Gerda Doors: Much More Than a Composite Door
Gerda Doors: Much More Than a Composite Door
When Danny Williams, managing director of Pioneer Trading, questioned the poor quality and lack of service received from the industry’s leading composite door brands, he set about sourcing an alternative brand. His aim was to find a composite door that presented acceptable standards of manufactured quality and installed performance.
Danny searched far and wide and settled on a range of doors produced by Polish manufacturer Gerda, relatively unknown here, but well known and respected throughout mainland Europe. Danny Williams points out that labeling Gerda doors as ‘composite’ doors does not do them justice.
He began his search for an alternative composite door to sell in the UK but quickly realized that Gerda doors don’t fit the traditional mold of mass-produced, GRP-skinned, foam-core products. The engineering and manufacturing process behind Gerda doors set them apart from most doors sold as composites.
The Steel and Aluminium Difference
One exceptional feature of Gerda doors, according to Danny, is that they are faced with steel or aluminium, making them unique in the market. Furthermore, their design and construction differ significantly from conventional composite doors.
Steel-faced doors are a unique offering in the home improvement sector, and Danny highlights that no alternative has been found yet. Additionally, Gerda’s aluminium doors are gaining popularity among homeowners looking for a complementary option for their aluminium windows and garden doors.
Unmatched Thermal Efficiency
Gerda doors offer outstanding thermal efficiency, with front-to-back dimensions ranging from 60mm to 88mm and thermal performance between 0.79 W/m2K to 1.3 W/m2K.
Security Beyond Comparison
Gerda prioritizes security across all its products, a feature rarely found in the specifications of composite residential doors available in the UK. These doors boast a three-chamber reinforced aluminium internal construction with PU cores, set into reinforced aluminium outer frames.
Standard security features include multi-point locks, Teflon-coated strike plates, and anti-prise pins. Gerda provides the highest specification hardware, with Fuhr components widely used.
Impressive Sales and Reception
After the launch of Gerda at last year’s FIT Show, sales have been impressive: “We have been actively selling and installing doors in British homes since August and sales are now in full flow through a number of installers in the UK. And each of those is offering Gerda as an upmarket product that sits above their standard composite door offer,” he confirms.
The Showroom Experience
Whatever the specification might be on paper, the quality of Gerda doors is best appreciated when sold through showrooms, says Danny: “Last year’s FIT Show was overwhelming for us because Gerda doors are most impressive when people can see and try them for themselves: the weight, the feel, the way the locks and handles work.
Gerda doors sell themselves when people have the opportunity to handle them because conventional ‘composite’ doors cannot match the feel and operation offered by Gerda.”
Quality Sells: Gerda Doors setting a New Standard
Installer partners have reported that homeowners are willing to invest more in Gerda doors when presented as an alternative to traditional composite residential doors. This willingness to spend more is a testament to the perceived quality and craftsmanship of Gerda doors.
Once they have made the comparison, adds Danny, the majority of retail customers are prepared to pay the difference over conventional composite doors. Installers looking at Gerda for the first time at the FIT Show last year, understood that.
“Even though I have been in this business for a long time I was reminded that quality sells,” says Danny. “And whilst I still have my issues with supplying doors to customers that are demanding specific brands of doors that are manufactured down to a price, when people are able to make comparisons, they will always go for the better product, as long as it is not ridiculously more expensive. And that is what we have with Gerda.”
In conclusion, Gerda doors stand out as a superior option in terms of quality and specification when compared to other products in the UK market. Despite being manufactured from various materials, labeling them simply as ‘composite’ doors does not accurately reflect their unique attributes in the UK market.
