External Doors

An external door has three jobs an internal door never faces. It has to keep weather out, it has to resist forced entry, and it has to hold its shape through a British winter without swelling or dropping. That is why the doors here are built from denser timber, run at 44mm thick rather than 35mm, and in the case of composites are built around an insulated core rather than a timber frame.

What is in this collection

There are more than 90 products in this range, almost all of them doors, supplied by LPD, BCD and our own Doors2Floors label. Around a third are glazed, roughly twenty are solid unglazed designs, and eighteen are composite. Prices start at £86.79 for a plain redwood ledged and braced door and run past £1,100 for the largest glazed hardwood designs. Matching frames, side panels and door pairs are listed alongside the doors so a full opening can be ordered in one go.

Timber or composite

Timber external doors

The timber range is mostly hardwood, with a smaller number of hemlock and redwood designs. Hardwood gives the best balance of stability, weight and finish, and it takes stain or paint equally well. Hemlock is lighter and straighter grained, which suits a painted finish. Redwood is the budget option and is normally specified for outbuildings, side gates and garden rooms rather than a front entrance. Every timber door needs finishing on all six faces, including the top and bottom edges, before it is hung. Leaving the edges bare is the single most common cause of a swollen door, as this guide to swollen and sticking doors explains.

Composite external doors

Composite doors arrive as a finished unit in a factory colour, with Anthracite, Grey, Slate, White and Black the usual choices. They do not need painting, they do not swell, and the insulated core gives a better thermal result than solid timber of the same thickness. The trade off is that a composite cannot be trimmed to fit an awkward opening in the way a timber door can, so the opening has to be measured properly first. The full list sits in composite external doors, and the grey composite door guide covers the most popular finish.

Glazed or solid

Glazing is the difference between a bright hall and a dark one. A single vision panel or a two pane glazed door transforms a north facing entrance, and toughened or laminated glass is standard on external designs. The compromise is privacy and heat loss, so frosted and obscure options exist where the door opens straight into a living space. If light is the priority, see glazed external doors. Where the opening is wider than a single leaf, a side panel for an external door fills the gap in a matching finish, and doors with side lights lists the ready matched sets.

Door styles

Four families cover most British houses. Panel doors, in four and six panel arrangements, suit Victorian and Edwardian frontages. Cottage doors, with plank faces and heavier ledges, belong on older stone and brick properties and on garden rooms. Stable doors split horizontally so the top half opens independently, which is why they end up on kitchens, utility rooms and back doors, and the stable doors guide covers how they are hung. Colonial designs use a taller, narrower panel arrangement that reads well on interwar semis.

Sizes and thickness

External doors are almost always 44mm thick against 35mm for a standard internal leaf. The extra depth carries the weather seal, the mortice lock and the weight of any glazing. Imperial sizes dominate: 1981 x 686mm (78 x 27 inches), 1981 x 762mm (78 x 30), 1981 x 838mm (78 x 33) and 1981 x 915mm (78 x 36), with metric 2032 x 813mm (80 x 32) and the taller 2082 x 864mm (82 x 34) also stocked. Pairs run to 1981 x 1168mm overall. Our door size guide lists the standard sizes and how to measure a door walks through checking an existing opening.

Trimming allowance is limited. A timber door can usually lose a few millimetres from each stile and rail, but the lock block and the glazing bead set the limit, so check the allowance before ordering a door that has to be cut down. A composite door cannot be trimmed at all.

Frames, thresholds and ironmongery

A new door in a tired frame rarely performs. If the frame is soft at the foot, or the threshold is worn flat, the seal will fail however good the door is. Matching external frames are stocked for that reason. Locks, letter plates, knockers and lever handles come from door hardware, and a 44mm external leaf needs hinges rated for the weight, so see door hinges.

Fire rated external doors

A small number of doors in this range carry an FD30 rating, which matters where a door connects an integral garage or a shared entrance to a dwelling. Where a rating is required, the door, the frame, the intumescent seals and the ironmongery all have to be correct together. Our fire door guide sets out what that involves and the wider rated range sits in fire doors.

Energy performance and regulations

Replacement external doors are covered by building regulations, and a composite or insulated door will comfortably outperform a solid timber leaf on U value. The U values door guide explains what the figures mean and how much of the heat loss in a house the front door is actually responsible for.

Common questions

Which is better, timber or composite?

Composite for maintenance and thermal performance. Timber for period accuracy, for openings that are not square, and where the leaf has to be trimmed to fit.

Do external doors come pre finished?

Composites do. Timber doors are supplied unfinished or primed and must be sealed on all six edges before they are hung.

Can an external door be used internally?

Yes, but it is heavier and thicker, so the frame, the hinges and the lining all have to suit a 44mm leaf.

How are full door sets delivered?

Doors, frames and side panels travel on a pallet. See delivery for lead times and installation information for hanging and sealing.

What warranty applies?

Terms differ between timber and composite construction, and both are set out in warranty information.