Front Door Guidance
oak by design
oakbydesign
01423 593 794
Amanda Smith
"Front Door Options Advice"

Front Door Guidance

Imagine a front door standing robustly, its frame a sentinel against the elements and potential intruders.
The choice of materials—timber for its classic appeal, aluminium for durability, composite for a balance of both, and PVCu for cost-efficiency—directly impacts longevity and maintenance.

Pivot designs and composite styles offer aesthetic flexibility, aligning with various architectural preferences. Smart security features, including biometric access and multi-point locking systems, bolster safety and convenience.
Additionally, energy-efficient materials like composites and aluminium can greatly reduce heat transfer, thereby lowering energy costs.

The interplay of these factors merits deeper exploration.

Importance of Front Doors

Front doors play an essential role in a home’s security, energy efficiency, and aesthetic appeal. They act as a primary barrier against intruders by incorporating multi-point locking mechanisms and advanced access control technologies.
Structurally, these doors must maintain integrity under various stress conditions, ensuring durability and reliability.

Energy efficiency is achieved through superior insulation properties, minimizing heat transfer and reducing energy consumption. Aesthetically, front doors enhance a home’s curb appeal with precise design and finishing options. The structural composition often includes reinforced cores and weather-resistant seals, which prevent warping and deterioration.

Material Choices and Costs

When selecting the best front door for a home, understanding the diverse material choices and their associated costs becomes essential.

Timber doors such as oak, are strong and timeless offering a classic look and require regular maintenance to maintain structural integrity and weather resistance.

Aluminium doors, known for their robustness and minimal upkeep, come with powder-coated finishes that enhance durability.

Composite doors blend aesthetics with functionality, mimicking timber but demanding less maintenance.

PVCu doors are budget-friendly, providing solid security and energy efficiency with minimal upkeep.

Each material presents unique benefits and price points, making it important to weigh the long-term maintenance, initial costs, and specific needs of the home when making a decision.

This ensures optimal performance and longevity for the front door.

Design and Style Options

Exploring design and style options for front doors involves evaluating various configurations, such as pivot doors and composite doors, each offering distinct aesthetic and functional benefits.

Pivot doors, rotating on a vertical axis, require minimal clearance and are ideal for contemporary structures. Typically exceeding 1.2 metres in width, they add a grandiose element.

Composite doors combine a timber-like, grained finish with reinforced materials, ensuring durability and thermal efficiency. They demand little maintenance and come in diverse colours and designs, fitting both traditional and modern aesthetics.

Both options enhance a property’s visual appeal while maintaining structural integrity and providing practical benefits, making them excellent choices for discerning homeowners.

Pivot door
Pivot Door
Aluminium door
Aluminium Door
Comp door
Composite Door

Smart Security Features

Integrating smart security features into front doors not only enhances the aesthetic appeal but also greatly boosts overall safety and convenience.

Smart locks, featuring keyless entry and remote control via smartphones, offer precise access management. Biometric options like fingerprint recognition guarantee only authorised individuals gain entry.

Multi-point locking systems secure the door at multiple points, deterring forced entry attempts. Compatibility with third-party smart security products, such as video doorbells and alarm systems, provides an additional security layer.

Compliance with standards like PAS24:2016 and Secured by Design accreditation assures high safety levels. This blend of advanced technology and stringent standards not only safeguards the home but also increases its value and appeal.

Enhancing Home Efficiency

To enhance home efficiency, front doors should be constructed from materials like composite or aluminium, known for their superior thermal performance and durability.

Composite doors combine a timber aesthetic with reinforced materials, ensuring low maintenance and high thermal efficiency. Aluminium doors, featuring powder-coated finishes, offer excellent weather resistance and structural integrity.

These materials minimise heat transfer, maintain indoor temperatures, and reduce energy costs. Insulated cores and multi-layered constructions further enhance thermal performance. Precision-engineered seals prevent drafts and moisture ingress, contributing to overall efficiency.

Homeowners should prioritise doors with high R-values and low U-values for the best insulation. By selecting these materials, one guarantees a robust, energy-efficient entryway that supports both environmental sustainability and long-term cost savings.

11 July 2024
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Chris Davidson
Chris Davidson

Left us a 5 star review

A great company to deal with. Professional from start to finish and always there to assist with any queries. Highly recommended.

Marvellous place, so many wonderful things made from wood.

