Can you recommend a door company

[Shanika]

Hi guys,

Please could someone recommend a good and reasonable company I could get a new victorian terrace wooden door and fitted. I am looking to replace a pvc door which i've inherited from previous owners. So far I've been to london door company, which is way out of my budget and Distinguished doors in forest hill (previously known as dawes for doors) which seems to have pretty bad reviews.

Would someone be able to advice how much a solid wood or stained glass door might cost to be made and fitted?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[giggirl]

I bought a door from Distinguished Doors (previously Dawes) in Forest Hill and it was the single worst decision I made in my entire history of house renovation. I bitterly regret the day I walked into their showroom. Bitterly. Even just seeing their name on your post makes me shudder.

[Newboy]

I can recommend you speak to Alex at Crown Joinery in East Dulwich. Www.crown-joinery.co.uk

They made a door from our home and made it from scratch with beautiful joinery and precision. The quality is fabulous and he will make the job perfect for you. He also gave us a choice of woods in wpdifferent price brackets so that we could choose how much to spend.

Email him at: [email protected] and I am sure he will be happy to come and work out a price for you.

A real quality local craftsman. He also made some really detailed window pieces for us too - all bespoke.

[giggirl]

Thanks Newboy - I haven't heard of Crown but I will give them a call because they look like they do good work and I will eventually have to replace the truly awfull piece of tat that Distinguished Doors of Forest Hill supplied!

[worldwiser]

I've been looking for a door company in ED for ages - nothing seems to come up to scratch. At the end of the day, if you make a door and its frame from wood, anyone can get through it in about 30s. It matters not a jot what kind of locks you put on it. Also, I haven't found a wooden door that is totally draughtproof or does much for reducing sound. We used to have a Matadoor (just google) and they're beautiful and amazingly secure - the whole thing is steel and concrete but manages to look like wood. Except they cost around 4-5k. A tank wouldn't get through them. Or, for around the 1-1.5k mark you can have a Rockdoor (again, just google) which is supremely secure too, doesn't look far off wood and is thermally and acoustically way way way superior to anything made from wood.

[Ms Blueberry]

I also recommend Crown Joinery, but be warned - he really takes his time. I've had doors fitted before and the job is about 3 hours. Alex and his mate took 9 hours - and whilst it's perfect in every way - I wasn't prepared for my entire day taken up with this. The problem is more lack of communication. There's no information forthcoming from Alex as to how long the door will take to build, when he can fit it, how long it will take to fit, etc. He also seems to demand to install the door at his convenience, which took a little managing. Slightly irritating, but worth the hassle. Would I use Crown again? Yes, if I knew I could spare the time.

[Shanika]

Thanks guys for all the great advice. I am waiting to hear back from crown Joinery. I've also discovered two other great door companies. Chislehurst door company and The door company Bromley who can design their own stain glass for the doors to a pattern I want. Thanks again.

[Tracy551162]

Hi,

Thanks for posting useful info on your front door. Can I ask what you paid with Crown Joinery? I had a quote from London Door Co for 4k! So was looking for something a bit less? I think sound reduction and no drafts are super important and the reviews for the London Door Co sound like they meet these criteria. Do you feel your door is draft free and reducing noise? SO tough to know whether to bite the bullet and pay 4k or shop around.

Many thanks,

Tracy

[Tracy551162]

Hi, please could you tell me how much you paid for your door with crown joinery. London Door Co quoted me ?4k! which is a bit much. THis is for a 30s door with stained glass and side window also stained glass. What sort of door did you get? Do you find it cuts down noise from outside and drafts?

Any extra info would be greatly appreciated, as I am having a huge dilemma whether to pay 4k and get a great job or try and get something cheaper.

Thanks for posting helpful info.

Tracy

[Chips56]

We had two doors fitted by london door company and don't feel it was worth the 4k we spent, they had to come back as the door was getting stuck ,screws are going rusty in locks and the dead locks were not aligned properly so didn't lock and we were given only one key for two dead locks.

They did come back and sort the door locks and re hung the door but we still feel we didn't get what we paid for .

[Mum2be]

Why not get a local carpenter to do the job? These big door company's just charge extra for glossy magazines and high paid sales people when it is a carpenter who fits the door anyway. Most local carpenters fit doors on a daily basis. Looking more like ?200 plus materials not these silly quotes.

[shar]

Shanika, did you have your door replaced?

I'm about to move into a victorian terrace that needs the garden door and frame replacing. No idea if I need a hardwood door or if I can use softwood - really have a limited budget but I want to get this right. Can anyone recommend a joiner, or, at least give me an idea of the cost?

