After years and years of selling quality solid hardwood composite doors, Solidor, who manufactures over 60,000 doors per year, announced a GRP foam composite door slab at this year’s FIT Show. So, why, after all this time touting the benefits of timber, have they gone down the foam route as well?

I’m going to take a look at the reasons why, and what part of the market they’re aiming at.

The issue of dual-sourcing

For many installers and fabricators, Solidor’s hardwood composite door slab has been marketed as the “high-end” composite option. You can command a better margin on this product, the build quality is high, home owners recognise that this is the premium end of the market. Which is fine, and for those home owners with the budget to spend, these make a great entrance door option.

However, not all home owners do in fact have that budget, and for that reason some installers and fabricators also offer a foam composite door slab from other suppliers as a “value” alternative. But because Solidor until now didn’t offer a foam alternative, they were losing out on that business.

So, Residor was created to help provide existing Solidor customers a foam slab option which they could offer to home owners as a more affordable way to purchase a composite door for their property.

Sounds simple, but there was one hurdle in which to get over before Residor could come to market and that was security. It is well known that most GRP doors aren’t ready for the new PAS24:2016. Most indeed have failed the new regulations, making the illegal for extensions and new builds.

Making it pass

Solidor had to make sure that their foam GRP slab passed the new PAS24:2016 regulations. So, they used a 3.8mm thick skin, which is twice as thick as most other skins on the market. They use the tried and trusted Ultion high security door cylinder. And they combine that with a high security multi-point lock from ERA.

All combined means Residor is new regs compliant and the best foam door in the industry. It also means that all existing Solidor customers who dual-source can now look to Solidor to give them their cheaper foam slab. And that is the whole reason behind their endeavor.

They’re looking to increase their market share even further, by bringing in the business of those that dual-source. It’s a smart move.

It won’t be a product that overtakes their timber core business. That is rightly at the top of the market and will always be sold as the high-end options for most installers and fabricators. But it will put pressure on the rest of the foam slab market that is either currently struggling to meet the new regulations or simply isn’t passing at all. And with Residor, Solidor will be aiming to become the one stop door specialist.

You can explore the Residor product and range by going to their website: www.residor.co.uk

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