Doors and windows from China: what buyers actually worry about
Most problems with imported doors and windows are not manufacturing problems. They are handing errors — left swapped for right, openings measured to a tolerance the site never held, glass that does not match the sample.
So we treat this as an engineering category. Your opening schedule becomes shop drawings approved before production starts; glass and hardware are confirmed in writing; every unit is labelled for its room and opening.
Send your door and window schedule on WhatsApp (+86 133 0284 3989) — a coordinator replies within one working day.
What we make
Interior doors and frames for the inside of the building; aluminium window-and-door systems for the envelope. Most projects buy across both, and both are made to your drawings.
Interior doors
- Engineered veneer — real oak, walnut or ash veneer over a solid core. The usual choice for villas and hotel guest rooms.
- Painted PU lacquer — a smooth face in any RAL colour, with architraves and skirting made in the same batch so the finish matches across a room.
- Melamine or laminate faced — the hard-wearing, cost-controlled option for apartments and back-of-house areas.
- Solid timber — heavier stiles and a fuller feel for entrances and master suites.
- Glass and slim aluminium — bathrooms, balconies and glazed partitions.
Types include swing, double-leaf, sliding, pocket, bi-fold and barn-style, with adjustable jambs for walls that are not plumb. Fire-rated cores and acoustic seals can be made where your building code requires them; the rating and its documentation are confirmed at the brief stage.
Aluminium windows and doors
Thermal-break profiles are our default for Europe, North America and the Gulf: a polyamide barrier between inner and outer extrusion stops condensation running down the frame in a heated or cooled room.
- Systems: casement, awning, tilt-and-turn, top-hung, sliding, lift-and-slide, bi-fold, fixed glazing and curtain wall.
- Profile depths: compact 60 mm residential systems through to 100 mm-plus series for wide spans.
- Glazing: double or triple, Low-E, argon fill, warm-edge spacers, laminated or toughened, tinted or decorative.
- Add-ons: insect screens, roller shutters, integrated blinds, plus smaller formats such as awning and basement windows.
How the door leaves compare
| Construction | Core | Finish options | Typical use | Moisture resistance | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineered veneer | Solid core or blockboard | Oak, walnut, ash veneer; clear or stained | Villas, hotel guest rooms | Medium | $$$ |
| Painted MDF skin | Solid core | PU lacquer, any RAL | Contemporary villas, apartments | Medium | $$ |
| Melamine faced | Honeycomb or solid core | Wood-grain or plain décor papers | Apartments, rental units | High | $ |
| Laminate faced | Solid core | High-pressure laminate, wide décor range | Commercial, back-of-house | Very high | $$ |
| Solid timber | Full hardwood staves | Veneer or clear lacquer | Entrances, master suites | Medium to high | $$$$ |
| Aluminium with glass | Extruded thermal-break profile | Powder coat, anodised, wood-grain transfer | Bathrooms, balconies, partitions | Full | $$$ |
Certification is category-specific, and we do not claim one certificate covers every product. Tell your coordinator which country you are importing into and we will confirm what applies to the exact system you are quoting — certificates shared on request per category.
Working from an architect’s schedule? WhatsApp the drawings to +86 133 0284 3989 — a coordinator replies within one working day.
Configurations
Everything is made to your drawings. The ranges below are what we quote most often; anything outside them is a conversation.
| Item | Typical sizes | Material | Hardware and fittings | Finishes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interior door leaf | 600–1,200 mm wide; 2,100–2,700 mm high; 35–55 mm thick | Solid core, solid timber, MDF, aluminium | Concealed adjustable hinges, mortice or magnetic locks, lever or pull handles | Veneer, PU lacquer (any RAL), melamine, laminate, glass inserts |
| Door frame and architrave | Made to the opening; jambs adjustable | Matched to the leaf | — | Produced in the same batch as the leaf |
| Hinged aluminium window | 400–1,500 mm wide; 400–2,400 mm high | Thermal-break aluminium, 60–100 mm-plus | Multi-point locking, friction stays, tilt-and-turn gearing | Powder coat, anodised, wood-grain transfer |
| Sliding window or door | Panels to approximately 3,000 mm; multi-track | Thermal-break aluminium | Stainless rollers, flush tracks, soft-close | As above |
| Lift-and-slide door | 2–4 large-format panels | Heavy-gauge thermal-break system | Lift-slide carriage, espagnolette locking | As above |
| Bi-fold system | 2–7 panels | Aluminium or timber-clad | Top-hung or bottom-rolling, magnetic closures | As above |
| Glazing units | Cut to each frame | Double or triple glazed, Low-E, laminated, toughened | Warm-edge spacers, argon fill | Clear, tinted, frosted, decorative, patterned |
Window hardware is stainless steel as standard, with European-brand gearing available on request.
How to choose
Villa or whole-home
Order doors, frames, architraves and skirting in one batch so finishes match room to room. Specify thermal-break windows with triple glazing if the villa runs heating or cooling hard.
Apartment or multi-unit development
Repetition is the whole game. Fix one type schedule per unit type and keep it identical across every unit. Melamine or laminate faces survive tenants better than lacquer, and unit-by-unit labelling lets you load in the order your site needs.
Hotel
Guest-room doors need acoustic performance and a consistent feel — heavy cores and acoustic seals. Plan 5–10% spare leaves and hardware: a hotel cannot wait three months for one replacement door.
Distributor or stock order
Standard dimensions and container-optimised nesting keep landed cost down. You are buying a repeatable range: one décor family, one hardware set, one display door. Mixed-container loading lets you add kitchen, wardrobe, stone or bathroom lines to the same shipment.
Not sure which specification fits? WhatsApp the project type and destination country to +86 133 0284 3989 — a coordinator replies within one working day.