Pleasure to do Buisness with

We decided to get an oak porch to make our home more attractive and we are so glad we did as it really is beautiful ! Joanne and the Team have been professional, friendly and just a pleasure to deal with ! Thank you so much !!

Found Oak by Design searching for a new front porch to replace a canopy and knew immediately that this was company for the job and I was not disappointed. I already knew what I wanted and Richard, very patiently, developed my basic requirements, with a number of iterations, into a full detailed design. As I live outside their site working area I decided go for supply only and to install the porch myself. It was delivered as promised and it looked great even on the pallet! It took me a while to fit but it was very satisfying and the result is fantastic. The quality of the aged oak and carpentry of the timbers is excellent. I’m delighted with the porch supplied by Oak by Design - it looks superb.

We can thoroughly recommend Oak by Design. Not only did they provide the best of oak floors and oak staircase to suit our new, contemporary home, but they returned to make good a problem which was not their fault. Going the extra mile separates great companies from ordinary firms. Thank you Jamie & Billy. From Mike & Barbara, York.

I could not recommend Oak By Design more highly. Joanne and the team worked tirelessly to resolve an issue that was the result of my mistake when I ordered the porch. Great customer service.

As the owner of a local joinery business, Robert Davis Joinery, I have had the pleasure of using Oak by Design on several occasions over the last 8 years. They have produced bespoke interior products for me including Oak doors and timber moldings. The staff in the office and the workshop are always very helpful and friendly and the standard of the workmanship and materials are always of a very high quality.

Amazing customer service from beginning to end . My builder was in awe at the quality of the oak porch components. Call them and ask for Joanne - what she doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing! It’s not every day you invest in a “proper” porch so do it right. You’ll definitely be delighted!

We are delighted with our porch, from Oak by Design. Not only is the porch of excellent quality and finish but their customer service could not have been better. They bent over backwards to make sure that we were happy with the porch and I would happily recommend them to anyone.

We are ‘over the moon’ with our beautiful oak porch made by Oakbydesign .From our initial enquiry to delivery and installation the service and attention to detail has been outstanding! A very big thank you to Joanne who was so helpful and friendly from start to finish which made the whole process such a pleasure. Highly recommend anyone looking for an oak porch to choose Oakbydesign . Yvonne Grant.

Perfect from start to finish. The service is above and beyond. Pleasure to install

I wish I could give more starts!! We looked at many companies before finally choosing Oak by Design. We are so glad we chose them. They were excellent from start to finish. They worked with us to find a workable design that was to our liking. Our door looks amazing (despite the building site that still surrounds it!). Their customer service is of the highest standard, Joanne could not do enough to help us. I would not hesitate to recommend them.

Oak by design were a fantastic company to deal with. They made us some treads for a bespoke stair case from large pieces of air dried oak. They were very thorough in making sure that they understood exactly what we wanted. They made excellent suggestions for small changes to our own design in order to produce a better finished product and to manage the cost. We were very happy with the treads when they were delivered. They look fantastic and fitted perfectly to the steel frame which was made by a third party. I could not recommend them more highly.

Great service from start to finish, Joanne was great help. Designs were spot on and so happy with the porch. 10/10. Fully recommend.

Oak by Design have made 2 oak framed rooms for us, sunroom at the front and and "moonroom" (photo) at the back which encompasses a shower room, work area and storage. They have been helpful at every stage and the outcome is simply brilliant. They make the whole house feel roomier and brighter and are beautiful places to be. GE North Yorkshire

Spectacular service from start to finish! great design work and support from concept to installation. The builders were amazing! So pleased with the outcome! Thankyou so so much !

We were delighted with our new porch. Right from our initial contact with Joanne at ObD, through the design and the installation by Jack and his team the service has been excellent. We would have no hesitation in recommending ObD and Jack to anyone thinking of a high quality oak porch. Thank you to all involved.

From the moment we visited the Oak Design showroom, we knew that we were dealing with a top quality local company. Richard the owner, showed us around his design works with real pride of his product and service offering. Jamie as sales executive has discussed and agreed the options & design with costs to us and we have now implemented the first phase of our home improvement, with more work to follow. We are highly delighted with the finished product and would strongly recommend Oak Design to other interested clients. I also suggest that you pay them a personal visit at the Home Building & Renovation exhibition in Harrogate, as well as their wonderful showroom of Oak Solutions in Tockwith to get a personal guided tour.

