Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?
Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a double glazed
upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the other doors in the
scheme are like mine and also the windows, which are double glazed, are all
wood framed. Someone else have replaced their windows and doors with upvc
and they stand out like a sore thumb. I have also read that replacing wood
with upvc actually lowers the price of the house.

Thanks Tricia

Tricia wrote:
Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the
winter? Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a
double glazed upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the
other doors in the scheme are like mine and also the windows, which
are double glazed, are all wood framed. Someone else have replaced
their windows and doors with upvc and they stand out like a sore
thumb. I have also read that replacing wood with upvc actually lowers
the price of the house.

Thanks Tricia

Is that a hallway? if so have vestable door and frame added with good draft
proofing.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Tricia wrote:

Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?
Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a double glazed
upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the other doors in the
scheme are like mine and also the windows, which are double glazed, are all
wood framed. Someone else have replaced their windows and doors with upvc
and they stand out like a sore thumb. I have also read that replacing wood
with upvc actually lowers the price of the house.

Well you can get hardwood double glazed doors - double glazing does not
have to equate to uPVC! If the current door has enough rebate depth (or
could be modified to have enough) then you could simply reglaze it with
DG sealed units. Another less attractive option would be a large
polycarbonate sheet fixed to the inside of the door as secondary glazing.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"Tricia" wrote:
Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?
Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a double glazed
upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the other doors in the
scheme are like mine and also the windows, which are double glazed, are
all wood framed. Someone else have replaced their windows and doors with
upvc and they stand out like a sore thumb. I have also read that replacing
wood with upvc actually lowers the price of the house.

Thanks Tricia

A glazing company might be able to make two secondary glazing panels to
cover the top and bottom halves of the door but that area of glass and frame
would make the door very heavy therefore the frame and hinges need to be
strong enough. The bottom panel would have to be toughened glass, and maybe
the top also. An alternative to glass would be two clear acrylic secondary
glazing panels, which would avoid the weight problem and can be done DIY.
Other than that, all you can do is draught-proofing around the frame or a
heavy door curtain. Double glazed plastic doors are now available in colours
other than white but I haven't seen any in the style of your front door.

"Tricia" wrote in message
...
Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?
Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a double glazed
upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the other doors in the
scheme are like mine and also the windows, which are double glazed, are
all wood framed. Someone else have replaced their windows and doors with
upvc and they stand out like a sore thumb. I have also read that replacing
wood with upvc actually lowers the price of the house.

I dealt with a door that had unique Victorian glass in it by fixing panes of
2mm thick Perspex on the inside, using a frame of wooden beading to hold it
in place. It almost certainly wasn't as good as purpose built double
glazing, but it did make a noticeable difference to comfort levels.

The generic name for Perspex is acrylic and it comes as cast or drawn. Cast
acrylic is optically clearer, which may be important for what appears to be
a vision panel in the top centre of your door. Drawn acrylic is cheaper.
There are various other clear sheet plastics you can use. Polycell used to
do a film that you stuck to a door or window, then heated with a hair dryer,
to get it flat, although that only lasted a year or two. Clear polystyrene
is cheap, but I have found it yellows with age. Polycarbonate is optically
clear, by far the strongest option, but also expensive. PETg falls somewhere
between acrylic and polycarbonate in both strength and price.

Colin Bignell

"Tricia" wrote in message
...
Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?
Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a double glazed
upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the other doors in the
scheme are like mine and also the windows, which are double glazed, are
all wood framed. Someone else have replaced their windows and doors with
upvc and they stand out like a sore thumb. I have also read that replacing
wood with upvc actually lowers the price of the house.

Thanks Tricia


Draught proofing (strip sides and top and brush strip on lower edge). This
helps a lot but really a thick curtain does the most, I'm afraid! A second
door/vestibule (as mentioned elsewhere) would also work but that's getting a
bit disruptive! A curtain is emininetly DIY-able as well (if perhaps not
that attractive).


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

Tricia wrote:

I have also read that replacing wood with upvc actually lowers
the price of the house.

rubbish. 99.9% of buyers are not that discerning and /prefer/
the draughtproofing and sound insulation that upvc dg gives.

"." wrote in message
...
Tricia wrote:

I have also read that replacing wood with upvc actually lowers
the price of the house.

rubbish. 99.9% of buyers are not that discerning and /prefer/
the draughtproofing and sound insulation that upvc dg gives.

We must be two of the 1%. We wouldn't have upvc for the world and can't see
how it can be more draughtproof or insulative than well fitting timber.

Mary

In article ,
The3rd Earl Of Derby wrote:
Is that a hallway? if so have vestable door and frame added with good
draft proofing.

I'd agree if there is room. Also makes a vast difference to noise from
outside.

