Decisions, decisions.

The front door of our house is wood. It was a very fine door when new, I'm sure, but the years have taken their toll. It is south facing, so gets direct sun (on those seemingly rare occasions when the sun shines) and, like now, gets rain thrown against it. It's tough on a door. I probably didn't take enough care of it, and the varnish is flaked, the wood is bleached in most places and black in some places and the door has swollen in the damp, so it sticks badly - yet it doesn't fit the frame well so is drafty at the same time. It is also quite an old design, and is thin (so offers little insulation).

We need a new door.

We have looked at a lot of doors. The difficult part is that we both like the appearance of a solid wood (preferably oak) door. But that risks the same future (certainly if I don't take more care of it and re-coat it every couple of years). Composite doors are cheaper, require little or no maintenance, don't swell and shrink in the same way and are very common on houses around here but just don't look the same. So what should we do? Decisions, decisions.

Either way, we will reproduce (in a double glazed unit) the attractive stained glass side panels, one of which you see here.