Buying and fitting external doors

[caz]

hello

Has anyone fitted external new doors on thier property , if so did you get them from the UK , as they seem to be a lot cheaper than in any of the french DIY stores I have looked at , if so what about the difference in the frames for the doors

I'm in Deux Sevres dept

I would appreciate any guidance / advice form anyone , I need to fit 1 new front door and 3 stable doors to annex/ kitchen area

Looking forward to responses

 

caz

 

   

 

[Kitty]

We're just installing a new front door this month but I'm relying on a local carpenter.  Sadly, the existing door, which is an incredible 9 ft by 5ft, has had its day.  The carpenter has helped me choose a standard sized door at the local Gedimat and is boxing in the surrounds either side and putting a fanlight above.

We didn't look at doors in the UK because we wanted the door to look and be French, with French door furniture (easier to sort out if there's a problem in the future).  We also have shutters on our front door and so weren't sure that UK doors could be adapted.

By the way, the one exception is that we have English locks (with keys cut in the UK) on the advice of our insurance broker.  The keys are harder, if not impossible, to cut in France and so are more secure.  The first English lock we installed, however, couldn't withstand the local salty conditions (we live near the coast) so we bought better quality ones the next visit back to the UK.

 

[clarksinfrance]

We installed new windows and doors, the main door we bought from Lapeyre and fitted ourselves, about a year after we installed it, we noticed the hardwood turning black (mouldy) on a joint, so took photos to the shop and explained the problem. Lapeyre came and inspected the door, took their own photos, and then rang us 3 days later to arrange delivery and fitting of a new door. We didn't have to do anything. While on the surface it may look like I am saying don't buy from Lapeyre, in fact the opposite is true. I would not hesitate to buy from, or reccommend Lapeyre doors, they are certainly not the cheapest, nor the most expensive, but if the service we received was anything to go by, our shop had excellent customer service. If you buy a door in the UK and you have a problem, how are you going to get them to look at it, or even take it back? Just a thought.

[kai]

I would reccomend French, I have fitted cheaper end of the range from brico depo and have found them to be good quality. They come ready fitted to a frame and threshold with locks and hinges in place, just add lock barrel and handels of your choice. Have also fitted lots of doors in Britain, whilst they seem cheaper at first you just get the door, then figure out which frame, threshold, hinges and locks to use, fetch your drill bits and chisels and start assembling. Good luck.