--
*Save a tree, eat a beaver*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Tricia" wrote in message
...
Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?
Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a double glazed
upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the other doors in the
scheme are like mine and also the windows, which are double glazed, are all
wood framed. Someone else have replaced their windows and doors with upvc
and they stand out like a sore thumb. I have also read that replacing wood
with upvc actually lowers the price of the house.

Thanks Tricia


=====================
A curtain is the best short term solution. It can be thick and heavy and much
more attractive than a door dripping with condensation and you can remove it
when it's not needed.

In the long term a solid wood door (no glass) would be much warmer than your
present door which is about 50% glass.

Cic.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users.
It has removed 339 spam emails to date.
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The message
from John Rumm contains these words:

Well you can get hardwood double glazed doors - double glazing does not
have to equate to uPVC!

I'm about to make one out of cedar!

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

We must be two of the 1%. We wouldn't have upvc for the world and can't see
how it can be more draughtproof or insulative than well fitting timber.

I ain't to bothered about the aesthetics of uPVC, what annoys me is the
very high lip to get over.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

nightjar nightjar@ wrote:

Polycarbonate is optically
clear, by far the strongest option, but also expensive. PETg falls somewhere
between acrylic and polycarbonate in both strength and price.

Not come across PETg before... do you have a source for it?

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Guy King wrote:
The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

We must be two of the 1%. We wouldn't have upvc for the world and can't see
how it can be more draughtproof or insulative than well fitting timber.

I ain't to bothered about the aesthetics of uPVC, what annoys me is the
very high lip to get over.


According to a DG fitter I was chatting to, you can have an aluminium
threshold on a upvc door. Means it's no higher than a normal wooden step.

I have also read that replacing wood with upvc actually lowers
the price of the house.

rubbish. 99.9% of buyers are not that discerning and /prefer/
the draughtproofing and sound insulation that upvc dg gives.

We must be two of the 1%. We wouldn't have upvc for the world and can't
see how it can be more draughtproof or insulative than well fitting
timber.

Well, the 0.1%. Count me in too. However, the effect on price varies
according to location. In a nice Victorian area, uPVC will knock thousands
off the house. On a scummy concrete estate, it is an advantage.

Christian.

"Guy King" wrote in message
...
The message
from John Rumm contains these words:

Well you can get hardwood double glazed doors - double glazing does not
have to equate to uPVC!

I'm about to make one out of cedar!

There's posh!

Mary

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

"Guy King" wrote in message
...
The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

We must be two of the 1%. We wouldn't have upvc for the world and can't
see
how it can be more draughtproof or insulative than well fitting timber.

I ain't to bothered about the aesthetics of uPVC, what annoys me is the
very high lip to get over.

I've complained about that many times, you're the first person to have
agreed about it! I think it's a death trap, it would be outlawed in any
other situation.

Mary

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Christian McArdle wrote:
I have also read that replacing wood with upvc actually lowers
the price of the house.

rubbish. 99.9% of buyers are not that discerning and /prefer/
the draughtproofing and sound insulation that upvc dg gives.

We must be two of the 1%. We wouldn't have upvc for the world and
can't see how it can be more draughtproof or insulative than well
fitting timber.

Well, the 0.1%. Count me in too. However, the effect on price varies
according to location. In a nice Victorian area, uPVC will knock
thousands off the house. On a scummy concrete estate, it is an
advantage.

Christian.

/obviously/ there are exceptions but, in general, upvc double glazing
puts at least 3 to 5k on the value of a house in the same way that
installing central heating puts at least 3 to 5k on the value of a house.

they are both major boxes on the buyers ticksheet.

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 23:02:02 GMT, "Tricia"
wrote:

Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?

Simple old method - put a curtain pole the width of the passage above
it and fit a heavy curtain from floor to pole.

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

/obviously/ there are exceptions but, in general, upvc double glazing
puts at least 3 to 5k on the value of a house

I suggest that's only if the alternative is single glazing.

Mary

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
nightjar nightjar@ wrote:

Polycarbonate is optically clear, by far the strongest option, but also
expensive. PETg falls somewhere between acrylic and polycarbonate in both
strength and price.

Not come across PETg before... do you have a source for it?

I would be surprised if you haven't come across it; it is the stuff plastic
drinks bottles are usually made from. I came across it as a material for
vacuum forming clear rigid packaging. I didn't go ahead with the project,
but ended up with a few flat sheets, which came in quite useful when making
some splash guards. It bends quite well with a hot air gun. I presume most
plastic material suppliers could source it.

Colin Bignell

nightjar nightjar@ wrote:

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...

nightjar nightjar@ wrote:


Polycarbonate is optically clear, by far the strongest option, but also
expensive. PETg falls somewhere between acrylic and polycarbonate in both
strength and price.

