External Door Advice Please!

[greido]

A bit of background: I'm 80% through the renovation of my 1930s bungalow in Edinburgh; I've added a large extension onto the back of the house which has incorporated the old living room and dining room, the badly formed upstairs bedrooms have been reformed into 2 large double bedrooms with large dormers and a shared bathroom. 

The extension is in place, dormers formed, the plasterer is about 50% finished, flooring, kitchen and utility are being fitted in the next few weeks, closely followed by new internal doors, skirtings etc. It's effectively a brand-new house with new heating and complete re-wire, the only things that are not being touched are the brickwork at the front and the two from bedrooms, though both will be completely re-wired and have the new heating installed as well as the master bedroom having an en-suite added.    

I'm now getting to the finishing touches and have had a number of recommendations to get a composite (plastic looking) front door, every time i see these I just think they look pretty cheap, I hope this is my forever home and was worth >£500k pre-build and I'll have sunk another £300k into it by the time we're finished so I really do not want to skimp on the first thing I see when I arrive home every day, I also don't want to spend around £5k on an Aluminium front door.

My Painter has recommended that I just paint the original front door, this might look alright but the rest of the house is energy efficient so it seems daft to skimp on the front door which is pretty draughty. Does anyone have any experience of a similar situation of can you recommend a solution that looks good, is energy efficient and doesn't cost too much? - Any opinions would be welcome, thanks in advance.

[Bonner]

What type of windows have you got? You could draft proof the original door relatively easily. Personally I would want to retain at least a bit of the original character of the house.

[Radian]

How do timber doors perform thermally compared to UPVC or composite? I imaged our timber front door back in early February while trying to remedy drafts and was surprised at how well the thicker parts were performing:

 

 

Only the thinner infill panels and letterbox were letting it down badly - and especially the gaps at the bottom. These are areas that I could do with improving. It was 19^oC indoors and -2^oC outdoors.

[joe90]

On my build I had an oak front door made, thicker than normal with insulation inside. Door frame with compression seals all round, very draught proof and thermally efficient. Wood is quite a good insulator.

[Radian]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

I had an oak front door made, thicker than normal with insulation inside

How was the insulation on the inside done?

[joe90]

1 hour ago, Radian said:

How was the insulation on the inside done?

Oak planks front and back and slab insulation between all in an oak surround.

[JohnMo]

Our door is made a similar way, I think the insulation is 15mm PIR and has a certified U value of 1.0

[MMcGill]

On 20/09/2022 at 12:39, joe90 said:

Oak planks front and back and slab insulation between all in an oak surround.

 

Interesting Joe (and John) - I'm looking for a Victorian style door to fit in with the street scene but one that's also high performing from a heat and air tight perspective - any pointers gratefully received. 

[joe90]

This was made for me locally 

[Susie]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

This was made for me locally 

Looks lovely how does it cope with our weather or is that in a porch room I also see a wonderful door bell pulley. Care to share who made both. 
PS we got PP on Thursday 😀

[joe90]

36 minutes ago, Susie said:

Looks lovely how does it cope with our weather or is that in a porch room I also see a wonderful door bell pulley. Care to share who made both. 
PS we got PP on Thursday 😀

It faces North so no UV damage, yes a porch with outer door (air lock). Local timber company made all my windows and doors, also the oak conservatory. Just outside Bude, Devon. I don’t do “tech” and love my doorbell. (Ebay). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115205937618?hash

 

well done on getting your PP 👍

Edited October 22, 2022 by joe90

[Ferdinand]

3 hours ago, joe90 said:

It faces North so no UV damage, yes a porch with outer door (air lock). Local timber company made all my windows and doors, also the oak conservatory. Just outside Bude, Devon. I don’t do “tech” and love my doorbell. (Ebay). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115205937618?hash

 

well done on getting your PP 👍

 

Where have you put the bell?

 

Like the look of that.

[joe90]

24 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

Where have you put the bell?

 

Like the look of that.

Just the other side of the wall, I ran the string through a section of hollow tent pole drilled through the wall, I even stained the string black to match. No wires, no batteries, nothing to go wrong (except the string breaking 🤣) remember I hate “tech”.