How to insulate the front door: features and recommendations

The front door is a kind of barrier between the street and the house. It protects us from uninvited guests and excessive noise. It can also serve as an excellent thermal insulation. But this function may not be fully implemented if the door is not insulated in a timely manner.

To make you feel at home warm and cozy in cold evenings, it is necessary to warm your home for the winter. But it is not enough to replace windows with glass packs and seal the walls. Still, the main heat loss occurs through the door. Here it is necessary to warm it in the first place. Only you need to do this in advance, and not with the arrival of the first frost.

The range of insulation materials is quite diverse. They all differ in density and durability. Currently used such door insulation:

• Cardboard - the cheapest material. It has a low thermal insulation property. And even his melodious name "corrugated cardboard" does not save him, although the folded structure should be the best for this;
• Foam rubber - the pioneer among heaters. Flexible, keeps its shape well and resists loads. It's easy to work with him. The only negative is that it absorbs moisture, gets wet and decomposes, which is why it is considered a short-lived material;
• Izolon - analogue of the previous substance, but has a higher water-repellent properties. There are a large number of species that differ in thickness and density. You should pay attention to its appearance, covered with foil. It has high thermal insulation, durable and elastic;
• Styrofoam - A good option for warming the door leaf. It has good sound insulation, perfectly retains heat. It is easy to use - for its installation does not require specialized assistance, everything can be done by hand.In addition, he will please you with his price. The disadvantage is its rapid flammability and the release of toxins during combustion;

• Vata is mineral and basalt. This is the most eco-friendly material, but, unfortunately, not the most suitable for insulating doors. Vata has a high hygroscopicity, that is, it quickly absorbs water, gets wet and breaks into lumps and because of this it loses its properties. If, nevertheless, you decide to use this material as a heater, it is necessary to make protection for it from a polyethylene film. It will provide air flow but keep water and steam;
• Rubber pads used as a sealant for cracks with a diameter of up to 12 mm. They are resistant to high and low (down to -40 °) temperatures;
• Dermantin used as a decor, which is applied on top of the insulation;
• Batting - natural material. Eco-friendly, does not cause allergies, air in its structure. Well evaporates moisture, has air throughput. Warming the door with a batting, you will provide yourself heat and sound insulation.

As you can see, there are really many options for warming the door leaf. But do not get lost. When classifying them according to several criteria, most of them will be eliminated right away, and there will be no question which of them is better to use.

To begin with, decide on the pricing policy: will the material suit you more expensive, or should you have a more budgetary priority in insulating your home? An important role is played by the place of residence: an apartment or a private house. If you live in an apartment, then between your housing and the street there is, so to speak, a dead space - an entrance. He first takes the frost and windstroke. At the same time, an already “weakened” version of the cold falls into the apartment. Consequently, it is possible to apply more simple material, and therefore cheaper. Living in a private or rural house, you are left alone with the weather conditions. Therefore, it is worthwhile to insulate more reliably, without forgetting about the attic.

Nevertheless, the type of door plays a decisive role in the choice of insulating fiber. Most often, a metal door is used as an entrance door. Almost all of the above materials are suitable for its insulation.But special attention should be paid to such a product as polyurethane foam or polyurethane foam. This is a synthetic product that is characterized by good thermal insulation, fire resistant, easy to use. It is important to note that foam is produced in liquid form, so that it fills the entire surface, including hard-to-reach places.

To increase the thermal insulation of a wooden door, foam rubber, isolon, foam plastic, batting, and mineral wool are used. Especially well suited for this purpose heat-reflecting materials based on polyethylene foam with foil. It is able to save up to 70% of the outgoing heat.

If you are looking for a method of insulation for a plastic door, you first need to understand the reason for passing the cold:

• perhaps the mechanism has become loose, then it is enough just to adjust it;
• if the cold is coming from under the bottom of the door, this is a flaw in the installers. To fix this problem, lay the foam underneath and fill it with foam;
• Foam rubber, mineral wool, polystyrene foam will be suitable for insulating the entire fabric.

Before you provide your door with heat protection, determine the weakest place in this plan.This may be insufficient tightness or insufficient density of the canvas. On this basis, use one of the methods of thermal insulation of the door.

To do this, use the seal. This is a tape material that is glued to the base with a sealant or adhesive layer. Sealing material is used as a means to seal the cracks in the door frame.

There are several types of it:

• on the basis of foam rubber less durable. They are enough for one season;
• rubber glued to the rubber layer. Reasonably reliable material;
• rubber reinforced with fiberglass. There is a variety of colors of this material. It is elastic and frost-resistant;
• polyvinyl chloride can withstand both high and low temperatures. It happens in different shapes depending on the width of the gap. To install PVC tape in the doorway, it is necessary to make a furrow in it and push the sealant into it with a screwdriver.

