External back door replacement needed

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › External back door replacement needed

chez

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#302470 25-Nov-2022 22:50

I need to replace my old (1980s) Aluminium glass door due to its end of life and bottom door jamb got rotten due to water leak. It's the back door. I got quotes from two companies with the same style and single glazing, prices are 3.5K and 3.9K, supply and install. It's a bit steep. Is this a reasonable price? I'm wondering if I can replace it with a fiberglass exterior door (Parkwood, sold at Bunnings) and get a builder to install lowering the total expense. I understand that I need to paint it every two years but maybe 3-4 years since this is facing south and not getting direct sunshine at all. Does anyone replace their Alum door with fibreglass door and what is your experience plus expenses?

eracode

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#3001552 25-Nov-2022 23:10

Don’t understand why you need to replace the door when it’s only the sill that has rotted. Can you not retain the door and just replace the sill?

A photo would probably help here.

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timmmay

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#3001576 26-Nov-2022 07:23

Doors are expensive. We paid from memory $6k or $8k this year for a new aluminium door plus glass surrounds. It looks good but it doesn't seal properly, despite a lot of effort from the company.

PVC doors are much superior in my experience. We have two of them and they work well.

chez

93 posts

Master Geek

#3001639 26-Nov-2022 10:10

The door lock isn’t working. Rain is leaking through inside. It opens inside so it’s prone to water leak. I can get the rotten sill repaired but I’m worried that this door will give me problem again and again. The whole door with the jamb has to come off even if the sill has to be repaired only.

Bung

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#3001642 26-Nov-2022 10:30

chez: I understand that I need to paint it every two years but maybe 3-4 years since this is facing south and not getting direct sunshine at all.

Packwood recommend monitoring the condition of the paint finish every 2 years not repainting that often.

neb

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#3001787 26-Nov-2022 18:02

timmmay: PVC doors are much superior in my experience. We have two of them and they work well.

+1 for fibreglass/PVC/synthetic composite doors, they look like painted wood once painted and are really tough and durable. Just make sure you get decent-quality ones, not some no-name Bunnings special from China with cardboard filler.

(Yes, they do make hollow-core doors with cardboard honeycomb cores).

Edited to add: Ours is a Parkwood Duramax, just be aware that the quoted price is the base price and not the actual price, which adds up for glazing, SS hinges, and the door frame. Definitely worth the money though.

timmmay

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#3001799 26-Nov-2022 19:29

Don't paint PVC! I have 10+ year old PVC that looks as good as new, just needs cleaning every six months with soap and water.

Also make sure you get adjustable hinges so they seal properly. We got thermally broken aluminium doors and that range didn't have adjustable hinges, which is why it doesn't seal properly. The standard range has them even though they're cheaper. This was just one vendor though.

chez

93 posts

Master Geek

#3001859 26-Nov-2022 23:29

timmmay: Doors are expensive. We paid from memory $6k or $8k this year for a new aluminium door plus glass surrounds. It looks good but it doesn't seal properly, despite a lot of effort from the company.

PVC doors are much superior in my experience. We have two of them and they work well.

What do you mean it doesn't seal properly?

chez

93 posts

Master Geek

#3001860 26-Nov-2022 23:33

neb:
timmmay: PVC doors are much superior in my experience. We have two of them and they work well.
+1 for fibreglass/PVC/synthetic composite doors, they look like painted wood once painted and are really tough and durable. Just make sure you get decent-quality ones, not some no-name Bunnings special from China with cardboard filler. (Yes, they do make hollow-core doors with cardboard honeycomb cores). Edited to add: Ours is a Parkwood Duramax, just be aware that the quoted price is the base price and not the actual price, which adds up for glazing, SS hinges, and the door frame. Definitely worth the money though.

Bunnings fibreglass is from Parkwood according to their advert.

neb

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#3001863 27-Nov-2022 00:09

chez:
Bunnings fibreglass is from Parkwood according to their advert.

Sure, but they also sell all sorts of other stuff alongside the good-quality ones. What I was pointing out was to not get distracted by the price.

timmmay

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#3001875 27-Nov-2022 09:09

chez:
timmmay: Doors are expensive. We paid from memory $6k or $8k this year for a new aluminium door plus glass surrounds. It looks good but it doesn't seal properly, despite a lot of effort from the company.

PVC doors are much superior in my experience. We have two of them and they work well.

What do you mean it doesn't seal properly?

The door closes and locks, but you can sometimes see a bit of daylight around the edges, and it sounds like it's not sealed.

Westview aluminium said the house wasn't quite square and they couldn't get it to seal. Given it cost $8k I wasn't impressed then and I'm still not, six months later. It's single sealed and no adjustable hinges, my PVC doors are MUCH better designed and equipped. They replaced the whole door and surrounds once because after install a senior guy came out and said he wasn't happy with it and it looked like it'd been dropped in the factory.

I've been considering getting back to them as it's still less than a year since install. For $8k it should really be better. I was going to ask them about rubber seals like the pvc does use, their seals are a bit different.

chez

93 posts

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#3002268 27-Nov-2022 22:06

That's no good if it's sealed like that. I don't see any of a bit of daylight around the edges of mine. Frankly, my house isn't square in many areas so that's concerning for me. Regardless whether the house is square or not, these guys should be able to fix and install the door properly.

eracode

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#3002283 28-Nov-2022 00:35

timmmay: … you can sometimes see a bit of daylight around the edges, and it sounds like it's not sealed.

Westview aluminium said the house wasn't quite square and they couldn't get it to seal.

Totally agree with @chez - even if it’s correct that house isn’t quite square, any installer who knows what they’re doing should be able to allow for that and put the door in properly so that it seals. That’s not a valid reason or excuse for not sealing and is simply not good enough - unacceptable regardless of what price you paid - and $8k is a helluva lot of money for a single door.

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