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I'm just getting prices for a new set of [made to measure] hardwood french windows and have been given the option of multipoint lock (£120 + VAT extra).
I'm guessing that this activates a number of locking mechanisms to increase security. Do they provide a better door/door seal as well? - just wondering as we're in a fairly exposed situation and this door faces the worst of the weather.
Are these locks worth the extra or is there anything else that helps with the security and seal?
If they include shoot bolts into the frame top and bottom working off a single handle, then yes they are worth it for ease of use and for security (otherwise you are relying on the secondary door to hold everything).
With regard to making a better seal, this would be more applicable to (more flexible) pvcu than hardwood although it's bound to help.
With regard to the OP...
We have hardwood (European Oak) double doors opening to some pretty atrocious weather (the view shown is across to Stainburn Forest and the edge of the Yorkshire Dales at the highest point in Harrogate). Although I love the doors, they are a bitch to stop water getting in (the prevailing wind blows water under/over/through any gap it can find). The doors also expand and contract so much with the seasons (so much that in winter they are hard to open whereas now they open very freely). They have two lots of seals on the doors + storm guard plus raised threshold yet water can sometimes still get past.
I would ensure you check with the fitter that the windows you are fitting will be as water-tight as they can possibly be (or consider uPVC)...
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I have a hardwood back door with built in rubber seals and the wind still drives the rain in somehow - I've spent ages with mastic and sealant strips trying to seal it properly, but never managed it 🙁
Multi point may just lock both leaves of the doors together along the edge, or eeven better shoot bolts top and bottom into the door frame.
You need the system that offer both, as if you have just side locking, all the thief has to do once inside the property, is open the barrel bolts top and bottom of the door and push with a bit of force at the centre and theyre open.
Also remember never ever leave the keys in the door, as they will walk, and if somebody does gain entry , thats an easy escape route for them.
Some insurance compaines wont quote with out them
I would ensure you check with the fitter that the windows you are fitting will be as water-tight as they can possibly be (or consider uPVC)...
I've thought about uPVC (I'm impressed with its sealing capabilities) but the opening is just a bit too wide for them to do it in just a pair of doors, so we'd need a pair of glass panels with double doors in the middle. This is what we have now but I want more glass.
Yeah there are fixed size limits for uPVC doors/windows etc - I know my father in law struggled with both and has had to compromise on both occasions.
mastiles_fanylion, very nice!
Op deadlocking stopped a hamburgular from breaking in as his kick-footprints all over my suggested the multilock did its job.
Ali is the way to go, all the benefits of PVC but without being so ugly. Powder coated in a nice RAL. You won't regret it. It's the future!
If going for timber, dont forget hinge bolts, and non loose pin hinges, also brass cabin hooks to hold the doors open.
mastiles_fanylion, very nice!
Cheers 🙂 made sense to make the most of the view we get - even though it means we don't have a yard to speak of anymore 🙂
To the original poster, and anyone with any intrest, all doors need to be fitted with safety glass, the installer/manufacturer will suggest toughened because its lighter, but Laminated is much stronger, and will just crack, unlike toughened with turns in glass crumble when hit with a sharp object, leaving a nice big opening toeither enter or leave your property.