Front doors and back doors
Your front door is the first thing anyone sees when they arrive at your home. It sets the tone for the whole property, takes a hundred openings and closings a week, and stands between your family and the street every single night. Your back door works just as hard; it is the one the dog comes through, the boots come off at, and the shopping gets carried in from. Both deserve to be chosen with the same care.
Why it is worth getting right?
Security tends to be the first thing people think about, and rightly so. Around one in four domestic break-ins in the UK happen through the back door — which means the back door is just as important as the front when it comes to security. A door with multi-point locking, a PAS 24–certified cylinder, and a reinforced frame is a completely different proposition to an older door with basic hardware.
Beyond security, a well-fitted external door makes a genuine difference to how warm your home feels in winter. Draughts around ill-fitting doors are one of the most common and easiest-to-solve sources of heat loss in older London properties — and upgrading to a modern composite or double-glazed door addresses that problem immediately.
Front door options
Most London front doors fall into one of three categories: composite for low maintenance and strong security, timber for character and bespoke work, and aluminium for a contemporary, architectural finish. Each one has a clear place depending on the property and what matters most to you.
Composite front doors
Composite front doors have become the most popular choice for front door replacements in the UK, and they have earned that position.
- Solid insulated core inside a tough GRP outer skin; holds its colour, shrugs off the weather, and never needs painting or sealing
- Looks like a traditional wooden entrance door, but performs better. thermally than solid timber
- Virtually maintenance-free over a 20–25-year lifespan.
- Available with glazed side panels or a fanlight, useful for north-facing or deeper London hallways where natural light is limited.
Wooden entrance doors and exterior wood front doors
A well-made wooden front door has a weight, warmth, and character that no other material fully captures.
Hardwood options in oak and other durable species, kiln-dried to minimise movement and built to last decades with proper care.
Softwood options are available where a painted finish is the priority and cost is a consideration.
Every door is made to order by specialist joiners, designed and built for the specific opening, not chosen from a standard range.
The natural choice for conservation areas, listed buildings, and any London home where authenticity matters.
Aluminium front doors
Aluminium front doors and aluminium entrance doors sit at the premium end of the market, and they look it.
Slim profiles and precision engineering, a step up in visual impact that suits contemporary new builds and high-specification refurbishments.
Schüco aluminium entrance doors achieve U-values from 1.0 W/m²K, with a zero-level threshold option meeting Part M accessibility requirements.
Also available from Origin, Reynaers, and Cortizo, all with thermally broken frames, over 150 RAL colour options, and long manufacturer guarantees.
Back door options
A well‑chosen back door makes everyday life easier, and the whole house feels more secure, so it is worth treating it with the same care as the front door. Whether you go for a composite door for low‑maintenance security, an aluminium back door to tie in with modern glazing, or a timber design to sit comfortably with period joinery, the material, glazing, and hardware all work together to keep heat in, noise and intruders out, and the route to the garden bright and inviting.
The brands we work with
Finishes, hardware and security
Finishes & colours
Composite and aluminium doors come in a wide range of colours and textures, from timber‑effect skins to hard‑wearing polyester powder‑coat in gloss, matt or textured finishes that keep their colour and resist everyday scuffs.
Security
Multi‑point locking, PAS 24–certified locks and Secured by Design–compatible specifications are available across composite, timber and aluminium doors, giving you a front or back door that is engineered from the outset to resist common attack methods.
Hardware & security
Hinges, handles, letterplates, and thresholds are chosen to suit the door style and traffic level, with high‑quality multipoint locks, PAS 24–tested keeps, and corrosion‑resistant furniture designed to stand up to years of use.
FAQ
Composite and aluminium front doors with multi-point locking and PAS 24 certification are among the most secure options available for a UK home. Composite doors with a solid laminated timber core perform particularly well in cut-through resistance tests. Worth checking that any composite door you are considering carries PAS 24: 2016 certification — not all of them do.
Composite doors deliver the look of a traditional wooden entrance door with a solid insulated core and a GRP outer skin that holds its finish through all weathers with very little upkeep. Wooden front doors and exterior wood front doors are made from real timber, richer in character, more flexible for bespoke work, and worth the periodic painting or treatment they need to stay in top condition. For most London front door replacements, composite is the practical choice. For conservation areas, listed buildings or a genuinely one-off entrance door, timber is where we start.
Yes. Replacement front doors in England need to meet Approved Document Q on security and Part L on thermal performance. PAS 24 certification covers the security requirement, and all doors we install are specified to meet current standards as a matter of course.
A double glazed door has a sealed double glazed unit built into the door panel or its side lights, giving better thermal insulation and less condensation than single glazing. Double glazed doors are standard across the full range we install and comfortably meet current Part L requirements.
A well-made hardwood back door is durable, secure, thermally efficient and full of character. It does need painting or treating periodically to stay at its best, but for period properties and conservation areas, or anyone who genuinely values the look and feel of real timber, a bespoke wooden back door is a very good choice.
It depends on the material, the style, the size, the glazing and the security specification. Composite front doors sit at a lower price point than bespoke timber or aluminium entrance doors, but the quality varies considerably within each material category. Contact us for a clear, itemised quote covering supply, delivery and full installation.
Most single door installations are done in a day. Where there is structural work involved, conservation area conditions or listed building requirements, we lay out a full programme at the quotation stage so there are no surprises.