Shop brought timber front door

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Hi all,

I need to replace the front door soon (and the back door and the kitchen windows and and and...), I've thought about making my own and yes it would be a nice project but I would like to fit it before I reach retirement age - that only gives me 30 years or so to get it done. So that's out of the question.

I don't want upvc or composite, don't mind that for the back door but I think the front should be timber (for my own preference really), the current door frame is serviceable just needs some repair to the cill or even a new cill.

So that leaves me with shop brought doors, they all seem to be the stock 44mm thick :( Bit thin but I'll have to live with it for now. One that I like the look of happens to be an engineered door rather than M&T, I assume that engineered doors are built similar to solid fire doors with glued up timber core and a veneer glued on either side???
Apart from water ingress wrecking the door are there any other problems to look for in an engineered door that you don't get with an M&T door??

What locking gear should I be using? I would prefer a night latch and 5 lever mortise combo, what's the opinion on that versus something like the vectis multi point locking gear (or similar)?

Lastly.. Weather proofing, i was thinking about removing the current door stop and replacing it with one grooved for the aquamac seal, what do you think?

Thanks for any help folks!
 
I fitted an oak door that is engineered with a veneered face. It has remained perfect for since it was done 3 years ago. It is however kept from any rain by an overhang.

A night latch and deadbolt is a good traditional approach. The latch can only pressurise the weather seal lightly.

Im not a fan of lever handles on front doors, a multipoint lock option with a nightlatch style operation is:

https://www.coastal-group.com/ProductGr ... point-Lock

Aquamac 21 works well as a compression seal for doors
 
If it has any chance of it getting wet or in direct sunshine DON'T by an engineered door, I have a new customer, whom I now regularly visit to repair the new front door that she bought and had fitted by others, keeps jamming and is delaminating every where.
 
Upvc? Euro locks? Nooooo! :D

The door does get some sun but I'm not too fussed about that, rain is another matter - the lower 3rd of the door does tend to get the worst of it in bad weather - However I am putting a canopy over the front door which should solve most if not all of that problem. It's also another question for another post...

So the engineered door should be ok if I can protect it from the elements..

One vote for the aquamac seal, I assume cutting off the old moulded stop and replacing with a new grooved one is an acceptable way to go?

I also don't like lever handles on a front door, I had a look at the other multipoint lock and that's an interesting alternative, I'm still leaning towards a night latch and mortise lock - mainly in case the door moves a fair bit and I have trouble locking a multipoint system.

Any other thoughts before I start asking about canopies? :)
 
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