Price ranges
Prices are quoted per specification, FOB Foshan. Every order is quoted from its own drawing set.
| Item | Relative cost | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Interior door set (leaf, frame, architrave) | $ | Face material, core, finish process |
| Solid timber or heavy veneer door set | $$$ | Veneer species, leaf thickness, size |
| Thermal-break aluminium window | $$ | System depth, glazing build-up, hardware |
| Sliding or lift-and-slide door | $$$ | Panel size, track system, glass |
| Bi-fold system | $$$ | Panel count, track, hardware |
| Curtain wall or fixed glazing | Quoted from drawings | Engineering, span, glass |
All prices exclude freight, insurance, duty and destination charges, and your quotation states the Incoterm you asked for. Five things move the price:
- Glass build-up. Basic double glazing against triple with Low-E and argon is usually the largest single line change.
- Profile system. A 60 mm residential system and a 100 mm-plus thermally broken system are different products, not one at two prices.
- Hardware. Standard domestic gearing against European-brand; standard hinges against concealed soft-close.
- Unit size and weight. Oversized leaves and wide sliding panels need heavier sections, stronger glass and more packing.
- Finish and colour count. Clear-coated veneer, a custom RAL and a powder-coated frame carry different process time and rework risk.
MOQ and mixed-container loading
There is no fixed MOQ per category when doors and windows ship with the rest of a project. Mixed-container loading is how twelve doors and thirty square metres of window travel in the same container as the kitchen and the stone.
- Doors and windows only: plan for roughly one full container. Below that, freight per unit climbs faster than product cost.
- Combined with other categories: no practical minimum. Doors and windows are the bulkiest categories in a mixed load, so they set the packing plan.
- Sample first: a single sample door or demonstration window can be produced before bulk production. Small samples are usually free — you cover the shipping.
One production schedule, one quality file, one packing list and one set of loading photos cover the whole load.
Ask for a mixed-container plan: WhatsApp +86 133 0284 3989 with your product list — a coordinator replies within one working day.
Quality control
You should not have to fly to China to know your windows were made correctly. The evidence chain runs like this:
- Shop drawing confirmation — opening schedule, handing, glass build-up and hardware, signed off before production.
- In-production photos and video — frames being welded and machined, leaves being pressed and finished, glazing units coming off the glass line.
- Pre-shipment inspection — hardware operated on every unit, dry assembly of frames, dimensions checked against the approved drawings.
- Packing list numbered by room and unit — every leaf, frame and glazed unit labelled with its room, opening number and installation sequence.
- Container loading photos — you see the bracing and the loading plan before the container is sealed.
SGS, BV or TÜV inspection is welcome. The whole project runs through six stages: Share Your Brief → Design & Quotation → Approve the Details → Production & QC → Packing & Shipping → Delivery & Support.
Two things we will not pretend about. On-site installation is not included unless separately agreed — we supply drawings, numbered labels and remote support, and your local team installs. And screens show colour differently, so finish approval is against physical samples; product images are not the basis of final acceptance.
Lead time and shipping
Standard doors and windows run 30–45 days from drawing approval. Custom profile systems, triple glazing, fire-rated cores and large lift-and-slide units typically run 45–60 days, because glass and special extrusion have their own production cycles.
We load from the Pearl River Delta ports — Nansha and Shenzhen are the usual departures — and quote FOB, CIF or DDP, with door-to-door delivery available.
Frames travel stacked and braced with corner protection; glazed units are crated separately so glass never carries structural weight. Loading photos go out the day the container is sealed.
Want a delivery date before you commit? WhatsApp +86 133 0284 3989 with quantities and destination port — a coordinator replies within one working day.
Frequently asked questions
What do you need from me to quote?
A door and window schedule — sizes, quantities, handing, material and finish — plus any drawings you have. A marked-up floor plan is enough to start.
Can you match a door or window I already have?
Send a photo, a finish sample or the original specification. We will tell you honestly whether we can reproduce it, and where the profile differs.
Do your windows come with CE marking?
Certification is category-specific and we will not claim a blanket approval. Tell us the country of import and the exact system you are quoting, and we will confirm which certificates and test reports apply. Certificates are shared on request per category.
What is the minimum order?
There is no fixed MOQ when doors and windows ship in a mixed container with other categories. A doors-and-windows-only order is normally quoted at around one full container.
Can you make fire-rated doors?
Yes, where your building code requires it. The rating, core build and documentation differ by market, so confirm the requirement at the brief stage and we will quote against it.
Will the delivered colour match the sample?
The physical sample is the reference. Doors for one project are produced in the same batch, with coating lots controlled across the order. Screens vary, which is why images are not the basis of final acceptance.
Who installs the doors and windows?
Your local team. Installation is not included unless separately agreed. From us: numbered shop drawings, room-by-room labels, a packing list in installation sequence, and remote support during the fit.
How much is the design fee?
It is quoted per project before work starts, and credited back in full when your order reaches twenty times the design fee. Space planning, 3D references and material selection are part of the service.
Send your schedule, get a number
Send your door and window schedule, floor plan or BOQ. You will get shop drawings, a specification comment list and an itemised quotation — and the design fee is credited back in full once your order reaches twenty times that fee.
Ivana is our senior sales director and your coordinator. She worked in the UK for five years and handles door and window specifications daily.
- WhatsApp: +86 133 0284 3989 — or the UK line, +44 7719 795480
- Email: ivana.li@george.cn
- Visit us: Tower One, No.46 Jihua 3rd Road, Chancheng District, Foshan, Guangdong, China. The 30,000 m² showroom is open by appointment, and the 100,000 m² factory is a short walk away.
George Group Home has 20 years’ industry experience, 10,000+ projects delivered and shipments into 50+ countries. Doors and windows are one of nine categories we supply from Foshan — order one category, or order the whole house in a single container.