Thanks

[woodworker]

Thats true "NewBoy" they do great jobs (Crown Joinery) THEY ARE AMAZING! really good quality of woork,good quality timer, and higth skils ! thats for sash windows, main doors, wardrobes etc.

sad that some people arround here dont understand what High quality means.

[Andy Bell]

Hey. What about the door: I would not take the wooden door, they are not as reliable as metal. А year ago I bought the front door it cost me almost 3000 dollars. Not cheap. But it is sturdy and looks good. I can advise taking only a glass door metal they most robust. My door look like this http://www.milanodoors.com/catalog/exterior-doors/doors/milano-12-silver-exterior-door/

[Tombola]

Another recommendation for Alex at Crown Joinery - he swapped a rotting, drafty back door on our kitchen extension with a chunky, hardwood, double glazed, draft-proofed replacement and a matching window.

When he came round to fit it, he had a nightmare - the previous door seemed to have been installed in little more than cardboard, but he worked solidly for two days, found an emergency bricklayer and did a fantastic job.

A double-glazed hardwood door isn't cheap (c. ?1200 supplied and fitted), but it has made the kitchen much warmer already.

[MrsP]

I would like to recommend Voysey and Jones. They fitted a new door and fanlight for us last month. They were absolutely excellent from start to finish. They offer exactly the same service as London Door Company but are half the price!

http://www.voyseyandjones.co.uk/

[gm99]

I would like to second the recommendation above for Voysey & Jones, from whom we recently bought a new front door and fanlight to replace the worn out Victorian originals. The door has given the house (outside and in) a massive lift, and a real sense of security. The whole process went really smoothly (e.g. everything happened exactly when we were told it would) and their attention to detail was really impressive (including the carpenters who fitted the door, who spent a total of around 14 hours getting everything as close to perfect as possible). No question it is a big investment, but in our case it worked out around 1/3rd cheaper than the London Door Co directly equivalent product (same design, same locks etc). Very happy.

[howdood]

A word of warning: we have had a *very* bad experience with Alex Fernandes of Crown Joinery. I can't go into full detail here but would strongly recommend that anyone considering using them PMs me for more information about our experience before proceeding with an instruction; we are currently moving to prepare legal action against them.

The short version: Crown Joinery have supplied us with a front door and fanlight which - because of a mistake marking up a template in the workshop - is 10cm narrower than it ought to be to fit the brickwork. Since I pointed out the mistake, Alex has stopped replying to emails and is not answering or returning my calls; he has also refused to make a site visit with my builder to look at the issue and discuss further.

As I said, PM me if concerned and I'll happily pass on email correspondence, photos etc.

h

[howdood]

Thank you for replying Alex. I'm disappointed that it took a post on this forum to get a response from you! I have resent you my last email to [email protected], which explains in full what the mistake is with the measurements on the template that you made up in your workshop (which I had never checked or been asked to approve before you emailed me a picture of it yesterday).

Do I have your assurance that if I call you tomorrow you will either answer or return my call? I have been trying to contact you by phone to discuss since Friday afternoon and left many voicemail messages on your mobile but so far have not been able to get a response. Also can you confirm whether you are happy to visit the site to see what the problem is in person? My builder and I have both tried to get you to come and look at the problems with the door but so far you have not been willing to do so.

Thank you!

Howard

[howdood]

Hi - just so it doesn't seem like there is absolutely no progress here, I should add that I did manage to have a short phone conversation with Alex from Crown Joinery on Wednesday morning. However, that conversation was inconclusive and since then he has not responded to any of my emails or phone messages requesting clarification.

I think it's only fair on Crown Joinery that I state what I understand to be their position regarding this dispute, which is that - since I visited the workshop while the door was being planned, to discuss an alteration to the position of the fanlight - I bear total liability for any subsequent mistakes in marking up templates or drawings for the door.

However, Alex from Crown Joinery has not responded to repeated requests for him to pass on photos of the blueprint scale drawings for the door which - according to him - I "approved" by attending the workshop during the planning process. At time of writing he is also refusing to agree to a site visit with my builder to see the issues with the door himself.

So we are currently a couple of grand out of pocket and stuck with a front door, frame, and fanlight that do not fit our house, and no way of getting a satisfactory response from the company that supplied it. Does anyone on the forum have any suggestions about how to proceed in this situation? I know of two other people who have been in the situation of receiving a front door which was incorrectly sized, but in each of those cases the company involved immediately replaced the door with a correctly-sized one at the company's own expense. I'd be very grateful for any advice forum members have in this regard.

