Front Doors: Aluminium Vs Timber

Changing your front door is a cost-effective way to create impact and a positive first impression. A statement-making entrance door sets the tone for your whole property, adding style and kerb appeal, as well as enhancing security and energy efficiency.

Timber and aluminium are both great options for a design-led, high-performance entrance – but how can you decide between them and choose a front door that’s right for you? Here’s what you need to know.

Engineered Timber Front Doors

Timber is a great choice for your front door. It’s super-strong, secure and resilient. Sustainably sourced wood is good for the environment, plus it’s a natural insulator and offers a textural warmth that can’t be replicated with any other material.

Design-wise, timber provides excellent flexibility, as it can be fashioned to work in both traditional and modern homes. Aluminium, on the other hand, is more one-dimensional and only really works in a contemporary setting.

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Kloeber’s timber FunkyFront door makes a bold statement as part of this modern home

Aluminium Front Doors

This metal gives doors a sleek, precise look that suits modern buildings. It’s strong yet light, so it’s great for making chunky panels with lots of insulation packed inside, and is a recyclable material.

Aluminium front doors are slightly more expensive than timber versions. However, self builders and renovators might opt for aluminium over timber to match the design scope of a contemporary home project.

Front Door Cost Comparison

Timber has generally been on a par with aluminium cost-wise. However, the manufacturing process for metal doors can be more time-consuming and expensive. While timber is simply cut and laminated together to form strong sections, aluminium must be extruded and the door systems need thermal breaks to reduce cold bridging through the frames.

As a rough guide, Kloeber’s timber front doors start at £2,100 supply-only (on a basic specification). An equivalent aluminium front door would generally cost an extra £1,000 supply-only. For instance, our aluminium UberFront doors start from £3,612 for a 75mm-deep panel; or £3,912 for a 90mm panel (which achieves a U-value of 0.8 W/m2K).

The aluminium UberFront range from Kloeber is available in 12 styles, including Spire – which features a long bar handle and sleek central vision panel. It’s been installed here with a flush threshold and two full-height sidelights

Upgrade Options

• Glazed vision panels – while it costs a bit more, integrated door glazing looks good, allows more light into your hallway and enables you to easily see who’s at the door.
• Upgrading locks & handles – depending on colour
  and length, a bar handle will generally cost £100+ more than a standard lever handle, for instance.
• Dual-colour finish – all our doors have a dual-colour option. It costs more but allows you to fully tailor the look.
• Side & top lights – extra glazing can be added to the side or above your door to match your design requirements.
• Other specification choices – there are lots of options for letterplates and spy holes, for example, as well as different threshold types to suit your project.

Front Door Installation Costs

Expect to pay between £500 and £1,200 to have a front door fitted, depending on the size, weight, product type and complexity of the install. Project scope will have an impact, too: there are economies of scale on larger projects, where there are more doors and windows to fit.

It’s a good idea to keep supply and installation with the same company, as they’ll be experts in their own products, whereas a third party may not be. Sometimes, it might be more cost-effective to appoint a local trade to fit the door.

Peace of mind is critical: whoever you select, you want to be confident in receiving a high level of service from a company you trust. Ultimately, this is the most important door or window in your property. It can make or break a house design – so it deserves thought to ensure you make the right choices.