When to repair or replace a front door
Rot, delamination, failed seals and heritage value — the cost crossover where an Australian front door stops being a repair and starts being a doorset.
Door Sales editorial · 6 November 2025
Archive
All articles
Every long-form essay currently on the desk, newest first.
Fire doors for Australian homes and units
A fire door is a tested doorset under AS 1905.1, not a heavier internal leaf. The tag, the closer and the seals are the product.
Marcus Chen · 30 September 2025
Replacing a front door in weatherboard and brick
Reveals, flashings, brick ties and weatherboard scribers — how to swap an Australian entry without leaving a week of weather in the hallway, or a gap the overlay will notice.
Elena Vukovic · 18 September 2025
Acoustic doors for apartments and home offices
Rw ratings, seals and solid cores — how to specify an Australian apartment entry or a studio door that keeps piano, podcast and hallway noise in their proper rooms.
Elena Vukovic · 17 September 2025
Security screen doors that actually work
A security screen is mesh, frame, hinges and a lock that an insurer will recognise. 316 stainless and a diamond grille are not the same product as a flywire door with a key.
Tom Ashford · 19 August 2025
Warped, sticking doors and humidity
Seasonal movement, planing, hinge packing and coastal humidity — why an Australian timber door binds in March and rattles in September, and what to do before you reach for a plane.
Elena Vukovic · 14 August 2025
Wet-area doors, laundries and waterproofing
Bathrooms, laundries and AS 3740 interfaces — moisture-resistant cores, thresholds and ventilation, so the door leaf is not the thing that quietly rots first.
Door Sales editorial · 12 August 2025
French and bifold doors for Australian living
French pairs and bifolds both open a room to the garden. They ask different things of the weather, the flyscreen and a heritage streetscape.
Priya Nair · 22 July 2025
Contemporary Australian entry design
Pivot blades, recessed porches and the lighting of a house number — how a contemporary Australian front door balances privacy, weather, BAL and the street.
Priya Nair · 10 July 2025
NCC access, thresholds and mobility
Livable Housing Design, 820 millimetre clear openings, ramps and door closers — how the National Construction Code and AS 1428 changed the way Australian houses meet the street.
Marcus Chen · 25 June 2025
Sliding, hinged and pivot doors compared
The action of a wide opening decides the weather seal, the screen and the beam over your head. Choose the hardware path before you choose the glass.
Elena Vukovic · 3 June 2025
Energy ratings, weather seals and condensation
WERS, air leakage and thermal breaks — why Australian doors sweat, whistle and waste heat, and how climate zone should change the specification.
Marcus Chen · 20 May 2025
Queenslander lattice and screen traditions
Lattice, hopper windows and screen doors on a high-set verandah — how Queensland houses manage airflow, termites, salt and the habit of living outside the hall.
Priya Nair · 15 May 2025
Garage door buying guide for Australia
Sectional, roller or tilt is a structural choice as much as a visual one. Wind region, BAL rating, insulation and the motor all belong on the same page.
Tom Ashford · 14 May 2025
Bushfire BAL ratings and door specification
AS 3959 from BAL-LOW to Flame Zone, ember seals, screens and garage doors — how to specify an Australian door that matches the rating on the lot, including retrofits.
Marcus Chen · 9 April 2025
Internal doors, sizes, styles and costs
Australian internal doors still live in a 2040 millimetre world. Choose size, core and finish for the room, not for the showroom photograph.
Elena Vukovic · 9 April 2025
Federation and Victorian door restoration
Four-panel leaves, highlights and leadlight under heritage overlays — when to repair an Australian Victorian or Federation door, and when a reproduction is the honest job.
Priya Nair · 3 April 2025
Composite and uPVC doors in Australian climates
uPVC versus composite skins, heat distortion, colour fade and recyclability — when plastic doors make sense in Australia and when timber is still the quieter specification.
Elena Vukovic · 24 March 2025
How to buy an entry door in Australia
Measure the opening, decide the swing, then choose a leaf that can survive salt, humidity and your BAL rating. The hardware is not an afterthought.
Elena Vukovic · 18 March 2025
Hinges, soft close and modern ironmongery
Butt, concealed and pivot hinges, the three-hinge rule, fire-door ironmongery and soft-close closers — how Australian doors actually hang, swing and shut.
Door Sales editorial · 27 February 2025
Glass doors, safety and AS 1288
Grade A safety glass, markings, human-impact locations and privacy films — how Australian glass doors stay legal, visible and liveable without turning the living room into a risk.
Marcus Chen · 19 February 2025
Steel security doors without the fortress look
Steel skins, multipoint locks and rust — how to specify a secure Australian entry that still belongs on a weatherboard street rather than a compound.
Tom Ashford · 15 January 2025
Door hardware finishes for salt and sun
PVD, powdercoat and 316 stainless on a coastal verandah — which finishes survive Australian salt and ultraviolet, and which chalk into a maintenance hobby.
Tom Ashford · 9 January 2025
Painting and finishing exterior timber doors
Prep, oils versus paint, ultraviolet and recoating cycles — how an Australian timber entry survives a west wall, a south porch and the salt it cannot see.
Door Sales editorial · 5 December 2024
Aluminium doors for coastal Australia
Powdercoat, anodising, 316 screws and thermal breaks — how aluminium doors survive salt, sun and cyclone country without turning into a maintenance hobby.
Elena Vukovic · 21 November 2024
Door locks that meet Australian insurance
Deadlocks, AS 4145, keying alike and the clauses insurers actually read — what a locksmith specifies so a claim is not lost on a nightlatch.
Tom Ashford · 14 November 2024
Cavity sliding doors and space-saving openings
A cavity slider is a wall with a door in it. Get the pocket, the plumbing and the head right, or the leaf will become furniture you cannot reach.
Elena Vukovic · 12 November 2024
Solid timber, engineered and hollow-core doors
How solid timber, engineered and hollow-core leaves actually behave in Australian houses — movement, paint, cost, and the rooms where a cheap door is the honest choice.
Elena Vukovic · 17 October 2024