Engineered Doors ( what the others foget to mention, but you will find it in the small print )
Most new doors that come off the shelf, and it does not matter how much you have paid for it, basically any thing that has not been hand made is now engineered. This is better in some ways, it is less likely to warp and it is normally knot free. Engineered timber has about 2 - 4mm thick veneer over a solid laminated hardwood but is still not perfect, if not protected, the veneer can bubble up. Also they do use fillers on these doors, near the join where the grain has splintered. When recieving a door to order, I always give it a close inspection, however they are very well packaged, and it can be differcult.This can not be avoided sometimes, and is not covered in the manufactures guarantee.
Most the doors you will find in door shops and d.i.y stores come from the same importer under many different names. I only fit the best of these, and the d.i.y stores tend to stock the worst of the bunch.
When it comes to any timber door or product, do not expect 100% perfection, part of the beauty of wood is the natural effects of it, the grain, knots and the shape.
I do always do my best to prevent these problems from happening, i. e. I saturate the bare wood with a water seal, and if you have gone for a fully finished option will give it 3 to 4 coats, plus a weather shield under coat.
All Timber is a natural material and therefore is subject to movement from changes in temperature and humidity.
That said I still give you 3 months after fitting (fullly decorated options only) to come back to me to make adjustments if movement has occurred.
Draught proofing.
If you are replacing your existing timber door for draught reasons, you may need to replace the frame as well. Most frame sets now come with a synthetic weather seal called Aqua Mac. This is rebated into the timber frame for maximum effect.
If your old frame is not rotten and you do not want to go to the expense of replacing the frame, we can rebate this into the timber door, how ever this is not as reliable and effective as the other method and very time consuming if your old door frame is out of squire. I do not offer this when we are decorating the door.
If we are making odd sized door sets we will advise that we price for rebating the Aqua Mac into the frame.
Even if you are having an A rated timber door set to order, there will always be imperfections in wood that let some draught in. But this is not a bad thing, building regulation state that you must now have vents fitted to doors and windows that are A rated. They discovered this where they have fitted upvc doors and windows to schools, and the children were fainting due to lack of air.
If this is not for you, I recommend one of our composite doorsets.
If you want something that looks like plastic, there is plenty of purpose made mass produced items out there!
My aim is to get it as perfect as humanly possible, and work with the building, remember it has come from a tree!
