Great work workmanship, lovely guys. Go above and beyond, highly recommend
Woodfellas manufacture and fit bespoke timber storm doors from our Glasgow workshop, serving tenements, period homes, and properties across Central Scotland.
Every storm door we build is made to measure using sustainably sourced hardwood, with double glazing and enhanced security fitted as standard. We’ve been crafting timber doors and windows in Glasgow for over 20 years, and storm doors are one of the products we’re asked about most, particularly on the city’s tenement streets where an original timber storm door is part of the building’s character.
A storm door is the outer front door on a traditional Scottish home. On Glasgow’s tenement flats, you’ll find them at the entrance to the close or at the threshold of individual flats, where they open into a small vestibule before you reach the inner door. The storm door takes the worst of the weather so the inner door doesn’t have to, and in summer it can be left open to let light into the vestibule and show off the tiled close behind it.
The tradition goes back to the 1870s, when it became standard practice in larger Scottish homes to fit an outer door in two leaves with a vestibule between them and an inner glazed door beyond. That layout spread across Glasgow’s tenement housing through the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and it’s still the arrangement you’ll find on thousands of properties across the city today.
Storm doors are often larger than standard external doors. Tenement door openings in Glasgow can reach 36 inches wide and 84 inches tall, which means off-the-shelf doors from a showroom rarely fit. That’s why bespoke manufacturing matters for storm doors more than almost any other door type.
Most storm door companies in Glasgow sell UPVC or composite doors with a woodgrain-effect finish. They look passable from a distance, but up close they don’t fool anyone, and on a sandstone tenement close they look exactly like what they are: plastic pretending to be timber.
A real timber storm door is different in ways you can see and feel the moment you open it.
Glasgow’s tenements were built with timber doors for a reason. The grain of the wood, the weight of the door as it swings, the way a painted or stained finish sits on a natural material rather than a moulded sheet. These details matter on a building that was designed around real materials, and they’re only possible with timber. On a listed building or a conservation area property, a timber storm door isn’t just the right aesthetic choice. It’s often the only option the council will approve.
A well-maintained timber storm door can last 60 years or more. Many of Glasgow’s original Victorian storm doors are still in daily use after well over a century, which says a lot about the durability of properly made timber joinery. UPVC doors typically last 20 to 25 years before the material degrades, yellows, or becomes brittle. When that happens, the whole door goes to landfill and you start again. A timber door can be sanded back, repaired, and refinished rather than replaced.
Timber is a natural insulator, which means the door itself conducts less heat than a UPVC or aluminium equivalent at the same thickness. Combined with double glazing in the panels and proper draught-proofing around the frame, a timber storm door creates an effective thermal barrier between the close and the outside. That makes a real difference to heat retention in the vestibule and the flat beyond, especially during Glasgow’s colder months.
If a timber storm door gets damaged, whether through rot at the bottom rail, a cracked panel, or wear around the lock, the affected section can be repaired without replacing the whole door. UPVC and composite doors can’t be repaired in the same way. Once the material fails, the door is finished. Over the lifetime of a property, the ability to maintain and repair a timber door rather than replacing it saves both money and waste.
Great work workmanship, lovely guys. Go above and beyond, highly recommend
We have used ryan for many shopfront projects over the years .He has always delivered a fantastic job regardless of the complexity and time scale.My clients always comment on the finish and detail.Would recomend wholeheartedly.
Ryan and co are talented, courteous, hard-working perfectionists, who clearly love what they do. Based on their fantastic work replacing our storm doors and back door, I 100% recommend them.
Ryan and his team have been a pleasure to do business with. Two beautiful new sash and casement windows fitted in our B-listed home in one day with no mess or stress. No issues and outstanding workmanship. A++++
For properties where a natural timber look is preferred, or where the door needs extra durability, hardwood is by far the best choice, which is denser, and naturally more resistant to wear than treated pine. We recommend the right timber for each project based on the property, the exposure, and the finish you want.
We manufacture storm doors in a range of designs to suit different properties, from traditional Victorian tenement doors to plainer, more contemporary styles for newer builds or extensions.
The classic Glasgow storm door. Solid timber panels in the lower section with glazed panels above, giving you privacy at ground level and natural light through the glass. The number and arrangement of panels can be matched to the original door or designed to complement the building’s period and style. This is the most common configuration we manufacture for tenement properties across the city.
Where maximum light is the priority, a fully glazed storm door lets daylight flood into the vestibule and close. The glass sits within a timber frame and can be double glazed as standard for thermal and acoustic performance. This style works well on properties where the close or vestibule is a feature worth showing off, or where the entrance faces away from the street and doesn’t need the same level of privacy.
Some Glasgow tenement closes have wider openings that take a pair of doors rather than a single leaf. We manufacture double storm doors as a matched pair, built to the same specifications and finished identically so they sit together properly in the frame. Double storm doors are common on the city’s grander tenement blocks, particularly in the West End and Southside, where the close entrance was designed to make an impression.
We offer a range of glazing options for storm door panels, including clear glass, obscure glass for privacy, and decorative designs. All glazing is double glazed as standard. For the door itself, we can add raised or fielded panels, mouldings, and ironmongery that matches the period of the property.
Storm doors have two jobs: keep the weather out and keep the property secure. We build every door to do both.
Glasgow gets a lot of rain and wind, and a storm door takes it all head-on. Our doors are built from treated timber that resists rot and decay, with weather seals around the frame to prevent water ingress and draughts. The storm door protects the vestibule, the inner door, and the close from direct exposure to the elements, which is why they were fitted in the first place and why replacing a worn-out storm door with a properly built one makes such a noticeable difference to the feel of the entrance.
Every storm door we manufacture comes with enhanced security as standard. Multi-point locking secures the door to the frame at several points around its perimeter when you turn the handle, which is a significant upgrade on the single-point lock fitted to most older storm doors. The combination of a solid timber door, double-glazed panels, and multi-point locking gives you a front door that’s as secure as it is good-looking.
A storm door is the outer front door on a traditional Scottish home, typically found on Glasgow’s tenement properties. It sits at the entrance to a vestibule or close and provides weather protection and security for the property behind it. The name comes from its original purpose: shielding the interior from Scotland’s storms and heavy rain.
Glasgow’s Victorian and Edwardian tenements were designed with a storm door at the entrance, opening into a small vestibule with an inner glazed door beyond. The storm door protects the close and vestibule from wind, rain, and cold, while the inner door provides additional insulation and privacy. In summer, the storm door can be left open to let light and air into the close.
For tenement properties and period homes, yes. Timber insulates better at comparable thicknesses, lasts significantly longer when maintained, and can be repaired rather than replaced. Timber is also the only material accepted by Glasgow City Council for listed buildings and is strongly preferred in conservation areas. On a sandstone tenement, a timber storm door looks right in a way that UPVC never manages.
If your property is a listed building, you’ll need Listed Building Consent from Glasgow City Council before replacing the storm door. In conservation areas, you may need prior approval, particularly for doors visible from the road. Outside these areas, replacing a storm door doesn’t usually require planning permission as long as the new door meets building regulations. We can check your property and advise.
Yes. All the storm doors we manufacture come with double-glazed sealed units in the glazed panels as standard. The double glazing reduces heat loss and outside noise compared to single glazing, while the timber frame provides additional insulation around the glass.
If you need a bespoke timber storm door for your Glasgow property, call us on 07920 057592 or fill in the form on our contact page. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
We also manufacture sash and case windows, bi-fold doors, and timber shop fronts across Glasgow and Central Scotland.
