Door-Stop and the composite door market in general has been at the forefront of conversation over the past few days, thanks to their purchase by Masonite. So continuing that theme, I thought it might be a good time to analyse the impact composite door have had on the overall fenestration market.
Colour
Before the explosion of the composite door market, the use of colour was fairly limited. I joined in 2007 when composite doors were really just emerging. We didn’t know much about them at the time. At this point the only real colour choices were white, the standard wood grains etc. For any specialist colours it was a case of getting it sprayed by a specialist, which ironically we do a lot of know.
But along came the composite doors with their GRP skins which could easily adapt to colour. This gave the industry an opportunity to get something brand new in front of the homeowner and dazzle them with a fresh new range of colours instead of boring old white. Now, it was easy to be able to see a red, blue, green or black door without having to find some obscure way to achieve that finish. The customer gets to choose something new, and us installers get to sell colours much easier.
What this also did was to encourage the evolution in colours to other parts of our market. Windows for example. Would we have had such an array of colour choice now if composite doors hadn’t have come along? I would wager not. Once customers started demanding colours for doors, it was only a matter of time before it would naturally move on to windows.
Lead Times
In the early days of composite doors, lead times used to be quite a while. I remember them being at least 4-6 weeks at one point. But that wasn’t for long. When Door-Stop came along in 2006 they flipped the whole industry on it’s head by promising lead times of less than a week. Whether you agree with such a business practise or not, it had a profound impact on the way the composite market did business.
It forced others to look at their own operations and made them respond with their own reduced lead times. Admittedly not as low as three days, but in most cases the majority of installers won’t need a door in three days. Not only did it force the composite door industry as a whole to assess it’s lead times, but the wider fenestration industry too.
Look at the offerings other companies have now. Origin for example now use a revolutionary new 0-day lead time where they promise to make any bi-fold door to any lead time, whether it’s in one day or anything longer. It works apparently quite well. Then there are a plethora of window companies offering windows delivered in a week now. Would we have this situation without the influence of composite doors? Again I think not. There are other side issues to having such reduced lead times but that post is for another day!
Energised A Market
The double glazing industry has often struggled to capture the imagination of the general public. New windows and doors have often been seen as the poor relation to new cars and kitchens when it comes to home improvements and big ticket purchases. But thanks to composite doors, this seems to have changed.
Lets face it, white panel doors were never going to set the heart racing with the homeowner. But composite doors, with their wide range of new funky styles and colours give the consumer something fancy, something new and something they can tailor their tastes to. They can build their own unique door without having to copy their next door neighbour!
It’s even become a household name. Customers on a daily basis come in asking to see a particular brand of composite door in our showroom. This is something that almost no other window or door product has managed to achieve – certainly not within my time in the industry. And with that, composite doors have instilled a new energy into consumers when it comes to buying new windows and doors. I have noticed clients getting more enthused by purchasing new windows and doors. It is something they want to be proud of and show off. All thanks to the choice and uniqueness of what composite doors brought.
Skins and woodgrains
Not all are fans of the composite door however. One distinct feature of a composite door is it’s very heavy wood grain GRP/plastic skin. Admittedly, the early versions of these GRP skins for bloody awful! Cheap, unrealistic toy-like door skins were common on early versions of composite doors. It wasn’t until serious money was pumped into the market that the quality of the woodgrain finishes started to improve.
Still, composite doors do have some haters out there. But I do want to make one final point before wrapping this post up. Whether you like Door-Stop or not, whether you like they way they do business and the way they entered the market with their unique business model, this single company is the reason why the composite door market is today. And why the fenestration industry has changed so much over the past few years. They have had an impact on our sector like no other and this sort of profound effect is so very difficult to achieve. So for that alone we as an industry should recognise this – mostly for the betterment of the industry.
Agree or disagree? Has the composite door really done all that much for the industry or is a lot of it just hype? All comments are welcome in the section below.
Changed it completely. Look, call me old fashioned but doors have been made from wood or steel for hundreds of years. I love PVCu as a material it has helped insulate millions of homes in the UK however plastic doors always drop and there is too much bounce, then theres the cylinder bumping issue. I supplied an early pioneer of composite doors in Portsmouth in the 1980’s they laminated a skin to the PVC door sash, they never bounced or dropped. Front doors now look great, they feel wooden, no maintenance, but above all they have detail that makes them… Read more »
I have installed upvc doors for many years, I always specify the highest specification as possible to ensure that the door will last as long as possible for my customer, however with composite doors I do not have to worry about that!
As long as the door have a good locking mechanism and a reinforced door frame they will last for over 30 years. I think that the composite doors have increased the spend in the industry, however we will find less replacement doors in future as the composites will last so long!
I’ll be a stick in the mud again then :) But I reckon I have changed more composite doors for failures than I ever have with door panels . This across a selection of manufacturers , varying from splitting, warping and fading , They do look great when fitted but is there a bit of a lottery when it comes to longevity? I really try to avoid selling red doors , red is not colour fast and they will fade it is just a matter of when , not if .
I’d agree that the composite has made a huge impact on the fenestration industry. At a time when sales of windows were falling due to the recession and diminishing market for first time replacements, composite doors offered a new ‘replacement ‘ product that could be sold both on its technical superiority and great aesthetics. We also joined the door industry in 2006 with our Signature Glazing Options aimed squarely at the developing composite market and have witnessed Door-Stop unarguably lead the way in building this market. Their fantastic marketing and industry defining ideas such the three-day delivery promise have benefited… Read more »
Yes, definitely! Composite doors have already created a history and a milestone in the fenestration industry. I feel the difference recently when I updated the doors in my house and company. Prior, I used timber doors that are good for looking, but not much durable. After then I switched to composite doors (after consulting with an expert), which are more durable, economic and in addition good looking as well. They are complimenting my house very well and influenced me to adopt them with full confidence even I suggests them to several people in my surroundings. Well, after installing composite doors… Read more »
Composite Doors have helped change the industry massively and like said in the blog, had a knock on effect to windows. Visit http://www.reliablelocks.co.uk/ for energy saving and secure windows and doors.
Composite doors can create substantial difficulties depending on manufacturer and composition. Because most do not have a “upstand leg” for sealing, then there are a plethora of seals that can make the door noisy and difficult to shut. The low threshold seals are often short and become split and unplugged in short time. Then there is bowing, even on the solid wood infill make. Splitting, particularly with foam filled darker colours facing the sun. As Kevin Ahearn above warned, I have just replaced a faded red door- only been in less than 3 years. Very disappointing! They do look very… Read more »
Also, Consider; Cambrian Windows went bust a couple of years back. The composite doors that they supplied to us seemed attractive, what with their aluminium perimeter acting as a closure leg. That same perimeter prevented the retained door finish expanding, resulting in split skins. They sent engineers out and also made promises. The upshot: Split doors, no surviving manufacturer to honour the guarantee, previously happy customers thinking we are the Spawn of the Devil and not ordering additional products, whilst we have to foot the bill to replace entire doors, removing more than the entire profit on composites during the… Read more »