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Do Composite Doors Warp in the Sun?

Composite doors are one of the best front doors you can have due to their long-lasting durability and great visual appeal. They have been engineered to be low-maintenance, extremely secure, and thermally efficient. However, as with many household items you won, you may face some issues with a composite door over a period of time, a very long time at that, but it's still something you should be aware of. As with anything in the world, composite doors have their own set of pros and cons.

In this article, we will be going over whether or not composite doors warp in the sun and any other environmental factor that could affect your front doors durability.

What is a Composite Door?

Composite doors are the newest form of residential doors in the market. Composite doors have been created with the common shortcomings of single-material doors in mind. Using a combination of materials chosen for their advantageous features, composite doors make it possible to successfully "design away" the existing defects. Composite doors have remarkable resilience to weathering and do not respond to seasonal variations like doors made from a single material. 

Due to the foam core, composite doors offer more thermal resistance than hardwood doors. A composite door is designed to resemble a wooden door with a nice wood grain, but due to the materials used, it will not fade, discolour, or require any maintenance other than washing with a damp cloth if it becomes dirty. Composite doors are modern, extraordinarily well-designed doors composed of many materials. Their excellent quality establishes a new benchmark in the door business.

What are composite doors made out of?

A composite door consists of multiple materials. A solid wood piece at the centre of composite doors imparts the design's strength. In addition, because wood is a natural insulator, less cold air may escape via these doors. In light of this, composite doors have added layers to protect the wood. uPVC is the most prevalent, adaptable, and weather-resistant material.

uPVC profiles will maintain their visual appeal longer in harsh weather conditions. This prevents the wood beneath from eventually splitting, bending, and decaying. Other components may also be present depending on the composite door you install. Lamination layers frequently add additional strength and help keep more of your home's natural heat, resulting in lower utility costs. Alternately, some composite doors are coated with GRP (Glass-reinforced plastic), which is highly durable.

Are composite doors weather resistant?

Intense temperatures caused by the weather and climate fluctuations will always impact doors. This affects not only the decorative aspect of your door but also its quality by producing vulnerabilities and opening and closing difficulties. One of the most notable advantages of a composite door is its strength and longevity due to the tough features of the materials used to construct it. Composite doors are often considerably thicker than their uPVC equivalents, and their glass-reinforced plastic shell ensures that they have a long lifespan. In addition to being windproof, these doors will not rot, rust, warp in the heat, or swell when it rains, making them the ideal choice for a front or back door. A composite door has an average lifespan of 35 years, making it a fantastic investment and a cost-effective option for your home.

Will composite doors keep my house secure?

The frame of composite doors is often reinforced with galvanised steel, and the protective surface can bear a greater force than other doors. This, along with the fact that composite doors are often thicker than traditional doors, makes composite doors a good security option. The majority of composite doors also include standard multi-point locking systems, making your property safer than if you had a traditional door with a simple locking mechanism.

Do composite doors fade in the sun? 

No, composite doors do not fade in the sun. Unlike its uPVC or wooden counterparts, in which the colour is applied to the exterior of the door panel, the GRP skin is exceptionally resistant to the weather. It maintains the colour's fresh appearance regardless of external conditions. As a result, you will not have to worry about colour fading or to repaint the door panel, as is frequent with wooden doors.

Since the colour is not sprayed to the surface, composite doors do not fade or bleach over time, even when exposed to the bright sun for years or decades. They are not factory-painted or covered with a thin layer of coloured or patterned material, unlike some uPVC or steel doors. The entire thickness of the GRP or uPVC surface layer is coloured. Even if the extremely dent- and the scratch-resistant surface is breached in any manner, the newly exposed cortex is the same colour as the remainder of the character. The complete outer layer is manufactured in the factory with this colour.

Another reason composite doors do not fade is the technique in which the colour is created. Some paints and pigments are known to degrade over time when exposed to UV radiation; for example, consider parcels left in a sunny storefront window for too long. However, the pigments incorporated into the outer layer of a composite door are incredibly resistant to UV and other forms of damaging radiation. Certain colour mixtures contain long-lasting UV-protective ingredients — a permanent sunblock — to prevent the colour from fading or changing over time.

Can composite doors warp in the sun?

The short answer is a big "NO." A composite door of superior quality will be constructed to resist swelling, warping, and shape loss. They are built using multiple reinforced layers of various materials arranged so that the door remains rigid and stable in any intense or harsh conditions. The primary anti-warping feature of some composite door constructions is their "monocoque" outer shell of glass-reinforced plastic.

As they are effectively cast in a single piece and filled with polyurethane foam under high pressure in the factory, there are no gaps or seals that may allow moisture to enter, and there is no 'empty space' inside that could encourage condensation. An alternate building method consists of a durable uPVC shell covering a sturdy timber frame and core. This layering of the constituent parts presents a single, solid piece to the elements and is consequently highly resistant to warping, regardless of the method applied.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, very little maintenance is required to keep a composite door looking as wonderful as it did when it was first installed. Composite doors are durable, energy-efficient, give a high level of security, and are available in a variety of styles, colours, and finishes. The advantages unquestionably outweigh the disadvantages, as the most typical issues linked with composite doors are minimal and, as a result, can be resolved with straightforward solutions. It is naturally resistant to fading and warping and never requires repainting or refinishing. Even though composite doors often require less maintenance than other types of doors, you should still take care of them to the best of your ability!

