With the UK continuing to experience some of the driest and hottest weather on record, Endurance® Doors is issuing a timely reminder of the benefits of its industry leading bowing guarantee.
The process of bowing can affect all composite doors and normally happens in the first twelve months of their use. Its occurrence should be temporary however and leave little to no lasting consequences
Bowing is caused by the natural expansion and contraction of the door and its component materials due to changes in the ambient temperatures both inside and outside of the property.
It is most common in the summer and winter because these seasons experience extremes of hot and cold weather.
After bowing, and as temperatures normalise, the door should return to its original flat plane.
Endurance is so confident this will happen with its products that it guarantees to replace any of its doors that stay bowed by 3mm or more, free of charge and using its own field-based service engineers.
In comparison, most other composite door manufacturers only guarantee to replace doors that stayed bowed by upwards of 7mm – a tolerance that is more than double.
Scott Foster, group marketing director, at Endurance® Doors comments: “A bowed composite door can cause serious issues for the homeowner, reducing customer satisfaction and harming the reputation of both the installer and manufacturer. It can also result in call backs creating remedial work for the installer and damaging profit margins.”
He continues: “Most people would struggle to open and close a door that’s bowed by 7mm let alone lock it. We believe 3mm is more acceptable and provides far greater peace of mind.
“We are able to offer this unrivalled level of reassurance because our doors are premium products with an innovative design and high quality construction.”
Part of Endurance’s confidence stems from its use of 48mm solid timber cores which are made up of 15 layers of cross laminated Nordic spruce.
This lamination method provides greater cross dimensional stability and improved bowing resistance. As one layer begins to bow due to heat induced expansion or contraction, the next layer counteracts this by bowing in a different and correctional direction.
Endurance’s insistence on using Nordic spruce also ensures further benefits.
Grown in certified and responsible managed forests where four seedlings are planted for every tree harvested, it is highly sustainable.
In addition, the use of the same material consistently throughout the door’s core makes its bowing behaviour easier to predict and subsequently manage.
In contrast, a number of other composite doors on the market use a core made from falcata which is a fast growing, low density timber, usually grown in Southeast Asia and with similar properties to balsa wood.
In many cases, these cheaper cores also employ timber from other species of tree alongside falcata which makes them more susceptible to bowing. This is because different types of wood react to heat in different ways – and at different rates.
To provide further protection from the heat build-up which can cause bowing, Endurance products also employ innovative CoolSkin technology.
All composite doors complement their core material, whether that’s solid timber, veneered lumber or foam, with an outer skin made from a plastic like ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) or GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic).
This skin enhances the door’s durability and ensures increased resistance to scratches, fading and discolouration. It can also attract and store heat adding to the risk of bowing and especially if the skin is a dark colour like black or navy – both of which remain popular choices for front doors.
To overcome this, Endurance doors employ a foiled skin that includes a white layer of substrate positioned between the skin and the door core.
This CoolSkin technology helps to prevent the heat build-up that causes bowing by reflecting 90% of heat reaching the door.
“With composite doors, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for” says Scott.
“Our doors are not the cheapest on the market, but they do offer exceptional value. Their price point is indicative of their engineering excellence and their ability to offer superior longevity and performance. In essence, they are an investment.”
He adds: “Our focus at Endurance® Doors on achieving standards second to none in both our product and service offering is all part of our commitment to supporting the success of our installer partners.
“It maintains our ethos of ensuring that ‘Together, we grow.’”
