Shop brought timber front door

[No skills]

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!

 

[RobinBHM]

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

 

[HOJ]

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.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you're in a place prone to any sort of bad weather, bite the bullet and get a uPVC one.

 

[No skills]

Upvc? Euro locks? Nooooo!

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?