How to choose the front door?

When buying a new apartment, building your own house, as well as overhaul in any room, there will always be a need to buy an entrance door. There are many manufacturers offering a wide range of metal doors, many of which, at first glance, look durable and reliable. However, you should not make a decision rashly and acquire the first door that came across, especially if its cost is suspiciously low. It is necessary to approach the choice of an entrance door seriously, with all responsibility. It is this that will help the owner to secure his home as much as possible, contrary to the popular saying among thieves and burglars that there are no “hidden” doors and locks for a thief.

It is best if, when choosing the front door, the buyer becomes familiar in detail with what materials are of which the door structures are made and what features they have.This will help to distinguish a quality product from a cheap imitation, often issued by unscrupulous sellers as “good” doors.

Metal construction The door is based on important elements. First of all, it is an iron base (profile or frame on which everything else rests), an external steel sheet and so-called stiffeners. The greater the thickness of the main elements, the stronger and more reliable the entrance door. Of course, the heavier the metal, the greater the weight, so you should consider in advance the maximum strength of the hinges, other accessories and, of course, the door frame itself.

Door frame going from metal profile - we all know that it has the shape of the letter P, and an external sheet of strong steel is already attached to it by spot welding. Inside a good door must have a sufficient number of ribs. The minimum number is 3 horizontally and 2 vertically. Their location may be different, depending on the position of the lock and the overall design of the door.Fillers or insulation made of PVC or other material is placed just between the ribs, they support it in the right condition, help keep it warm and provide sound insulation.

The inner surface of the door is covered with a panel made from MDF. Also, the panel (both external and internal) can be veneered and even wooden: in this case, the design can be particularly heavy and should be installed on the strongest basis with reinforced fittings and a solid box.

The main function of any entrance door is protection, and therefore it is necessary to know in more detail how the design of a reliable and warm door should be arranged, which can protect the room from burglars and from severe weather conditions.

Since the door leaf serves as a kind of main shield, which first takes on the attack of thieves and other intruders, its thickness should be at least 50-70 mm. This is permissible if the door is installed as an entrance to the apartment, and if it is outside, the thickness should be increased to 100 mm, which will provide it with additional anti-vandal functions.

When ordering, particularly cautious buyers often advocate for the maximum thickness of the outer door leaf, as they believe that it provides not only protective but also soundproof functions. However, when weighting the doors, their inertia increases significantly, which increases the risk of injury for owners, especially children and the elderly. Therefore, if we are talking about installing a door facing the landing, a standard thickness web will be enough. As for the sound insulation properties, their level is ensured by all structural elements, including the filler, and the build quality.

The stability of the door structure is mainly provided by two steel sheets: external and internal. If the door is cheap, their thickness is no more than 0.5, maximum 1.5 mm. Such sheets are simply a find for a cracker, because they are opened in a matter of seconds. Too much thickness, as already mentioned, will also present a certain complexity, therefore, its optimal size is 2-3 mm.

Sometimes in advertising descriptions or online publications there is information of individual firms for the manufacture and sale of metal doors that if you lay the second inner sheet of steel under the first, the consumer allegedly will receive the most genuine armored doors that no hacker can penetrate. Immediately I would like to note that this is nothing more than a beautiful advertising move: to penetrate the premises of an experienced thief, it will be enough to open only the outer door leaf.

If the owner of the house, apartment or office still wants to increase the strength of the installed doors, you can reduce the number of steel sheets and instead of two put one, but an increased thickness of 3 mm. Thus, the desired “thick” doors of increased strength will be obtained, and the total weight of the entire profile as a whole will become significantly less.

Stiffeners, which are also part of the structure, perform an important function of opposing the robbers, who are trying to get into the apartment through brute force hacking with the use of tools and physical strength.They are transverse (arranged horizontally), longitudinal (welded vertically), and combined, when one or the other scheme of their arrangement is used alternately.

Iron hinges on which the door is hung should have special bearings: conventional hinges simply cannot bear the heavy weight of the structure, given its specificity. An additional and very useful "accessory" of any high-quality metal door is a pin that performs anti-detachable function. When the door closes, it slides out of it, which in the case of burglary provides protection against breaking out.

Door porch and trim are also important elements of a quality front door. The hem is a small space intended for an external seal. Depending on the number of sealing layers, there are two-, three-circuit doors and even more. The platbands serve not only for decoration, but also for protection: since they close the seams formed during the installation of the door, the burglar loses the ability to penetrate the doorframe with the help of a crowbar.

A separate item should be allocated metal fire doors, which are usually installed in industrial and commercial premises, in underground parking lots of residential buildings, large shopping centers and in other public institutions with high traffic and area. Their function is to ensure the localization of a fire that has arisen in a room as quickly as possible.

