Restoration of entrance doors

The front door is the face of the house, so its appearance can tell a lot about the owner of the dwelling. But it happens that the apartment is a good, good metal door or wooden door, which completely lost its visual appeal. It is impossible to leave it so, and it is a pity to replace it. In this case, the entrance door is restored using ready-made sets of upholstery or cladding with other materials. The interior of the apartment can be finished in accordance with the design of the room, but certain requirements are made to the exterior: it must be not only beautiful, but also anti-vandal.

There are three main features that must be considered when repairing the front door in an apartment or an outside door in a house, based on which materials for restoration should be selected:

• the door must resist physical impact.Withstand not only strikes heavy objects, but also to resist the attempt to open its upholstery to get to the mortise lock. The presence of rust stains even at the bottom of the canvas is a weighty reason to revamp it;
• perform decorative functions, creating comfort and without spoiling the general appearance of the entrance;
• preservation of heat in the apartment, the lack of drafts. The main percentage (about 80%) of heat loss in the room is due to improperly insulated doors.

If you want to strengthen the door with a metal sheet, followed by paint or veneer finishing, you should take into account the increase in weight of the door leaf. Ignorance of this particular feature of the reconstruction often causes the door to warp within a month after the repair, the hinges deform and sag, and the canvas stops closing.

Problem Solving - Buying and Hanging New Hinges with the strengthened core It is better not to use external laid loops.With a strong increase in the weight of the web box is better to strengthen the spacers. If the door was poorly closed before the restoration, but there were no signs of deformation of the hinges and the box, then the seal should be replaced.

Due to the wide range of materials on the construction market, at a glance at the door it is impossible to determine what it is made of. Under a thin and elegant tree can hide a sheet of steel 0.5 mm thick or under an impressive metal frame will reveal an old wooden door. The main materials that are most often used are laminate, MDF panels, self-adhesive film and veneer strips.

Laminate not only changes the appearance of the iron or wooden structure, but also significantly improves its sound insulation and warms. If you put a heater under it, as well as on the floor, then the door can be not upholstered from inside. Renovation of the fabric with laminate is suitable for both iron and wooden doors. However, with all its advantages (speed of work, simplicity, low cost), this method has its drawbacks. Even a moisture-resistant laminate will not long retain its appearance, if the door goes out and is exposed to precipitation.Laminate is easy to spoil, scratch and pierce, especially if there is no combination lock at the entrance and teenagers often drop in there.

MDF panel it is distinguished by its durability, environmental friendliness (the adhesive substance of the plate is a natural lingin), and the possibility of creating any relief on the plate. The whole plate meets the main task of the entrance door - it increases its resistance to cracking. In addition, MDF easily tolerates fluctuations in temperature and humidity, which allows it to be used for outdoor decoration. The only drawback is the inability to make a solid panel at home.

Veneer - These are thin strips of wood that are glued to the base (cheaper conifer wood or metal). A special feature of veneer is the possibility of choosing a noble material for imitation, for example, walnut wood, Karelian birch, mahogany, hornbeam, cherry and others. The disadvantage of this material is the high cost, difficult work on gluing, susceptibility to damage due to high humidity.

In order to make the reconstruction of the doors, it is not necessary to turn to professionals, you can do it yourself. Each method can be implemented at home with the minimum amount of tools and desires, beautifully restore the coating of Chinese doors.

What you should definitely remember:

• preliminary preparation is always done. The old coating is removed, the lacquer, paint, rust and corrosion are removed. Before you pack the door into a new “wrapper”, you need to treat the wood with anti-bactericidal and anti-fungal compounds, and the metal should be primed with an anti-corrosion film;
• if you plan to cover the door with laminated film or veneer, then the surface is pre-leveled with putty. These materials are very capricious for irregularities - all the bulges and depressions are very clearly visible;

• it is worth remembering that the gluing of the film is made from the edge with the subsequent rolling of the roll. Air bubbles are expelled from the center of the glued area to the edges.The veneers begin to glue from the butt so that there are no noticeable joints, and on the canvas itself the first strip is mounted in the center and the rest are aligned on it;
• if the metal door requires the replacement of the front panel, then in parallel with it it is better to conduct the insulation of the structure with foam plastic, which is placed inside between the stiffeners.

The easiest and most durable way is to trim the MDF panels inside and out. Panel-lining on the entrance doors are sold in standard sizes and in a very different configuration embossed pattern. For its self-sticking only liquid nails and a jigsaw will be required for cutting holes for fittings. It is required to remove the door from the hinges, prepare the surface for glue composition (degrease), glue the panel, press it down with a load and leave it to dry completely.

The way of finishing the laminate is a bit more complicated, but it is suitable for doors of non-standard size. To upgrade, you will need laminate flooring, liquid nails, slats, a hacksaw for cutting material, weight, and standard trifles: a glue brush, a screwdriver for accessories, perhaps a hammer or a mallet.

Algorithm of work:

• We remove the door from the hinges, remove the fittings, position the canvas in a convenient place with a good support so that you can press the laminate to the surface;
• slats to match the laminate (pre-painted or bought ready-made) are sawn exactly according to the length and width of the door frame. Reiki is needed in order to create a frame inside which a laminate will be laid;
• on liquid nails, slats are mounted around the perimeter of the door;
• from the laminate is going to shield in advance. Laying laminate directly in the frame is impossible because of its design features. Boards should be tightly fitted to each other, sawn off to the size of the door, so as not to fall apart at the time of laying in the frame;

• openings for door locks and other fittings are cut before the shield is attached to the door;
• on liquid nails fasten the shield to the door leaf. At the same time, the canvas itself, rather than the laminate, is lubricated with an adhesive;
• load the shield against the door for several hours. It is best to distribute the load evenly;
• we cut in accessories and we hang door to the place.

Decorating the door with dermantine is an option for the inner side of the canvas, even if there are no pets in the house.A huge plus is the aesthetic component and practical - noise and heat insulation. If you want to finish the outside, it is better to choose vinyl or amyl leather, they are more resistant to temperature changes. Faux leather is also suitable, but it is more porous and not so much resistant to pollution.

Foam rubber, batting and isolon can be chosen as an internal filler. Foam rubber will give a beautiful texture, but its insulation characteristics are average. Batting isolates well from noise and cold, but is very toxic in case of fire and sags over time. Izolon - the best option between the aesthetic appearance and technical characteristics.

If you take examples of restoration, then those doors where it is best to look at not only one canvas, but also the slopes around the door, look best. The decoration of slopes is made not in the tone of the canvas, but in a darker color, which allows making the door a design element.

It looks very original restored door trimmed with slats, of which made fenestons overhead different configurations. Also for these purposes you can use wooden carved corners, creating beautiful trim on the side of the door facing the entrance. If, first of all, strength is required from the door, then it is best to use a sheet of thick, smooth metal pasted over with veneer or MDF panel.

You can find out how to replace a simple front door trim with a MDF trim, by watching the video.