How to choose the front door to a private house
Reliability and good thermal insulation are the two main requirements for street entrance doors. A huge variety of such products only makes it difficult to choose. Someone comes across the “bait” of advertising, someone is seduced by discounted prices or a beautiful appearance, and some simply lend themselves to persuasion by cunning sellers. But most often in this way people get only problems. If you cannot decide which front door is best to put in a private house from the street, we offer you the basic rules for choosing such structures.
In this material we will talk about metal and metal-plastic doors. The use of wooden doors as input is currently not advisable for fire, strength and other characteristics. The main problems that the owner of a street front door may expect are condensation, frost, corrosion and a damaged appearance. As part of this material, we will tell you how to solve all these problems.
Metal entrance doors
Most consumers prefer metal door structures, considering them more durable, durable and reliable. But is it really so? What characteristics will indicate that this or that door is really made with high quality, will be able to save the house and its inhabitants from uninvited guests, and will it last for a long time? How to get rid of the problem of freezing metal doors? About all this in order.
Entrance Door Design
Consider the question of which entrance doors are best placed in a private house in terms of the reliability of their design. The strength of the door depends on two main factors - design features and manufacturing technology.
It is necessary to give preference to entrance doors, for the manufacture of the fabric of which a steel sheet is used with a thickness of 1.2 to 2 mm. The thicker the steel, the stronger and stiffer the door.
Inside, the structure is reinforced with metal stiffeners.
There are different systems of stiffeners:
- longitudinal (only vertical elements are available),
- transverse (horizontal only),
- combined (there are vertical and horizontal ribs, there are even inclined ones).
Vertical stiffeners are designed to withstand torsional loads. They do not give the opportunity to bend the lower or upper corner of the door leaf.
Horizontal elements do not allow to push the canvas or squeeze it from the box.
But the best option is a combined system of stiffeners, because she has the virtues of both types. You can watch this system in the above image.
Entrance doors can have only an external metal sheet or can be equipped with a sheet and from the inside. The connection of structural elements is carried out by spot welding.
Increased security will be able to provide armored doors. They are made using the same technology as safes. Concrete is poured into the structure, making it bulletproof. Such doors are usually equipped with safe types of locks and have a number of security options. But this article is not about that.
To purchase as street, doors made of too thin tin (less than 1.2 mm) we do not recommend. Especially in this regard, Chinese manufacturers sin, the tin on such doors can be easily cut with a knife to open canned goods.
Door frame. The reliability of the front door is determined not only by the device of the canvas, but also by the design of the door frame. Ideally, the box should be made of fairly thick steel (0.3-0.5 cm) and have a U-shaped profile.
Entrance door device:
1. The stiffener; 2. MDF panel; 3. Insulation; 4. Deadlift; 5. Armor plate lock; 6. Sealant; 7. Box; 8. Door leaf; 9. Loop with bearing; 10. External clamping plate; 11. Metal sheet; 12. Anti-removable pin.
Additional security systems
In addition to the robust design of the door and the frame, protection from breaking is provided by reinforced hinges. There are various models of loops: regular, safe, ball or with a thrust bearing. The latter option is considered the most effective.
The number of hinges depends on the design of a particular door - its dimensions, metal thickness, type of exterior and interior decoration. Even if the door is not heavy, it should be equipped with at least three hinges, and it is better if they are not accessible from the outside.
Metal entrance doors should also be equipped with powerful anti-removable pins (2-4 pcs.). They are located at the end of the door on the hinge side and are passive crossbars that enter into special holes in the door frame. The pins securely hold the door when it is in the closed position. Even if an attacker manages to cut all the loops and open the locks, he cannot open or remove it.
Thermal insulation and solving problems with freezing the front door
In our harsh climatic conditions, the question of which doors to put in a private house so as not to freeze is of particular importance. In the absence of an external protective and decorative panel, frost and frost on a metal sheet are common, and especially if the door goes directly to the street. However, even with bilateral cladding and an unheated vestibule, the interior will not be protected from the cold if the door does not have insulation.
A mandatory component of any entrance door is a reliable internal thermal insulation layer. Mineral wool, polystyrene foam and other materials with low thermal conductivity can be used as insulation. To maximize thermal insulation, it is recommended that the insulation be placed in the hollow frame of the door frame. When buying an entrance door, be sure to check this point.