The classification of such doors is made on the basis of the concept of fire resistance. This is the period of time for which the door system can provide maximum protection against fire. When producing doors, they should always be marked with this number: at least 15, at most 120 minutes. In order for the doors to be registered specifically as fireproof, they are given special fire tests.

Heat-resistant doors are sliding and hinged, depending on what their opening mechanism. Since any fire thermo door is big and wide,the swing option cannot be called the best: when opening, it takes up a lot of space and is suitable for rooms with a huge area not clutched with any cargo, goods or furniture. The best option for any room, even for a small one - sliding sliding doors as a compartment that move along guides along the walls.

Retractable heat-resistant doors come in various designs. Among them there are even folding-type "accordion". "Accordion", in contrast to the classic solid models of canvas includes several parts, folding when opened.

All fireproof models are equipped with thermally expanding seals that can expand at high temperatures. Since such doors weigh a lot and have large dimensions, an actuator based on electromechanics is used to control them.

Based on the functional features, in addition to the usual entrance and fire doors, it would be logical to distinguish frost-resistant doors. They are remarkable in that they are based on a double magnetic seal and one layer of rubber.The principle of the location of the material is such that it separates the outer and the inner metal surfaces, so that the doors become non-freezing: the well-known “thermos principle” or isotherm works.

If we talk about the end of the last century, many will remember the stable and durable double doors, which were located two in one box. They can still be found in high-rise buildings of the Soviet type. As in such high-rise buildings, as a rule, very thick walls (40 cm and more), the design consisted of an external metal door (very heavy and massive) and an internal (warmed, from wood materials). The metal door was decorated with a large, firmly welded frame with a garage canopy welded onto it, which performed the protective function of modern trim, so that the thief could not slip the grinder under them.

This harsh and robust design, similar to a safe with frame support, did not provide for gaps for the installation of insulation. His function was performed by the second door to the apartment, which could be upholstered with anything.On both doors was located on the castle, and the lock on the outer metal is often installed garage type and was “with a secret”, which only the owner of the apartment knew about.

At the present stage, such a double structure can be made by contacting any firm that can fulfill an individual order. Such doors are still being installed in a private country house, in a cottage, and they are also used as a model for a tambour, making them independently, especially if there is no desire and possibility to install a frost-resistant version in the vestibule. Indeed, despite the external roughness and heaviness, this option is still popular because of its reliability. The metal fabric does not have sealing inserts, which means that such a door is the most resistant to ignition. If you wish, you can open the inner, easier door, and communicate with visitors without opening the outer door and being completely safe.

Of course, over time, resistant and strong composite materials appeared, so most people chose to abandon such gloomy and heavy constructions.Moreover, after the appearance of the alarm (both fire and security), the doors became lighter, more beautiful and no less durable. Now predominantly single doors are installed with soundproof and heat-insulating materials inside.

Before buying the front door, it is important to know what the exact dimensions of the doorway in which you plan to install them. If earlier during the construction of multi-storey buildings certain standards were observed, now they are often not at all observed: the modern housing stock is represented by houses of both the past years of construction and many new buildings. As a result, the concept of “standard doors” has long lost its former relevance and the manufacturers do not adhere to strict standards.

Manufacturers offer different door sizes with saved parameters for panel, brick house or "Khrushchev". Having measured his own doorway or invited a professional measurer for this purpose, the buyer will be able to understand which door is right for him personally.

In order to understand what a full-fledged entrance door is, you should be guided by a width of at least 900 mm, if we are talking about an ordinary single-door door to an apartment. As for small private cottages and office premises, one-and-a-half models are often installed as entrance doors. One of them - a large sash, is the leading one, and the other has an additional function and can either open or not, depending on the needs and preferences of the owner. On the small sash is usually installed latch.

Sizes of one-and-a-half door panels are non-standard: 250 x 120 cm, and their width is 90 and 30 cm. These doors are ideal for rooms in which the usual rectangular door will seem very small, and the double door, on the contrary, will be too heavy and not entirely appropriate. A small sash can always be opened in case you need to bring in or take out of the house something big, for example, a cupboard or a piano.

Double doors are most often installed in large country houses or large public institutions.They look great in the architectural structure, made in the modern or neo-gothic style, especially large and wide canvases with an arched frame. Both shutters are made of durable metal, their dimensions are the same, and the whole structure looks symmetrical and strict.

The wider and more massive the door, the more contours for the seal can be placed inside the box.

