External Doors

With the housing market tumbling, many of us are turning to home improvements instead of moving.

External doors are crucial to any home, and set the tone for the whole building. The right ones are a real boost if you are selling up. Here are some of the doors on the market.

Oak external doors

A symbol of reliability, oak has been used in building for 3,500 years. Oak external doors, properly designed and secured, could be the perfect finish to your home. Oak external doors are increasingly popular as an alternative to hardwood. Oak external doors really do add character to where you live. The grain patterns in oak external doors are as unique as fingerprints, so each one will have its own personality. But, as well as looking wonderful, oak external doors, are highly practical. They are secure and long lasting, have insulating properties, and oak external doors are also up to scratch when it comes to fire regulations.

Oak external doors are usually 'engineered.' The internal side of most oak external doors is made of smaller pieces of timber, and the exterior face has a plank (thick veneer) applied. This makes oak external doors more stable and less prone to warp and twisting, and significantly lighter.

You can choose from strong seasoned new oak - kiln dried or air dried - or ancient reclaimed oak.

You may find that the reliability and attractiveness of this wood mean you only want to consider oak external doors, but there are alternatives.

For example, there are plenty of hardwood external doors on the market, and these are another solid timber option to add elegance to your home. When you are looking at hardwood external doors, you should consider the size, finish, style, jamb size and where the letter box will go, if applicable. You will also want to think about the finish of your hardwood external doors, and maybe think about whether to limit your search for hardwood external doors to ones from renewable sources, hardwood external doors should be treated with exterior varnish to ensure a long life.

Like oak external doors, hardwood external doors have become very popular in recent years as people are returning to traditional hardwood external doors for their front door rather the modern PVC. Hardwood external doors will look just as good in a period property as they will in a contemporary new build.

With so many hardwood external doors around, from paired hardwood external doors to single, double and triple glazed hardwood external doors, you'll be spoilt for choice.

Pine is a soft wood, with moderate weight. If you go for pine external doors, remember that pine tends to turn darker with exposure to sunlight. The grain in pine external doors is typically straight and even, so it sands smooth. Staining pine external doors can be tricky, with uneven stain absorption leaving the wood appearing blotchy. During changes in humidity cycles, it is quite stable, with only some expansion and contraction in most pine external doors. Older pine external doors may be found with marks on them, but this tends to add to their character.

Pine external doors make for quality doors at very affordable prices. In particular, pine external doors are ideal for garages and outside buildings where there is no need for a hardwood or a oak door, but you still need a good, value for money door.

You may want to check that your pine external doors come from well-managed forests.

With all pine external doors, it is important that they are suitably treated on both sides and all four edges before installation. You should not use water based finishes with pine external doors.

Glazed external doors can be for either the front or back of your home. Many glazed external doors have leaded glass with coloured and smoked bevels. You should keep an eye out for glazed external doors which met recognised British Safety Standards, and glazed external doors which use toughened safety glass. This means that your glazed external doors will be very secure and all parts of the door will meet UK standards.

You can choose from single, double or triple glazed external doors. Triple glazed external doors could be idea if you are looking for something which lets in more light. Don't forget that glazed external doors also include sliding, folding and French doors.

When buying glazed external doors, you may well want to be careful to protect your privacy, so check the glass in your glazed external doors, and what can be seen on each side, before buying.

But whether you are looking for glazed external doors, pine external doors or any other kind of external doors, one company that can supply all your needs is Kaybee Doors.

With over three decades of experience under its belt, we are as solidly reliable as our quality doors! We're very much a family firm, based in the north west, and have four depots across the region. We supply builders and timber merchants as well as the general public, and have built up a really strong reputation over the years.

With so much understanding of the importance of doors in finishing a home, and so much knowledge and expertise, you'd do well to give us a call, or check out our user-friendly web site before you do anything else. You'll find we pride ourselves on our very personalised approach to your needs.

So, get in touch. Our doors are always open.