It should be noted that the more elastic the sealant, the more tightly it fills the space and ensures the door to air. Before you buy a sealer, measure the doorway around the perimeter, going from corner to corner. Do not forget to take into account the width of the slots and the porch.To find out its necessary width, you need to take clay, put it in a bag and put it in one of the slots that need to be sealed. After that close the door. The whole configuration of the slot will be imprinted on the clay and it will become clear how wide the seal should be.

Now let's figure out how to properly stick the tape:

• if you use a self-adhesive product, be sure to degrease the door frame before work. After that, remove the protective film from the adhesive layer and apply a seal starting from the bottom;
• Apply the material without adhesive backing with silicone or liquid nails.

One of the ways to insulate a street door is to insulate the door leaf itself. This is especially true for metal doors, as they are capable of forming cold bridges through which air enters the apartment.

To insulate the metal door leaf you need:

1. Remove the door from the hinges, release it from the lock and handles.
2. If it consists of 2 sheets, separate them.
3. Lay the insulation between the sheets. Gaps fill with foam.
4. Seal the canvas.
5. Return the door back.

If the door is wooden or metal, but not folding, the insulation is fixed on top of the canvas.

It is produced in this way:

1. They remove the door, free it from removable parts.
2. Next, you need to decide which side to attach the warming material - from the outside or inside. It depends on the location of the hinges and the method of opening the door unit.
3. Fix the insulation material with a furniture stapler every 15 cm.
4. You can use another method. To the door sheet to nail on the edges of the wooden slats, between them to lay the foam. On top of this design is closed with plastic or fiberboard.
5. Go to the decoration. For this, the door leaf is covered with upholstery material with the help of decorative nails. Upholstery can be made of leather, vinyl leather, plastic - foam, Bologna. You can also cover the front door leatherette. Upholstery fix, starting from the top corners. Stretch so that no waves are formed. It is necessary to leave 5 cm over the entire area.

The threshold is an important component of the entrance door. It can be made of various materials: wood, metal, plastic, concrete.In addition to sound-absorbing and supporting functions, the threshold ledge also provides for the removal of condensate and thermal insulation and closes the gaps in the lower part of the door unit. Therefore, it is important to warm for the winter and him.

For its heat tightness, you can resort to several methods:

1. Plastic can be warmed with a sealant such as polyurethane foam. To do this, it is removed, free of debris assembly seam and pour a few layers of foam. After that, return the threshold in place.
2. Another option is a heat damper. Here you also need to dismantle the threshold. Then a heating cable is laid in its place. Between its loops is a temperature sensor that reads information about its temperature. Outside, a thermostat is brought out, which turns the mechanism off and on. At the end of the work do not forget to return the threshold to the site.

This is a very reliable method of preserving heat in the apartment. An airbag is formed between the two doors, which opposes the penetration of cold air from the street. It is possible to build in an additional cloth in several ways:

1. On the box of the first door. This option is good if you put both doors at the same time or if both sheets are made of the same materials. Thanks to this technique, the work on weatherizing the doorway is facilitated, reliability is increased and installation time is saved.
2. Apart. It is used if it is necessary to add a canvas to an existing one or the doors are made of different materials. In order to build in this way the second entrance door, it is necessary to assemble the box, hang a canvas on it and insert this construction into the doorway by level, seal it. A prerequisite - door canvases must be the same size.

If you do not want to puzzle over what material is better to choose to insulate your door block, resort to using ready-made kits.

These are standard kits, which include the most necessary components:

• insulation (most often it is foam rubber);
• rubber strip seal;
• upholstery - dermantin as the most economical and practical option;
• decorative nails.

A good ready-made solution in all respects is a door with a thermal break.It consists of two heat-insulating materials, between which a polyamide insulating sheet with a low thermal conductivity is laid. This reduces heat transfer between adjacent materials. Loss of heat also reduces steel closed loop. Such doors due to its puff structure soften the temperature drops between the room and the street. Of the components in this product can be used wool, foam, wood, PVC.

In order for this product to fully comply with its purpose, you must:

• set the canvas correctly, without deformations;
• provide it with handles with thermal break;
• pave the seal.

Having decided to insulate your front door, do not miss the slightest nuance:

1. Determine the location of the heat leak.
2. Finding the source of the leak, choose the method of insulation: upholstery or sealing gaps. It is better to use both methods.
3. Check the door itself. Perhaps you just need to replace it with a new product.
4. Warming the door leaf itself, do not forget about the other components of the door unit.
5. If you decide to install the second door as a heater, make sure that it looks beautiful.

Watch the video on how to insulate the front door with your own hands.