Fantastic service and quality of product. I couldn’t be happier with my Oak porch, which was designed to my specification with the minimum of fuss. Joanne was so helpful and nothing was too much trouble. Incredibly well engineered and looks fantastic. Thank you so much.

Ordered an oak mantle beam from Oak by Design and they quickly called to check the finer details. Unfortunatly, the beam was slightly damaged on arrival by the courier company. Oak by Design immediately arranged to have it picked by DHL, transferred back to Yorkshire from Kent, repaired and sent back within 2 days, with no quibbles. The beam is beautiful, as is the high quality customer service by these people. Fully recommend using this company. Anthony Slater, Tonbridge. Tonbridge.

Amazing craftsmanship from this company. The customer service from Joanne was superb. My questions and indecisiveness were never an issue and she was always on hand to offer advice and find the answers to my questions. Our oak porch has transformed the house and we are over thd moon with it. Would highly recommend Oak By Design. Joanne is an asset to the sales and promotion of this company and is very knowledgeable. Would give 10 stars if I could!

Excellent customer service. Very friendly. Explained in detail. Product is beautiful. Would recommend. Company sent photos of finished product prior to dispatch to confirm our happiness with their work.

On behalf of Shears PHG Our customer was looking at having an oak porch built for their property in the West Midlands we got in contact with Joanne at Oak by Design and she was really helpful, always friendly on the phone and polite nothing was too much trouble. Joanne kept us up to date through every stage and our customer is really pleased with the results of the Porch it looks great and we wouldn’t hesitate to use them again in the future

Having lived with our porch for over 2 years I can honestly say it’s the best addition to our house we ever made. Not only does it look fantastic the quality is outstanding. I love that it keeps the mud out of the hall and provides a seating area to remove muddy boots.

My client was looking for ways in which to make his conversion (of an early seventies house into a period family farmhouse) “stand out from the crowd”. whilst maintaining a commercial eye on his expenditure, as the house was being converted for resale profit. Making the choice to meet with Richard and explore possibilities for incorporating some Real solid Oak features into his plans proved to be the making of the project. By taking lots of advice from Richard on both the size and structure of the components we were able to incorporate three key features. The beautiful and bold roof trusses and purlins for the open plan kitchen are simply a joy to behold. The stunning full height gable window which is directly glazed into the large framework can be appreciated from both the the kerbside and of course from within the cosy snug on the ground floor or the amazing first floor main bedroom where we incorporated some additional exposed roof beams just purely for effect. All in all it is fair to say that these significant choices certainly created the wow factor my client was looking for. Having managed to pre sell the property well before completion it in itself demonstrates the benefits of keeping these sorts of real oak features as part of a modern build. I have no hesitation whatsoever is saying that if anyone is looking to get advice and is serious about investing in quality oak products they should have no need to look further than Oak by Design. Thanks again Richard for all your help , guidance and continued support which is a credit to you and the craftsmen you employ.

First class service and product . Our car port and steps look fantastic and blends in with the existing buildings beautifully. Would definitely recommend them.

Oak by Design were extremely helpful at all stages of my project from helping and advising me to choose the most appropriate beam through to advice on fixing the beam. They were extremely patient with changes to my beam dimension requirements finally providing a solution to suit my project. They provided photographs on completion of the beam prior to dispatch to ensure that my requirements had been met. I was extremely impressed by the quality and finish of the beam which has become the focal point for my fireplace project. Oak by Design provided customer care of the highest quality and I would highly recommend their services.

Great company, always on the end of the phone to talk through design, measurements, fitting. The Oak is very high standard, looks amazing.

Great service by a friendly professional team, a pleasure to work with. The end result of our oak glazed leisure spa and outdoor kitchen looks fantastic. Great job

When embarking on a large renovation project assembling the right team of skilled work people is vital. It involves the need for skill, imagination and trust. It was important to us to use a local company and Oak by Design seemed to tick the right boxes although we had not dealt with them or indeed heard of them before. We soon came to realise that the combination of Ben, Billy, Jamie, Matt and MIck ( listed strictly in alphabetical order ) was a great success. Skilled: highly, imaginative: an excellent creative talent, trustworthy: 100% but also such great team players that all the other trades on site benefitted from their cooperation and great good humour. I would endorse the other reviewers who have commented on the quality of the materials used, whether in the replacement windows, the light oak internal doors. the fantastic oak staircase, the secret bookcase and the pièce de résistance: the oak conservatory. It has been a great project and much of that I attribute to the work of Oak by Design. A big thank you to you all.

