When it comes to external doors, there’s more than one way to go. Especially when it comes to the doors opening out into the back garden or exterior of the property, where you want to create a different visual impression. Essentially, when picking a door system, you can go with a choice of solid wood, a composite material or uPVC doors. There are pro and cons to each depending on where the door is located in the building.
Let’s look at uPVC doors and composite doors to see how they compare. These are the two types most often installed at the rear of the property.
uPVC French Doors
uPVC doors are made from plastic, specifically polyvinyl chloride. While the material is used in some clothing, it also can be produced as a rigid structure when leaving out the plasticising part of the formulation. With that said, uPVC doors aren’t completely made from plastic materials, as sometimes they’re reinforced.
One important consideration with uPVC is that they’re reinforced using carbon fibre or a metal of some kind. The cheaper, non-reinforced ones are just not worth having. Both the door and any installed glass in the door won’t support any pressure being applied from a foot or elbow trying to break through. As such, they’re useful for a pre-fab garden building like a hut or plastic structure, but not for security.
How to Clean uPVC doors
Unlike with wood or some other materials, there is very little maintenance required. No cleaning, sanding down, painting and re-staining involved. Handling British weather conditions with frequent weather showers doesn’t bother a uPVC door. It stands the test of time and doesn’t require much attention.
One area to be aware of is how it is cleaned. You should be careful to avoid using a chemical that could strip off the surface of the door. Should this happen, it cannot be reversed. Therefore, choose the door cleaner carefully. Thankfully, few uPVC doors suffer from colour fading issues.
Composite Doors
Composite doors take on a completely different and varied appearance from one door to the next. This is because they’re produced using a blend of materials. These can include wood, steel, uPVC, and glass. One of the attractive qualities of composite doors is that they can blend better with the existing exterior building structure or surrounding patio and furniture. However, that does come at a cost.
It’s fair to say that composite doors are dearer than their uPVC counterparts. The reasons are due to the blend of materials involving a more time-consuming manufacturing process. The raw materials themselves also cost more.
How do you choose between a composite door and a uPVC one?
When it comes to the front door, you’re better off going with a composite door because of its strength and durability over a uPVC one. For the back door that opens out into the garden or patio area, then it’s more a matter of personal taste. Certainly, the composite door designs offer greater flexibility to get the look you want compared to a uPVC one. It just depends on which you prefer.