Not come across PETg before... do you have a source for it?


I would be surprised if you haven't come across it; it is the stuff plastic
drinks bottles are usually made from. I came across it as a material for

Aha, now you put it in context, yup have seen it in the recycle logo on
containers etc. Just had not seen it generally available in sheet form.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Mary Fisher wrote:

I've complained about that many times, you're the first person to have
agreed about it! I think it's a death trap, it would be outlawed in any
other situation.

Oddly it is (kind of)! IIUC building regs require new builds to have
flat access for wheelchairs etc, so presumably one has to bury the lip
of the frame into the floor if one is to meet them, and use this type of
door frame.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Mary Fisher wrote:
/obviously/ there are exceptions but, in general, upvc double glazing
puts at least 3 to 5k on the value of a house

I suggest that's only if the alternative is single glazing.

Mary

bingo ! you stick to diy, I'll carry on buying and doing up houses which
previously had no DG or CH, modern kitchen, bathrooms, etc.

The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

I'm about to make one out of cedar!

There's posh!

Very. The cedar windowframe has turned out very nice indeed, but we
decided not to clad the whole of the inside with it as much would be
hiding behind other stuff and wasted. Apart from the smell, of course.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The message t
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

I've complained about that many times, you're the first person to have
agreed about it! I think it's a death trap, it would be outlawed in any
other situation.

I'm surprised they're allowed with the new disability access rules.
Since we have at least two wheelchair using visitors, and the wife's
wobbly anyway the back door will soon be ripped out and replaced with a
home-made wooden one using a nice low-profile weather strip from this
bunch...

http://www.stormguard.co.uk/MenuProductsSill.html

Probably this one...
http://www.stormguard.co.uk/Products...erguard15.html

I've just finished the doorstep from the garden to the conservatory and
when the cement's set I'll start putting in the door frame then making
the door - again using a low-profile seal.
http://www.stormguard.co.uk/Products...imlineRio.html

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The message
from John Rumm contains these words:

I've complained about that many times, you're the first person to have
agreed about it! I think it's a death trap, it would be outlawed in any
other situation.

Oddly it is (kind of)! IIUC building regs require new builds to have
flat access for wheelchairs etc, so presumably one has to bury the lip
of the frame into the floor if one is to meet them, and use this type of
door frame.

If you can be arsed to read this...
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/upl...F_ADM_2004.pdf
you can work out whether it applies to new doors on buildings or doors
on new buildings or both or neither.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 23:02:02 GMT, "Tricia"
wrote:

Hi I have a wooden front door with single glazed glass panels in it.
http://i8.tinypic.com/25i2cgg.jpg

Is there anything I can do to it to make it lose less heat in the winter?
Other than a curtain? I was thinking of replacing it with a double glazed
upvc door but it would not look very nice as all the other doors in the
scheme are like mine and also the windows, which are double glazed, are all
wood framed. Someone else have replaced their windows and doors with upvc
and they stand out like a sore thumb. I have also read that replacing wood
with upvc actually lowers the price of the house.

Thanks Tricia



Composite doors look like wood but have better security and (I think)
thermal efficiancy eg
http://www.harlequinweb.co.uk/composite.html
http://www.compositedoors.com/

In article ,
. wrote:
bingo ! you stick to diy, I'll carry on buying and doing up houses which
previously had no DG or CH, modern kitchen, bathrooms, etc.

I'd guess the sort of house you buy to do up might not be the choice of
many here, though.

--
*He who laughs last has just realised the joke.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Guy King" wrote in message
...
The message
from John Rumm contains these words:

I've complained about that many times, you're the first person to have
agreed about it! I think it's a death trap, it would be outlawed in any
other situation.

Oddly it is (kind of)! IIUC building regs require new builds to have
flat access for wheelchairs etc, so presumably one has to bury the lip
of the frame into the floor if one is to meet them, and use this type of
door frame.

If you can be arsed to read this...
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/upl...F_ADM_2004.pdf
you can work out whether it applies to new doors on buildings or doors
on new buildings or both or neither.

85 pages!

And from Prescott's office !!

Would I understand it?

Mary

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
. wrote:
bingo ! you stick to diy, I'll carry on buying and doing up houses which
previously had no DG or CH, modern kitchen, bathrooms, etc.

I'd guess the sort of house you buy to do up might not be the choice of
many here, though.

That's what I thought :-)

Mary

Mary Fisher wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
. wrote:
bingo ! you stick to diy, I'll carry on buying and doing up houses
which previously had no DG or CH, modern kitchen, bathrooms, etc.

I'd guess the sort of house you buy to do up might not be the choice
of many here, though.

That's what I thought :-)

Mary

you'd be surprised.