Force 8 are mostly well-known for their arch profile bending, but over the last ten years they have developed their own unique composite doors. As the market is flooded with look-alike traditional doors, Force 8 have focused on the more contemporary. A good amount of the designs are unique to Force 8 and have been developed by the company. Although Force 8 is preliminary a manufacturer, they still retain a small team of installers for the local area, which gives them direct feedback when it comes to composite doors, both in design and style, and any fitting issues.
Their recent outing at the FIT Show enabled the company to display some of their exclusive products, such as the Force 8 Stable Door. What makes it unique is not just the decorative moulding on the front, but it can be fabricated to open either inwards or outwards, which as far as the company is aware is not possible with any other manufactures. Also on show was a new set of Composite French doors which utilise a traditional night latch and five lever mortice lock, making them very easy to be installed and user friendly.
One of the stars of the display was the new Touchkey lock system which uses biometrics rather like a smart phone and can be operated by a smart phone as well. This was mounted on a part arch door within one of Force 8’s unique single length profile bend frames. The frame has no weld breaks which makes it structurally stronger and looks aesthetically better. All the latest innovative products will be on display at their factory in Hazel Grove, Stockport.
The Composite doors you see today from Force 8 have been under constant development, and they have solved many of the common issues concerning the doors systems, both in fabrication and installation. One of the recent issues Force 8 have solved is the bowing problem in hot weather, particularly dark colours with a south facing aspect. They range from the door not closing properly, or very stiff, to not being able to open the door at all. A major problem highlighted was as the door bows, the hooks can bind against the keeps, making it difficult to unlock, and this issue is accentuated with the new pull latch systems. The normal remedy is to replace the door, but that does not solve the problem as it can re-occur during the next bout of hot weather. At Force 8 this issue is now consigned to the past, with not a single door problem or issue occurring in the past two years during hot weather.
Force 8 identified at an early stage of design with their new Decadence door range that this was not going to have a single answer – a magic bullet that would cure all ills. They looked at every component starting with the door slab; they needed to have the highest and most robust quality available and chose a reinforced slab, which offered the extra strength with value. They improved the quality of the hinges with a fully adjustable system, making sure that the door could be properly aligned during installation
One major problem was the locking system; they had to completely rethink how this would work. As the normal central latch helped to pull the door into line in the middle, the answer in the end was quite simple, a three-latch system, top, middle, and bottom. The three-latch system (Surefire Auto Lock) made a considerable difference combined with the reinforced slab and hinge system, but Force 8 wanted to combat the root of the bowing. At the heart of the problem is the heat build-up and the temperature difference, from the outside to the inside.
As Force 8 were developing their new two-tone colour range, they decided to formulate a new heat resistant paint. This was the final piece in the jigsaw, which to date, combined with the other components has cured the bowing problems the company incurred. With their installation team on the ground reporting directly back to Force 8, plus other installation companies, even the popular grey doors facing south have had no issues.
As mentioned above, one of the key points to the success of the Force 8 Composite doors, is the fact they have a local fitting team, so any issues are reported straight back, and design alterations can be made, it does not have to filter through various companies. The fitting team like the fabrication team are all part of the new employees owned trust, which means that workers have a stake in the company and its reputation, so quality control and customer care is at the forefront with every member of the Force 8 team.