetically it stained quite easily from the rain etc, I would say your door would want to be well protected to use it IMHO

Thanks. Do you mean well protected by a roof or porch and away from the elements or with a stain?

JimmyMW

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks. Do you mean well protected by a roof or porch and away from the elements or with a stain?

Either with a roof/porch or with with a sealing lacquer or both if possible

JimmyMW

JimmyMW wrote: »

Either with a roof/porch or with with a sealing lacquer or both if possible

Thanks.

The door is being treated with the following as per quote: "One Coat Of Teknos External Antique White Primer" or whatever is the nearest shade to the cedar cladding I am trying to match in with.

I have just had a few people questioning my sanity as regard putting in a wooden instead of a composite door, but can't find any composite doors in the style we are trying to achieve.

JimmyMW

Deleted User wrote: »

Thanks.

The door is being treated with the following as per quote: "One Coat Of Teknos External Antique White Primer" or whatever is the nearest shade to the cedar cladding I am trying to match in with.

I have just had a few people questioning my sanity as regard putting in a wooden instead of a composite door, but can't find any composite doors in the style we are trying to achieve.

Im not best placed to advise you as timber is not something I deal with much, however you would want to ensure its going to look and perform well given the effort and cost of getting it made.

Im pretty sure you could get a composite door in this style, but it would most likely need to be imported from maybe eastern Europe or something, id say you could be looking @ €5-6k maybe thou.

mickdw

I would seek out a composite door to the desired style.
I've seen more wooden doors replaced that it's beyond a joke. They may perform at the start but in a few short years, they tend to warp and become less airtight and less watertight.
Only yesterday I spoke to a client who spent a fortune 5 years ago on timber windows at request of heritage architect on his project. He bought the best available at the time. Constantly trying to airtight them and is losing the battle.
I wouldn't subscribe to the Dermot Bannon theory that they only need a coat of paint every few years.

mickdw

mickdw wrote: »

I would seek out a composite door to the desired style.
I've seen more wooden doors replaced that it's beyond a joke. They may perform at the start but in a few short years, they tend to warp and become less airtight and less watertight.
Only yesterday I spoke to a client who spent a fortune 5 years ago on timber windows at request of heritage architect on his project. He bought the best available at the time. Constantly trying to airtight them and is losing the battle.
I wouldn't subscribe to the Dermot Bannon theory that they only need a coat of paint every few years.

Thanks. Problem is, I can't find a composite in the style we are looking for. I've seen plenty of doors like the one I am after but accoya seems to be the only viable option to create it.

I may have to go back to the drawing board and completely change the original idea.

Who2

A composite door is going to look completely out of place on your house you’ll end up with a Pvc frame and a composite door unless you go with the real top end frame. Most joineries will give you a 45mm door on a hiper bar threshold that will not stay airtight down the line. Accoya is a serious timber for painting but not for a natural look. Your safest bet for a practical door is a Munster joinery ultra tech with a replacement cill. They can finish it fairly well to cedar colour( a lot closer than any composite door anyway) if your leaving your cedar natural to age your not going to match it very well and you may be as well go with a contrasting colour rather than try match it. If your going with an osmo oil type finish the ultra tech will be realitively close. What ever you do ensure whoever’s putting up the cedar uses the correct stainless screws designed for cedar or you will end up with streak marks all over the place and also that every joint and cut is properly sealed or you’ll have more black streaks. Cedar cladding needs to be done right or it goes very wrong.

Get Real

Op I'm not sure if it's your exact want. And this is a composite door, not wooden. But it is similar to your photos and you might be able to change the handle style (see attachment)

Fairco is the name of company. Stopped a break in at my house too. Very good strong doors.

Again, not sure how close it might be to the style you want personally so it may not suit.

Wartburg

I heard that Accoya timber, which is nothing else than a chemical modified softwood, was eating the screws in the beginning, even stainless steel ones. They might have this issue sorted within the last few years.
In my oppinion a solid timder door is better than any composite, because she will last longer (once she´s good made) and the repair of potential damages, like scratches, chips or dents is much easier.
It´s might worth to consider a front door from Germany.

Who2

Who2 wrote: »

A composite door is going to look completely out of place on your house you’ll end up with a Pvc frame and a composite door unless you go with the real top end frame. Most joineries will give you a 45mm door on a hiper bar threshold that will not stay airtight down the line. Accoya is a serious timber for painting but not for a natural look. Your safest bet for a practical door is a Munster joinery ultra tech with a replacement cill. They can finish it fairly well to cedar colour( a lot closer than any composite door anyway) if your leaving your cedar natural to age your not going to match it very well and you may be as well go with a contrasting colour rather than try match it. If your going with an osmo oil type finish the ultra tech will be realitively close. What ever you do ensure whoever’s putting up the cedar uses the correct stainless screws designed for cedar or you will end up with streak marks all over the place and also that every joint and cut is properly sealed or you’ll have more black streaks. Cedar cladding needs to be done right or it goes very wrong.

Thanks. My brother got a MJ Ultratech in graphite grey and it looks great and ours is the same style with windows on either side.

My builder put cedar cladding in his own house and it looks great so he knows what he is doing.

Wartburg

Wartburg wrote: »

I heard that Accoya timber, which is nothing else than a chemical modified softwood, was eating the screws in the beginning, even stainless steel ones. They might have this issue sorted within the last few years.
In my oppinion a solid timder door is better than any composite, because she will last longer (once she´s good made) and the repair of potential damages, like scratches, chips or dents is much easier.
It´s might worth to consider a front door from Germany.

