External oak veneer doors, they are great as long as you follow the instructions and conditions. Yes, external oak veneer doors are lovely to look at and lovely doors to compliment your home.
Most of the manufacturers insist you must have a porch for your oak veneer door or at the very least a canopy, and if you dont, then be advised “Get a hardwood front door”. These hardwood doors are tried and tested decade after decade and weather the storms well (and also the sun when we get it !!). You see its all about moisture content, too much and any oak or hardwood door will swell, not enough and it will dry out with shrinkage. Its not that difficult to understand, you MUST treat your doors with the correct proceedures, for example, if you only coat the door with protection on one side then the door will pull, you must coat both sides of any wood door, oak or hardwood and of course the most important of all are the edges, tops and bottoms of any external door. Most companies are happy to exchange a problem door if you the customer has followed all the correct proceedures.
Please remember you the customer are the end user and of course the end finisher, therefore it is most important to seal or stain or paint you door correctly. If you do so you will get a great return from your front door, glazed or solid, but be warned, with oak doors, no canopy or porch, no guarantee. Any company that tells you different, well I leave you to your own thoughts on that one. We at the Front Door Shop want your business but not at any cost!!!