Entrance metal doors are good because there is always a choice of how they will look. It is very easy to answer the question about how to sheathe the door from the outside and the inside: there are more than enough materials for cladding now. In addition, you can always use the combined finishing options depending on the overall characteristics of the door profile and the interior of the apartment. For example, the outer canvas can be painted, and from the inside it can be decorated with a covering made of leatherette, which will create the effect of the interior decoration of the corridor in retro style.

Since leatherette is a very soft and malleable material, if possible, it is better not to use it for street doors: it is very easy to rip it with a knife. Externally, modern leatherette and leatherette look very beautiful. If the doors are installed in the "safe" entrance with a concierge and a video camera, this option can be used.

However, choosing a door trim should be aware that it, like other elements of the door, must be resistant to manifestations of vandalism and hooliganism. In addition, the impact of external weather factors can quickly lead to useless beautiful, but short-lived soft leatherette and its analogues.

Panel door trim can be veneered, chipboard materials or durable plastic. Their thickness can be up to 20 mm. Its advantages are easy installation and the ability to choose any desired color. Panels made of natural wood are very expensive, but they look nice and elegant. When sold, they are marked as elite class products.In the assortment of different manufacturers there are also panels with drawings that can be flat or three-dimensional, made of MDF or durable plywood. The panels and drawings themselves can be varnished or laminated - this gives them additional protection against rain and moisture, but, unfortunately, cannot protect against vandalism.

The most vandal-resistant, even if not particularly elegant, is the so-called “hammer” painting of the metal surface of the entrance door. A surface treated in such an original way looks as if it was symmetrically broken by a hammer: a certain shape and texture is created - large, medium or small, and the color of the door can be any. Due to the fine aluminum powder, which is part of this paint, the possibility of such treatment due to the soft structure that the substance acquires appears.

Of course, at first glance, the processing of the door with hammer paint looks quite simple, but its practical advantages are undoubtedlymore: the treatment perfectly conceals cosmetic defects on any surface, the paint itself dries quickly and is very easy to use, and painted surfaces do not fade or warp under the influence of street weather conditions. But the main thing is the strength of the hammer treatment and its resistance to all sorts of damage, and if such a door has suffered a little from the intervention of a burglar or a bully, technically it will not be difficult to carry out a re-painting.

Another vandal-and weather-resistant type of door painting is a powder-coated coating. The coloring composition is applied to the surface under the action of high temperatures, which creates a strong film on the door panel, which also has an increased resistance to numerous external factors. Powder coating can have different colors.

The lock and door fittings always represent the greatest difficulty in choosing, because different manufacturers recommend different types of locks, door hinges and the scheme of their installation.It is impossible to foresee everything to the smallest subtleties, but it is necessary to know the basic rules and recommendations that will help the buyer to choose the most qualitative and practical option.

Castle materials must be of high quality., durable and reliable, the same as the doors themselves. As they say, a good castle does not have to be a weak point in the hands of a potential burglar thief. Immediately it should be noted that according to the GOST parameters, the dead lock is the best and most reliable design used for entrance doors. The mechanism of such a lock is conveniently hidden inside the doors themselves, which is difficult when opening, and it is very easy to knock down or press padlocks or overhead locks.

In order to further insure, you can put two locks one above the other. Firstly, it will become a significant obstacle for the hacker, and secondly, if one of the locks suddenly fails, there will always be an opportunity to use the second one. Of course, if it is decided that there will be two locks, they should not be the same, otherwise the whole point of reinsurance is simply lost.In order for it to be as efficient as possible, it is better that one lock be a suvaldny lock, and the second - a cylinder lock.

The lever type lock is called so from the level plates included in its design. It is much easier to open it, but it is virtually impossible to crack it: the mechanism itself is hidden in the door leaf. The cylinder version of the lock is remarkable in that it is very difficult to open. Inside it are peculiar "pins" or codes that make up the secret part. The minus of cylinder locks is fragility, and also that, if desired, and skill, experienced crackers can simply knock him out.

Nevertheless, despite certain technical shortcomings, modern manufacturers of locks are engaged in their constant improvement, honestly recommending the buyer to take care of how to install two different constipation in the door. If these methods of precaution and are not an absolute guarantee of salvation from burglars, then the two lovers of the small thieves can really keep from risky attempts to enter the premises.

Door fittings included in the package must not only be beautiful and aesthetic,but functional and quality at the same time. Additional components also provide protection from rogues and hooligans. Thus, the hinges of the door are of the exterior, and may be hidden inside the box. Often, both manufacturers and especially scrupulous buyers advocate that the hinges should be of the hidden type: it is both more beautiful and supposedly more practical. In fact, this is an erroneous judgment.