Those doors are nice, thanks. The joiner assures me that he has done lots of accoya doors like I am after and has not had issues, but he would say that wouldn't he!

Get Real

Get Real wrote: »

Op I'm not sure if it's your exact want. And this is a composite door, not wooden. But it is similar to your photos and you might be able to change the handle style (see attachment)

Fairco is the name of company. Stopped a break in at my house too. Very good strong doors.

Again, not sure how close it might be to the style you want personally so it may not suit.

Thanks for that. Will check out that company. To be honest I'd rather go real wood or a painted composite rather than a wood effect composite as the the look of that door in that photo is not what I am after.

tabby aspreme

Accoya is a softwood treated with acetic acid to change the chemical composition of the wood , reducing it's uptake of moisture and potential to decay. You may be limited to using finishes approved by the suppliers if you want a guarantee with it.

tabby aspreme

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Accoya is a softwood treated with acetic acid to change the chemical composition of the wood , reducing it's uptake of moisture and potential to decay. You may be limited to using finishes approved by the suppliers if you want a guarantee with it.

Not looking for a guarantee per se, just some reassurance from the joiner that he has used the wood before and it works and is suitable for what we are proposing rather that the, 'yerrah it will be grand' I got. I asked him for the U value of the door and I may as well have been asking for the third secret of Fatima. And this guy is by far the best of the four joiners I have approached.

tabby aspreme

I don't think any joiner would give you a u value for a custom made door, due to thickness of panels etc. At least he is being honest, he could have given you a figure that sounded good and you would have gone away happy.

tabby aspreme

tabby aspreme wrote: »

I don't think any joiner would give you a u value for a custom made door, due to thickness of panels etc. At least he is being honest, he could have given you a figure that sounded good and you would have gone away happy.

Fair enough. To be honest, all I wanted to know was if it was fit for our purpose, but I couldn't get a straight answer.

Just to update this thread - I took the plunge and went ahead and got a local joiner in Cork to custom make a door made from accoya wood. Joiner was brilliant from day one and was able to give me all the information I needed in terms of u value, airtightness and performance of the door. He had also used accoya for a number of projects and was able to show me samples of his work.

Door is in a month now and while it is under a roof and facing the north-east so protected from the worst of the weather, it is completely airtight and performing brilliantly. We coated in twice with Sikkens stain (accoya is quite pale in its raw state and not the most beautiful wood) as per recommendations and joiner says he is happy to guarantee it as he is trying to encourage others to use the wood.

We are delighted with the look and feel of the door, and it's exactly what we were after.

Lumen

Deleted User wrote: »

We are delighted with the look and feel of the door, and it's exactly what we were after.

Looks great.

What kind of locking mechanism does it use?

Lumen

Lumen wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

We are delighted with the look and feel of the door, and it's exactly what we were after.

Looks great.

What kind of locking mechanism does it use?

Five point locking system.

Wartburg

Deleted User wrote: »

Door is in a month now and while it is under a roof and facing the north-east so protected from the worst of the weather, it is completely airtight and performing brilliantly. We coated in twice with Sikkens stain (accoya is quite pale in its raw state and not the most beautiful wood) as per recommendations and joiner says he is happy to guarantee it as he is trying to encourage others to use the wood.

We are delighted with the look and feel of the door, and it's exactly what we were after.

Congrats, the door looks very nice.
But I´d be careful to use the phrase "completely airtight" in conjunction with an entrance door. So far I haven´t seen any entrance door with an air tightness class 4 approval. Even the German ones I know, with a rebated door leaf and 2 sealant layers, are class 3 rated only. The tricky part is the junction between the threshold and the door leaf. Most timber doors here in Ireland are great for air leakages at the hinged side towards the threshold. Some manufacturers do even have problems on the locking side, especially in case the locking system ends a good bit away of the top and bottom corner.

Bonzo Delaney

Deleted User wrote: »

Five point locking system.

What brand is the 5 point locking system .
I'm very interested in a 5 point system that works off a night latch

Wartburg

Wartburg wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

Door is in a month now and while it is under a roof and facing the north-east so protected from the worst of the weather, it is completely airtight and performing brilliantly. We coated in twice with Sikkens stain (accoya is quite pale in its raw state and not the most beautiful wood) as per recommendations and joiner says he is happy to guarantee it as he is trying to encourage others to use the wood.

We are delighted with the look and feel of the door, and it's exactly what we were after.

Congrats, the door looks very nice.
But I´d be careful to use the phrase "completely airtight" in conjunction with an entrance door. So far I haven´t seen any entrance door with an air tightness class 4 approval. Even the German ones I know, with a rebated door leaf and 2 sealant layers, are class 3 rated only. The tricky part is the junction between the threshold and the door leaf. Most timber doors here in Ireland are great for air leakages at the hinged side towards the threshold. Some manufacturers do even have problems on the locking side, especially in case the locking system ends a good bit away of the top and bottom corner.

Just a turn of phrase. It's not completely airtight obviously and our house is not passive by choice. But during last week's storm I stood inside it to see what way it performed and from a noise and air leakage perspective it was flawless. Only time will tell if it continues to perform as well.

Bonzo Delaney

Bonzo Delaney wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

Five point locking system.

What brand is the 5 point locking system .
I'm very interested in a 5 point system that works off a night latch

Iseo is the brand. It has the night latch which you flick across like a dead bolt from inside. Door is 55m thick and metre wide so huge solid door. My engineer had concerns about security initially as he hadn't seen this type of door before but assured me after some research that it is more secure than mist composites on market.

Grovine

Hi there @[Deleted User] , could I ask who was the joiner that you used? I'd be interested to speak with him also as I am looking to get a new front door also. Regards