28 April 2026
5 Signs It's Time to Replace Your Front Door
A front door rarely fails dramatically. It deteriorates quietly, year by year, until one wet morning it lets in a draught you can feel from the sofa. Here are five signs we look for when we're called out for a survey in Tonyrefail or Porth.
1. Draughts. If you can feel air moving across the threshold or around the frame on a windy day, the seals have given up. New seals sometimes fix it. Often they don't, because the door itself has warped a fraction off true.
2. Condensation between the glass. If your door has a glazed panel and you can see misting inside the sealed unit, that unit has failed. The unit can usually be replaced without changing the whole door — but if the door is more than 20 years old it's often worth replacing the lot.
3. Sticking or dropping. A door that no longer closes cleanly, or that you have to lift slightly to lock, is telling you the frame has shifted or the hinges have worn through. Both are fixable in the short term but rarely without a planned replacement in mind.
4. Locks that feel insecure. Old multi-point locking mechanisms wear out. If your front door still relies on a single Yale, an insurer will likely tell you it's not up to standard — and a determined opportunist will agree.
5. It looks tired. Less of a functional problem, more of an honest one. A composite door costs less than people often expect, lasts 25–30 years, and changes the front of the house entirely. Sometimes that's the right call.
We're happy to give you an honest read on whether a repair or a replacement is the better call. We're not in the business of selling you a door you don't need.