[RWellman]

[email protected]

07737 692658

Piotr made and fitted a traditional back door with 6 panels his rates were very reasonable - cheaper than a new door.

[Chapps]

We've just had a front door made and fitted by Alex at Crown Joinery and are very happy with the result. The cost was good compared to the major door companies (who we also got quotes from) and we are impressed with the quality of the craftsmanship and the service. He's a perfectionist and so ended up painting additional parts of the door frame to ensure the door looked its best.

We would recommend Alex.

[howdood]

Glad to hear that other people have had good experiences with Alex at Crown Joinery; however I can't personally second the claim that he is a "perfectionist": one of the minor issues I have been trying to raise with him is the fact that three of the four door hinges on the door he supplied have screws broken off in the holes: the bodies of the screws have just been left in the holes instead of being drilled out and replaced (see photos below).

I've also added a photo of the door as it sits in the entrance of our house - easy to see that it is too small for the brickwork. Unfortunately Crown joinery has ignored my last eight emails, and has not returned any of my voicemail messages.

I would strongly advise anyone thinking of using this company to ensure that they get a copy of all plans in advance (with exact measurements and dimensions), and a statement in writing of exactly what is going to be done. I'd also recommend double-checking any measurements to your own satisfaction. We were not asked to approve the measurements on Alex's scaled plans for the door and yet (as I understand it) his claim is that we are responsible for the mistakes made in measuring up and planning it.

I was hoping that I would be able to have a sensible discussion with Alex at Crown Joinery about the issues with the door, but he has still not responded to my repeated requests for a meeting or site visit with my builder. Our next step will be for our builder to install a temporary door, and return the "bespoke" door and frame to Crown Joinery as not fit for purpose as it is the wrong size for the house. We are devastated that our hopes for a high-quality front door to finish our home have come to this, and have now had to cancel our holiday plans for this year because of the expense of dealing with this and finding another joinery company to supply a door that fits our house.

[mpm105]

I've also unfortunately had a bad experience with Alex at Crown Joinery. I was told the quality of his work was very good and we went ahead and asked him to quote for several items in our house including a new set of balcony doors in the existing frame.

Once we agreed to go ahead with these Alex measured up and then several weeks later he unilaterally announced what day he would install them. It took him quite a while to try to fit the doors as the doors were new but the frame old, and so required adjusting several times. Once finished, there was a large gap between the two doors at the bottom, and Alex said it was best to wait a week or two as often the doors would settle and the gap could close of its own accord. If not, he would arrange a day to come back and adjust them. I paid him that night as I trusted him. Whilst at my house Alex spent a long time talking to me about his craftmanship, his pride in his work, and complaining about many of his 'bad' customers. He seemed like a total primadonna but I thought his 'perfectionism' would bring him back.

I really believed that Alex was a perfectionist and that he would come back to adjust the doors once they have settled so that the gap was fixed. That was 10 months ago and I have been strung out for a long time. We have exchanged maybe 50 emails. Since that day, Alex has also bizarrely visited us 3 times to talk (a lot!) about how he could fix the doors, the conclusion being the same each time that he would have to take the door off, shave the wood back here and there and rehang. However, he never had time to do it as he needed his assistant.

He visited us 3 weeks ago and told us that he would be coming this weekend. When he visited last he told me he no longer fitted new doors in existing frames as it was too difficult. He assured me it wasn't my fault! Thanks.

Today he emailed to say he couldn't come today after all and when I complained he emailed to say that he was under no obligation to fix the doors as I had contravened his 'policy' of not fitting new doors in old frames. He had only done the original job as a gesture of good will (not the ?2000 I paid him) and he would come when he could.

So, that is it. I do not expect Alex to ever fix the doors. I am an idiot for waiting for 10 months, but we had our first baby 6 months ago and I constantly thought my emails to him about the freezing draught all through winter would motivate him. All winter we had to put tape on the doors to keep the draught out. Alex has taken no responsibly whatsoever and is now blaming me for contravening his new made up 'policy', and insisting I went against his strongly worded advice. This is the first time in 10 months that I have heard this.

I would therefore recommend caution if using Crown Joinery and Alex. Things may go well but if they don't, I wouldn't expect Alex to take any responsibility or to fix the problem. It looks like there are others who have had this problem. If anyone can recommend someone who can rehang a door that would be very helpful.

[Reviewer101]

I suggest you DO NOT use VOYSEY & JONES

The company is insolvent. It has recently changed its name to 59 BPR Limited and a new company called Voysey & Jones Trading Limited has been set up.

The owner previously had a company called London Door Company Highbury Limited, which became insolvent and was put into a creditor's liquidation.