On behalf of John Docherty: Oak By Design were a great company to deal with; helpful, knowledgeable, professional. The quality of the oak supplied to us for our bespoke porch was first class. Nothing was too much trouble for this company, and we will definitely be using this wonderful company again in 2022.

We worked with Jamie from Oak By Design on a super project near Wetherby. There was plenty of oak in this design for the team to really show their worth - and they did. The attention to detail was excellent. If anything was not quite how the client wanted it, they were straight back to attend to this. The customer care was superb. We look forward to working with Oak By Design on another project soon.

We purchased some engineered oak flooring and oak covers from Oak By Design and couldn't be happier with the finish and quality. They are spot on. Joanne was extremely helpful throughout the whole process and provided plenty of advice when necessary. Thank you

From the beginning the customer service has been superb, excellent help and advice when choosing the flooring, delivery arriving when promised and a product which is extremely high quality. We have replaced the majority of our flooring downstairs and we are so pleased with the result that we would have paid more. Fantastic.

Posting on behalf of my Mother in Law, Shirley Abbott "Having planned to shop around, Oak By Design was my first stop. I had no need to look any further. Joanne patiently and professionally guiding me through the confusion of choosing the right flooring. The service and support from the staff was exceptional, efficient and helpful. And - my floor looks amazing!"

Exceptional service and beautiful flooring. Absolutely delighted with every aspect. Went above and beyond great customer service to meet our needs and timescales.

Firstly, the product quality was superb, a beautiful oak mantle piece for my fire place, gorgeous. The installation was quick, efficient and fitter very friendly. The price was very reasonable, actually very good value. But what makes it all SIX STAR, ( but we I can only give 5!), was the customer service. When walking in the shop I was perfectly attended to, I was given samples to take home and they remembered to call soma days later to see what I thought. Order to install time was very fast for such a bespoke service. My experience was world class, great to deal with a brilliant local/small business, I totally recommend.

We ordered two bespoke doors and two bespoke porches for our house build from Joanne at OByD. We were specifically delighted with Joanne's attention to detail (and patience! lol) making the overall customer experience excellent. The product was equally fantastic, the product quality was truly beyond our expectations. Joanne is super helpful and knowledgeable, and kept my spirits up throughout our project. We would 100% recommend OByD, and specifically Joanne, for all your standard and bespoke oak requirements. H&D

Working with Oak By Design on our project was a pleasure and we were delighted with the results. Joanne was extremely helpful, quick to answer any questions and generally a great person to deal with! The quality and finish of the products - RSJ covers and Oak Windows & Doors were superb and look great. Would highly recommend working with Oak By Design and would not hesitate to use their services again for future projects!

I was sourcing an oak RSJ cover (circa 5m length) for my extension and found Oak by Design on the internet. All of the reviews I could were glowing and so I contacted them......And I'm so glad that I did. Joanne Fisher answered my initial call and she looked after my order from beginning to end - in terms of ensuring that I got exactly what I wanted she/they provided a superb service - everything on time - delivery in to the Peak District to suit when I wanted. The quality of the the RSJ cover is fantastic thick solid oak that matches my oak floor - looks amazing. If you want anything oak I can thoroughly recommend Oak By Design.

Very professional. Excellent product and service. Highly recommended.

Fantastic service from start to finish, I would have no hesitation in recommending this company or using them again. Very professional and helpful. Joanne was great in assisting us with choosing both styles and colours of the beams and cladding.

Oak by design provided our engineered oak flooring. From our initial meeting and supply of samples to the final delivery we have been provided with excellent service. Carl has been in touch throughout the process and provided updates about the lead time and expected delivery dates. We are delighted with the flooring. Very happy to recommend Oak by design.

My wife and I recently purchased an oak porch from Oak By Design. We are delighted with the porch and it has been much admired. We did get some help assembling it but everything fitted together perfectly.

Very impressed with Oak By Design. Customer service is fantastic and they were very patient in helping me ensure what I needed was the right size. Photos sent of oak cover before it was sent to me and end product was great. It was also not the most expensive either. Would definitely recommend.

Super friendly people helping me with my self build porch!

Great personal service to ensure we got what we needed specific to our personal requirements. Quality is outstanding and there was a helping hand there all the way. The porch we ended up with was not cheap but having looked at others the quality of the Oak by design product shines through. Very pleased with the result and the complements from both neighbours and our builders keep coming.