Contrary to the statements of some sales managers that external hinges can be easily cut off, in reality it is not so easy to do, and anti-pins provide them with an increased degree of strength. For all their external aesthetics, hidden hinges have a lot of minuses: for example, their cost is much higher, and the door opening becomes smaller, which significantly reduces the angle of their opening. In addition, if the opening angle of the door with such hinges is exceeded, there is a high probability of deformation of the door frame.

Important details of any entrance door are small, but necessary to protect the peephole and night gate. The latch is the simplest device that should be installed on the inside of the door.Due to the fact that there is no access to it from the outside, not a single hacker can reach it.

As you know, the door seal is called the insulation of the canvas of apartment doors from the inside, or what they are warmed from the outside. The main functions of the seals - the obstacle to the penetration into the room extraneous sounds and heat preservation. The internal filling of the door panels, as well as the external seals, may be different, and each material has its own advantages and disadvantages.

If the doors are sealed with mineral wool, it will provide good noise absorption and fire protection properties, but due to its “natural” tendency to reduce it, additional cracking is required, which increases both the weight of the door and its price. Penoplex is not inferior to mineral wool in all qualities except fire safety: by virtue of its composition it is quite combustible.

Materials like polystyrene and polyurethane are harmless to humans and animals,have good sound-insulating properties, are easy to install, but are also susceptible to burning, as a result of which they should not be purchased for rooms with a large area that have an increased risk of fire hazard. Finally, “low cost” paper or cardboard fillers attract buyers with a low price, but they retain heat poorly and absorb moisture strongly.

Buyers very often do not know how best to install the door - with opening out or inward. Of course, it is better to put the door so that it opens to the outside, because when opened inwards, it is much easier for a thief to squeeze it out by any means at hand. If the technical capabilities of the room allow you to install the door with the opening inside, do not doubt the advantage of this method.

As for how to measure the doorway - all measurements are best taken immediately after dismantling the old door.

A variety of modern technologies can do anything - and these are not empty words. Original and unusual entrance doors of different colors, evenly covering the metal base, can be installed in the art space, an exclusive cafe, a nightclub or a restaurant. The range of manufacturers has green, brown, black, blue and even bright red colored models, the appearance of which cannot be said that they are based on ordinary metal: professional professionals are well aware of how to combine material, color in the interior and paint application technology.

• Simple and strict white doors in a classic style ideal for medical institutions: hospitals, clinics, as well as kindergartens and charitable organizations. A stylish version of wenge color with a bell is ideal for a small cozy shop or antique shop. The front door with a transom or glass of impact-resistant material can be made for the owner who has a cat or a cat.

• Bright entrance doors with a pattern on MDF panel or wood base are perfect for a small country house in the style of Provence. Luxury premium models, paneled in natural wood, will look good in a large mansion with high ceilings and windows. Paneled doors with transparent inserts with ornate forging in the modern style are also suitable for a large residential building whose owners value originality, high prices and beauty.
• Glass inserts At the request of the customer, entrance doors can also be stained glass: modern design finds will help to link the idea of ​​metal entrance doors with stained glass windows, and even with a mirror. Such front doors will undoubtedly become the hallmark of a house or mansion in a trendy neo-gothic style.

According to customer reviews, it is not recommended to purchase Chinese-made entrance doors. Cheap metal of such products is very shaky and easily deformed even with a weak mechanical effect.Chinese door locks are often jammed and leave unnecessary gaps when closing - it is easier to crack them, and cardboard fillers do not perform any useful functions.

Fortunately, the choice of doors of good quality from reliable companies is quite wide. The German company Hormann occupies an honorable place in the rating for the production of insulated doors with thermal separation, ideal for large country houses. Unfortunately, the prices of this manufacturer are very high. The Russian firm Atlant has been on the market since 2006, and its frost-resistant doors are much more affordable and are slightly inferior in quality to German colleagues.

Steel entrance doors of good quality are also produced by the Italian company Leganza. The products of this manufacturer are distinguished by their original exterior design and frequent promotions in the form of stylish door accessories as a gift to customers. Doors with reliable locks with individual codes are offered by the Israeli company Multilock, which pays special attention to the production of locks of unique quality and design.

Polish companies Galant and Novak offer Russian customers a wide range of metal entrance doors with a reliable bolt system and seals, each of which has good fire-fighting properties.

Purchase doors of imported manufacturers - the prospect is very tempting, but not always affordable. Among domestic firms, the Barnaul and Belgorod doors, which are notable for their simplicity of installation, reliable construction and high degree of strength, should be especially noted. The Forpost company with the head office in Belgorod has been on the Russian market since 1994 and has especially established itself in terms of the production of steel doors of various models and purposes. In addition to building and fire-fighting models, the company produces classics of the entrance doors of an economy class.

You will learn more about how to choose the front door from the following video.