WHAT MAKES A QUALITY DOOR?

THE QUALITY OF A KITCHEN DOOR DEPENDS ON FOUR THINGS:

1. The grade of the MDF used in the manufacture - it can be premier, second or third grade. Premier grade is a heavy duty material and is uniform throughout in its construction. Inferior grades are "laminated" with a less dense, "softer" layer in the centre. Doors made from premier grade MDF are less likely to warp or bow than inferior grades, which is particularly important with wardrobe doors which tend to suffer these problems because of their size.

Also, it's essential to use only premier grade MDF if you want a deep routed pattern on your door like the "Westbury" or the "Oxford" (pictured right) because the pattern would otherwise penetrate deep into the "soft" internal layer and the vinyl would not adhere properly to this soft inner core. Watch out for ranges which feature only shallow routed patterns on their doors!


Westbury


Oxford

2. The thickness of the veneer. Some vinyl veneers are as little as 0.25mm thick and are known as "profile wrapping grade" vinyls. These are primarily intended to be used to wrap cornice, light pelmet and other accessories (where the thinner grade is more flexible to fit the complicated profiles) and where the finished article is not likely to be subjected to such intensive wear as a door. Some Companies use this cheaper veneer on doors to save money.

Better quality doors use "pressure vinyls" which are usually between 0.45mm and 0.6mm thick. These doors will take more abuse from normal everyday knocks.

3. The quality of the adhesive used to fix the veneer to the door. Adhesives are much more sophisticated than they were a few years ago but the better adhesives have been developed at a price which some manufacturers are unwilling to pay. Thus it is that doors from some factories will "delaminate" after just a few years leaving the customer with a big bill to replace them.

4. The sophistication of the machinery used plays a part and with cheap machines costing as little as £30,000 and others, using the latest technology costing over £500,000, there is a lot of scope for a manufacturer to economise in this department

All our vinyl doors are made from the finest materials on technically advanced machines and conform to the stringent specifications needed to comply with British Standards BS 6222 and we can supply further details of this on request

So, if you are tempted to save the odd pound or two per door (and that's all it is likely to be) pause for a moment to ask yourself if the saving might be a false one even in the short term, let alone the longer one.

Maurice Gallard
The Replacement Kitchen & Bedroom Door Company