Are you looking to replace the front or back doors in your home but aren’t quite sure about the differences between composite and uPVC doors? In this post we will cover the key differences, allowing you to make an informed decision and ultimately choose the best product for your needs & budget.
Composite or uPVC?
uPVC is a perfectly suitable material for a front door, it’s price effective, super simple to maintain and more efficient at preventing heat loss vs. traditional timber doors. Unlike timber, composite and uPVC doors don’t warp, swell or rot so you’ll never need to worry about painting them or needing to lift them off the hinges to plane the bottom.
What are the advantages of composite doors?
- Greater durability / lifespan
- Greater security
- Greater weather resistance
- Larger range of colours
- Greater range of styles (traditional & modern)
- Greater range of colours
- Greater range of glass types
- Greater range of lock and glass options
- Price is higher vs. uPVC doors
What are the advantages of uPVC doors?
- Most cost effective door when looking for a replacement
- Greater durability and lifespan vs timber
- Greater security vs. timber
- Low maintenance
- A good range of styles (traditional & modern)
- The preferred choice when replacing a back door
- Fewer style and colour options vs. composite doors.
- While a good product, composite doors are ultimately a better product and are becoming increasingly popular with 80% of our replacement front doors being composite.
What are composite doors?
Composite doors are generally considered the most advanced type of front door and the most common we install.
What are composite doors made of?
Unlike uPVC doors which are constructed from plastic, composite doors are made from numerous materials which can include solid timber, polyurethane, uPVC and glass reinforced plastic. Each material used in a composite doors construction is selected for specific properties and put together in a way to address flaws you may be found in a single material door, thus giving composite doors superior thermal efficiency.
How secure are composite doors?
Composite doors are typically thicker than uPVC doors. Both our doors are reinforced providing increased security and piece of mind.
What type of lock does a composite door have?
All of our doors are supplied to a Secured By Design standard meaning they go beyond standard requires (PAS24:2016 and Part Q of Building Regulations) and have been independently tested as doing so, as defined by the police approved Secured by Design scheme. This entails our doors being independently tested against the following type of assault…
- Manual attack on the locking hardware with tools including screwdrivers, chisels and mole grips.
- Three minute attacks on the door cylinder using a range of tools including craft knives and screwdrivers.
- Three minute manual attacks using chisels and brick bolsters.
- Hard-body impact testing of the leaf, hinge and locking points using a 50kg steel impactor.
How long do composite doors last?
All our composite doors come with a 10 year insurance backed guarantee, as do our uPVC doors.
Can composite doors be broken into?
Although our doors are manufactured to exceed the highest security standards, any door will struggle to withstand a prolonged attack given time, privacy and the right power tools. Our uPVC and composite doors have multi-point locking systems, anti-pick, anti-bump and anti-drill door locking cylinder.
Can a composite door be cut?
Our composite doors are manufactured to high standards and should be installed as they were manufactured. In theory yes they can but cut, but this can have a negative impact on the doors strength.