As far as I am concerned, there are three main door types in the UK residential market at the moment right now:

As I have been tweeting some of the doors my company have been installing recently, some of you have been querying why I have been calling door type 3 as engineered doors. Most of you have either been calling it PVC or crucifix doors. Hopefully the images above will explain why we call engineered doors engineered.

In my own personal view, PVC doors are what number two are, full PVC panel doors. They have been around for years and most of the UK consumer base know this to be the typical “PVC” sort of door. However, with the rise of colours, wood grains and almost unlimited choice, panels are on the decline big time and the rise of the composite is well and truly here.

In fact door type number one has been on the rise for the last few years now and companies like Door-Stop are still reporting sales increases of 30%. The reason has been the very large range of designs, colours and glass options. Now customers have a type of door they can actually get excited about. No more days of just white, rosewood or light oak!

Over the past few years though, our biggest seller at our company has been door type 3, the engineered doors. With the added extras of different colours, frame arrangement and any sort of glass imaginable, the customers in our neck of the woods have really taken to this type of door. Add in the fact that it comes with full steel reinforcement in the frames and 14 point locking, the security aspect really does back up the overall performance and style of the door.

I simply cannot class an engineered door as a PVC door. Yes it might have the odd flat panel here and there, but it’s central construction, performance and contemporary looks set it apart totally from a standard PVC panel door. What we have also found is that by call door type 3 engineered, it helps the customer distinguish between the different types of doors on the market.

Soon though, I think that door type 2, the typical PVC door will have had it’s day. To put it into some perspective, I have sold just one PVC panel door all year…I think! Our client base now know what other options are out there and are determined to have something different to what they have had to put up with for the last 20 years. The looks of both the composite and engineered door trump PVC panels every time.

Personally, I believe there is nothing wrong with the PVC panel market going. Most panel companies have seen where the future of that market lies and have diversified into other markets like composites to secure the future of their business. At the end of the day, this is evolution going on right in front of our eyes and we all have to adapt with it.

I know some of you will still think engineered doors are PVC doors. If so, please leave a comment explaining why because I just cannot see it lol!