Is it worth a DIYer putting in a new front door or is the job so difficult that it's worth paying for an installer?
The doorway gap that this is for is on the small side, 2010 height by 825mm width. AFAICT there *is* a standard door for that which comes in at 1981x762 but that does not match the size of the existing frame. Is it possible to buy frames that can be adjusted to aperture size? Rather than being of timber say the door is of composite or uPVC.
Are there firms who will make a composite or uPVC frame to a custom size so that a standard door will fit it?
Or is it not worth all the hassle and better just to get a firm in to do the job?
The reason for wanting to replace the existing front door is security in at least four respects:
- The existing door is heavy and wooden but sounds hollow in places so could be broken through.
- The existing latch is a normal Yale type which can easily lock someone out. I would like to replace it with the kind of locking mechanism where one has to turn a key from the outside to lock the door.
- If there was a fire and no one inside could find the keys to the existing locks they would not be able to get out. (This is for a flat with only one door. It often suprises me that people don't leave keys in or near the front door so that they can always get out if easily if there was a fire.) So I would prefer to put in a locking mechanism that can be opened from the inside without a key. PVC doors with Eurocylinders can have that type of latch.
- I wanted to add a mechanism which secures the door (the vertical side of it opposite to the hinges) in multiple places. You know the type: lift the handle and bolts slide into place up and down the length of the door rather than just near the centre.
On that last point, I found that Yale have a product which they call Doormaster Professional
The second link shows the product better.
Yale's system is supposed to be a way to retrofit a multiple-bolt system to an existing door.
James