Your Guide to Stable Doors Designs & Prices.

Exterior Stable doors are unlike any other house door design. The way they look and the way they operate are totally unique, really setting them well apart from your typical standard front or back door.

Don’t be fooled by their rustic charm and county-cottage looks. Because the latest UPVC and Composite Stable Doors come with all, if not more, of the features and benefits you can get with any other type of front or back door.

With great levels of security, wide choice of visuals, excellent thermal performance and a very long life span, installing UPVC and Composite Stable Doors in your property are a great choice.

What are the unique features of Stable doors?

There are two elements to review here; the design and the function. In other words, how they look and how they work.

Stable & Cottage Doors

Stable Doors: How they work / How they look.

Standard Stable Door function.

UPVC stable doors are a 2-piece design. If you can imagine a regular door cut into 2 halves (top & bottom) you are getting the picture.

When you want to use them as a regular door, the top and bottom sections of the door can move in unison when locked together, or independently of each other when the centre lock is disengaged.

Alternatively, you can just open the top section inwards and leave the bottom section closed. You can think of it as a door that can “double-up” as a window. With the top open and the bottom closed it gives loads of ventilation and an excellent view of the outside (great for keeping an eye on pets or children who are outside in the garden).

Opening & closing options:

1. Close like a regular door, with top & bottom halves secured to each other.
2. When the whole door is closed, you can open the top half on its own.
3. Open like a regular door, with top & bottom halves secured to each other.
4. When the whole door is open, you can close the bottom half on its own.
5. The top section, when unlocked from the bottom section, always opens first.
6. The bottom section, when unlocked from the top section, always closes first.

Both sections have their own set of hinges and locks. It’s typical for the main handle to be on the inner and outer sides of the top half of the door. The bottom section usually has a key operated lock only on the outside and a “thumb turn” operated lock on the inside.

The doors themselves feature multi-point locking systems for added security & peace of mind. It is possible to have UPVC and Composite Stable Doors fitted to open outwards, but most folks have them fitted to open inwards like a regular door. However, opening out could be useful if the indoor space is tight.

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UPVC and Composite Stable Doors

Tilt & Turn Stable Door function.

A variation on the standard design is the Tilt & Turn stable door. In the case of this design, the top section is glazed and can be opened within the frame. Basically the top half of the door is a Tilt & Turn Window.

The glazed section can be fully opened (inwards) by tuning the handle one way, however it can also be made to lean backwards, or tilt, by turning the handle in a different direction. Be careful trying to open or close the door with the tilt function activated.

Image Credit: www.justvaluedoors.co.uk

Design options.

It is common to see stable doors where the both sections are the same size. But you can vary that, and 60 /40 splits give the doors quite a different look (top 60% / bottom 40%).

It’s your decision whether or not to have glass sections within the doors. Popular choices are to have the top section either feature a single small glass panel or to have Georgian bars (looks a bit like half a French door).

Having said that, there are quite a few other configurations of glazing available giving you the opportunity to make your door stand out from the crowd.

Glass

Solid cottage doors are available but, in the most part, its common to have the top section feature some sort of glazed element.

The glazing can very often be seen in the form of a single, double or triple small “porthole”. Whether that be rounded, square, rectangular or diamond shaped is down to your personal taste.

Larger glazed areas often take the form of plain glass, sometimes leaded or frosted.  Other times you may see the top section with Georgian bars or Astragal bars, giving quite a similar appearance to that of a classic French door design, albeit with the bottom half unglazed.

Glass used in doors is recommended to be tempered safety glass. UK building regulations also stipulate the compulsory use of safety glass in high traffic areas and around doors as follows:

• Any glass in a window below 800mm from floor level
• Any glass in a window that is 300mm or less from a door and up to 1500mm from floor level
• In any glazed door up to 1500mm from floor level.

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Stable & Cottage door designs.

Furniture

Choosing the type of furniture can have quite an impact on the overall visuals for your door. Letter boxes, handles, weather strips and even hinges can all be chosen to suit your taste or style. Options such as Brass, Chrome, Brushed Aluminium, Black or White are widely available.

If you fancy something different, there are some nice examples with prices here: https://www.willowandstone.co.uk/front-door-furniture/

Coloured UPVC and Composite Stable Doors

The range of colour for UPVC Stable doors is decent, with about 20 or so from which to choose in the form of “colour foils”. Foils are where the doors are wrapped in a colored skin that is baked on during manufacture – highly durable and can also be used to create good timber grain effect.

RAL powder coat painted doors can also be found. The colour range for, spray painted, coloured UPVC and composite stable doors is extensive with over 100 shades.

Some really nice colours include:

• Clotted Cream & Cotswold Biscuit,
• Painswick, Corse Lawn & Eclectic Grey,
• English, Irish, Golden or Silvered Oak.
• Number 10 Black or Rosewood

Sample of door colours

What is the difference between a Composite and a UPVC Stable Door?

In terms of both function and overall appearance, there is very little to choose between them. Both work in the same way and have more or less the same range of visual styling available.

The differences between composite and UPVC stable doors are in the construction and the price range.

Composite stable doors are manufactured using a surface made from GRP or Glass Reinforced Polymer in place of uPVC.  They feature timber sub-frames and UPVC edge banding.

The “entry level” or starting price range for composite doors is quite a bit higher than for UPVC doors. Average composite Stable door prices are often over £1,000.

How much do UPVC Stable doors cost?

We have selected prices for “supply only” UPVC stable doors because labour costs vary so much around the UK.

How much do Composite Stable Doors Cost?

The guide prices shown below do not include installation to give a more uniform comparison.

Let us help you find the best prices for UPVC Stable doors. We cover the whole of mainland UK with a panel of accredited professional suppliers & installers – quotes are free and without obligation.

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