If you are looking for high quality composite doors in St Albans, then the people over at Rock Solid Doors can help you find what you need! Our mission at Rock Solid Doors is to give you with all the assistance and information you need to select the appropriate composite door in a courteous and non-obligatory manner. We only offer and install branded doors of the highest quality (you can choose from 5 different brands), all of which are professionally installed by us and come with a one-year guarantee and building standards compliance certificate for your peace of mind.

Testimonial

Job well done

My compliments on a job well done, I will be sure to heartily recommend your excellent service to anyone I know of in need of a new door Kind regards Johnny.
Johnny
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Rock Solid Doors Ltd
Creighton Ave, St Albans, AL1 2LG
0800 540 4366
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Rock Solid Doors
Rock Solid Doors
63 Google reviews
Graham Kidd
Graham Kidd
2 November 2023
100% recommend Paul and Harry a great father and son team! I'm so pleased that we used them to supply and fit our new front door. Straightforward to deal with from start to finish and communication throughout was excellent. They are extremely knowledgeable and were able to offer advice and suggestions when we were choosing the door we wanted. Nothing was rushed during the installation with great attention to detail. They took away our old door and frame and left everything clean and tidy at the end of the job. Thank you, Harry, for taking the time to go through everything with us at the end of the job, much appreciated. I would not hesitate in using Paul and Harry again. Thank you both so much, we are so pleased!
Andrew Brant
Andrew Brant
30 October 2023
Had a door fitted today. Extremely happy with the quality of the finish, attention to detail. Left site clean and tidy. Very impressed. Would highly recommend
Daniel Ashworth
Daniel Ashworth
6 October 2023
Had a door fitted by these very friendly chaps about 18 months ago. We're very happy with it. When an issue arose with the mechanism, they came out and fixed it in about 5 minutes and it's as it if is brand new again. Very pleased, would highly recommend.
L Edwards
L Edwards
2 October 2023
Communication with Paul was faultless throughout. He was polite, knowledgeable and efficient. Harry and Paul installed our new door, problem solving along the way. The finish was neat and tidy and they offered us excellent after sales service aswell. Would highly recommend.
Susie
Susie
22 September 2023
Highly recommend. We had our front door fitted by this lovely team. They were friendly, helpful, willing to listen to me debate options and provided helpful advice for choosing the right door for us. When he had a slight issue (no fault of their own) they came out to us the very next day and sorted it. Such a good supplier to work with!
Ed Barkham
Ed Barkham
21 September 2023
Brilliant service. No hidden costs or fees and no heavy sales tactics. Very open and clear from the start, and they worked really hard to fit a great new door in our thinner than average doorway! Great value and great result. Will be recommending to all.
fiona richards
fiona richards
10 September 2023
Highly recommend Rock Solid doors. We have used this friendly family company several times and have recommended them to others who have been equally impressed with the high standard of work and the product. We have received quick service and found them to be very reliable knowledgeable with no hard sell. The installations have been carried out professionally and they go the extra mile to ensure you are happy with everything. The external doors are robust and we are impressed with the quality of the product.
James Cooper
James Cooper
24 July 2023
Faultless customer service from a fantastic company to do business with. From start to finish it’s been a pleasure buying composite doors from Rock Solid Doors – in fact, we were so impressed with the front door and installation service they provided (we opted for a Solidor Ludlow 2 with 2 x fully glazed side lights) that we got them back to supply our utility door (Windsor Solidor – fully glazed) shortly afterwards. Paul dealt with our initial queries promptly, came to measure on site and provided a competitive quote very efficiently. These guys are first-rate craftsmen and know their stuff: evidenced by working around a couple of quirky construction issues without any problem – leaving us really impressed with the end product. It’s great to come across a local business that takes pride in what they do, going the extra mile for customer satisfaction – we cannot recommend Rock Solid Doors highly enough! Thank you Paul and Harry!
Simon Gould
Simon Gould
25 June 2023
Brilliant service from Paul at Rock Solid; our letter box seal had gone causing a slight leak - he responded immediately, attended this week and fixed with a new gasket. Would highly recommend the product and the service.
Lidia Duncan
Lidia Duncan
16 June 2023
I ordered my Vogue Rock door with the Ocean glass from Rock Solid Doors at the end of 2021. I had a number of criteria when searching for my new entrance door. It’s ability to insulate had to be A rated. I also wanted it to have a good quality locking mechanism that is smooth in action. My new door needed to be modern with a pane that lets plenty of light in and thus goes lower than the half line on the door, while leaving sufficient height for the letter box, so it is sufficiently high to be comfortably reached by our postman. The Vogue Rock door provided all that and more. I love sailing and the Ocean glass design evokes the lines of a sail in a beautifully minimalistic fashion. It also makes the door look unique, which is always a bonus. During my search for the perfect door I had lots of technical questions too. Only Paul and his colleague from Rock Solid Doors were able to answer all my questions and provide a door that offered what I was looking for. They supplied and fitted my new door in early 2022. My heating bill has gone down noticeably, as a result. With the golden oak wood grain on the outside, my door looks beautiful and elegant. Everyone who comes to the house for the first-time comment on it. The multi-locking mechanism has a smooth action and it is easy to use. The white wood grain on the inside finishes off the hallway like a designer window and door in one. Paul and his colleague went out of their way to make sure that I have the door and the finish just, as I wanted and that it worked seamlessly there on. We could not be happier. Thank You!
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