It’s been a great start to the year so far! Much better than January 2012 and most of the people I speak to online are reporting great starts as well. So as we take stock for what has been a good first week, I’m going to talk about just a few of the products that I think might make a splash this year.
Bi-Folds
I really do think that this will be the biggest and best year for the bi-fold door. With the rise of orangeries and Ultraframe’s new Loggia, there is a great excuse to put bi-folding doors in the structure. They make a great up-sell product when trying to sell a conservatory and customers are really tuning in to the idea of opening a whole room or conservatory up by installing bi-folding doors.
They are a great modern addition to our industry’s overall product portfolio. They are also becoming more and more well know to the general public thanks to installers pushing the product and TV programs like Grand Designs showing the product in some of the UK’s best and funkiest housing projects.
Bespoke Entrance Doors
It’s amazing how the door market is evolving so quickly. Especially the front entrance section. Making a bit of a bold statement here, but I think this is the year when the growth of composite doors will slow, just a little bit. I think installers are starting to turn towards more structurally engineered like the ones from the Suffolk range from John Fredericks and the range Evolution do. These are the sorts of doors that are probably the closest thing to a traditional timber door. They look the business, structurally made a lot better, available in every colour, wood grained and have a plethora of different designs.
We phased these doors in last year and we found that they were very popular indeed. Once our customers had seen the advantages over composite, I would say nine out of every ten customers bought and engineered door over a composite. Importantly, these were decisions made completely by the customer and no coerced by us. So I think this year, with the demand for more traditional looking products on the rise, these will do well this years.
Loggias
Last year, Ultraframe unveiled what they hoped would help revolutionize the conservatory market. Feedback was positive from almost everyone and plenty are now being put into showrooms up and down the country. Crucially, it seems that installers believe in the products and like it. This is vital if they are to convince customers to go for something a bit bolder than a standard white box on the back of their house.
The product itself is good and boasts some impressive energy efficiency stats which will blend in well with an energy-efficient world. They look great too, which is of course vitally important to the homeowner.
I concede that not many have been fit for customers yet, but I am sticking my neck on the line here and saying that they are going to be very popular this year and in the years to come. But I think this will be the year they really get off the ground.
I know that throughout the year there will be various other products that find success, but it is the three above that I think we are going to hear most positively about throughout 2013. Please feel free to leave a comment below if you think that there are any other products out there which are going to make a big impact in our industry this year!
So what’s the benefits does a cruciform pvc panel door
A physically and aesthetically stronger door, designs that are more traditional – very much like the old timber doors – this is something which our customers seem to love. 14 point locking, far better that the handful of hook bolts available on most composite doors. Great range of colour options, finer wood grain effects, 70mm door sash as opposed to thinner comp door slabs. Lots of benefits! Definitely not just a panel door!
14 point locking system no way
DGB a 14 point door lock that has passed SBD and a 5 point (4 hook +deadbolt) lock that has also passed SBD are equal in terms of strength and security, also please remember that of those 14 points a lot of them will be rollers which do not provide any real locking anyway. Also once you put a 1 star with no security handle, or no star cylinder on it the lock is an easy target no matter how many locking points it has. The cruciform doors are not stronger than a composite door, the nanya slab achieves a… Read more »
Peter, As you began by comparing a 14 point SBD lock with a 5 point SBD lock claiming they are both equal in terms of strength and security, i find your argument on PVCu doors v composites holds little or no water as the same can be said of both types of door passing PAS24/SBD. The historic differentiators between the two products were aesthetics, both in terms of style and colour and to a lesser degree, thermal performance. With the recent product developments DGB mentioned above, the aesthetic issue has very much been overcome. In terms of thermal performance, there… Read more »
I have never seen a composite door yet perform as well as a PVCu door in a BS6375 weather test!
Then you should check out the numerous over rebated doors that are available.
Peter, I have witnessed 2 within the last 12 months, but thanks for the suggestion.
Interesting to see how to make a composite door perform as well as a PVCu door….route a rebate so that it looks and works like a PVCu door!!!!
No the easiest way is just to employ some decent fitters that can fit a door properly rather than relying on the rebate to hide there poor fitting
Phil, its a case of using the advantages of each product, some people see the lack of rebate a problem as they prefer to hide there poor fitting behind it or believe it has a better weathproofing etc. Like wise you then add the advantage of the composite door slab which is far superior to a panel door (looks, security, thermal, feel etc) and then some will believe that its a perfect door as it takes the best from both worlds. Personally a composite door shouldnt have an over rebate as its designed to look like a timber door likewise… Read more »