What are the most secure front doors?

Written by Thom Emerson

Your front door is one of the most important aspects of your home. It is the first thing people see when they arrive at your property. It adds kerb appeal and can enhance the appearance of your home’s façade. It protects against harsh weather conditions and helps to improve your home’s heat retention capacity. Perhaps, most importantly of all, it safeguards your property against any attempts at forced entry.

If you’re on the market for a new entrance door and security is your priority, you’ll want to make the best decision about your new front door. To help you to make a fully informed choice for your home security improvements, here’s a look at the security credentials of some of the entrance doors available today.

What material is best for a front door?

The first thing you need to consider when replacing your front door, is which material you prefer. This is often viewed as a purely aesthetic decision. Your front door’s material will, however, have an impact on its security performance.

Composite door security

In the 21st century, all entrance doors undergo rigorous testing to meet both stringent security and thermal performance regulations. Whatever front door you choose, your home will be more secure with a new front door. In terms of security performance, composite doors regularly top the list for their security performance. Strong, robust, and designed to last, composite doors feature a GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) outer layer over an insulating polyurethane foam core which will resist even the most sustained attempts at forced entry. We would generally agree that in terms of material, Composite doors are the most secure.

uPVC door security

This doesn’t mean that you should overlook other front doors. uPVC front doors are still extremely popular and are the most cost-effective option. Modern advancements in technology mean that they now rival other materials for their security standards and meet all the necessary regulations.

Timber and aluminium door security

Timber and aluminium are both inherently strong materials and make excellent front doors. Timber doors are sturdy and robust and in some traditional properties are the best choice for your home. Aluminium doors, on the other hand, are perfect for more contemporary homes with their sleek and stylish appearance.

The importance of a front door’s locking system

Your entrance door’s locking system is the most important factor when it comes to home security. Most forced entry attempts are focussed on penetrating the door’s lock. Today, front door locks are rigorously tested under real life conditions to prevent forced entry. Many locks are anti-bump, anti-drill and anti-pick and have been specifically designed to repel these common ways of gaining access.

At Ideal Windows, we fully understand the importance of home security. That’s why all our front doors come with multi-point locking systems as standard. Whichever material you choose for your new front door, you can rest assured that your home will be protected. Multi-point locking systems secure a door at several points along the profile of the door. When the lock is engaged, a steel hook is activated which secures the door in place making it almost impossible to force entry. With a complex key-pin to support the system, its highly unlikely that even the most ‘sophisticated’ burglar will be able to pick or force one of our multi-point locking systems.

How can I upgrade my front door security?

As mentioned above, all our front doors provide outstanding levels of home security. If, however, you want to upgrade your front door’s security performance, you have several options.

• • Toughened glass – Re-enforced glass is a great way to boost the strength of any glazed sections on your front door
  • Security accreditation – All our entrance doors easily exceed today’s security standards meeting stringent PAS24 and Secured by Design requirements.
  • Kubu Smart locking – Many of our front doors are compatible with the latest Smart security system. Kubu lets you know via your phone whether your door is locked and if it has been compromised.
  • Fire doors – At Ideal Windows we offer a range of high performing fire doors. These doors provide 30 minutes protection against the spread of fire and smoke and are an excellent option for homes in multi-occupancy buildings.

We hope that this look into front door security has been useful to help you make a fully informed decision about your new entrance door.

If you’d like to find out more about our front doors and their security capacity or any of our products and services, get in touch today. Give us a call on 0800 731 8761 or contact us online.