There are several ways to solve the problem of freezing entrance doors:
1. Installing a metal door in a cold vestibule or porch. At the same time, a metal-plastic door is installed from the heated room into the vestibule, which has low thermal conductivity and cuts off the penetration of cold air into the room from the vestibule. As a result, the front door will not come in contact with the warm air of the room, but will perform protective functions. This method of solving the problem of freezing is very effective, but it can not always be applied, especially if the construction of the house is already completed.
2. The second way to solve the problem of freezing is to choose a metal door with thermal breaks in the profile. An effective solution is a thermal insert made of polyamide. This material perfectly neutralizes the effects of low temperatures. For example, if from the street side the door is “pressed” at -25ºС, then the temperature of its internal part will be + 10ºС. However, this option has its drawbacks: firstly, the castle zone is still not protected from freezing, and secondly, door structures with this type of thermal insulation are twice as expensive as conventional options.
The device of a metal door with thermal breaks:
1. Sealant; 2. The inner sheet of sheet metal door leaf; 3. Expanded polystyrene; 4. Foiled Isolon; 5. Polyurethane foam; 6. Cork; 7. The outer sheet of sheet metal door leaf; 8. Thermo-insertion of foil isolon for thermal break; 9. Awnings on bearings.
3. Good thermal protection is provided by doors with an electric heating system. A heating cable is arranged along the contour of the door, around the locks and inside the box of such a door. This prevents the formation of condensation and ice. Electricity consumption is from 2 to 8 kW / day. Thus, even at very low temperatures, the door will always remain dry.The only drawback of this solution is the additional cost of electricity.
Regardless of the type of internal insulation, the front door must be equipped with a double, and preferably a triple, contour of the seal, the main function of which is to prevent the penetration of cold air from the street through the cracks between the door and the frame.
Exterior finish
Before choosing the front door to a private house, it is necessary, first of all, to take into account the architectural features of the entrance itself. In direct contact with the street (we do not take visors into account), the door lining must withstand not only significant temperature changes, but also the influence of precipitation, as well as UV rays.
So, for doors that come in contact with the street, it is categorically not recommended to use wood trim panels (particleboard, MDF, etc.), even with PVC coating. They cannot stand the influence of moisture, and under snow and rain they will quickly become worthless.
A worthy "rebuff" to moisture can be provided by hammer painting. It is best to use this particular type of protective coating in our harsh conditions. You have probably already seen this color, see examples below:
Hammering options.
Vinyl-plastic cladding also resists weather precipitation well, but it is not sufficiently frost-resistant - already at -20 ° C this material becomes brittle and poorly resists even minor mechanical damage.
Refined appearance and excellent protection against moisture to a door cloth will be possible to provide waterproof ship panels from an oak, an alder, a nut, a pine. With such a lining, the door will look as if it is made of solid wood, but you should immediately consider that you will have to pay for beauty and reliability, respectively.
Door locks
It is hard to imagine the front door without two or three locks. These mechanisms provide 60% of the protective functions of the structure. Therefore, choosing the front door for a private house, you need to pay special attention to the locks. Doors should be equipped immediately with two different types of mortise locks, most often, level and cylindrical. But cruciform and disk locking devices are found. We will not discuss the topic of electronic locks, but consider only mechanical options for locking mechanisms.
The most important element of any castle is a crossbar (in a simple way - a deadbolt). It is he who does not give the opportunity to open a closed door. For cybercriminals, a deadbolt is a major barrier to blocking unauthorized access to a home. High-quality and expensive mortise locks for entrance doors are equipped with crossbars made of hardened high-strength steel. Most often they have a cylindrical shape and can freely rotate around their axis, so it is not possible to cut them.
When the door is locked with a key, the bolt enters a hole in a metal box in a special form, located exactly opposite it. The door in the closed state is fixed using a spring-loaded latch. The bolt is moved by a swivel cam made of hardened steel. A direct "command to action" gives the cam a key, which is inserted into the "secret" mechanism.
Level castle
The construction of the levers mechanism consists of a set of special levers (plates) in which the teeth are cut. The barbs of the so-called mesh with these teeth. safe key. The secrecy of each particular lock lies in the unique location and size of the teeth. If necessary, lever locks can be recoded without disassembling their case, for example, if the key is lost. True, only leading manufacturers of these mechanisms provide such an opportunity.
This type of lock is considered the most reliable. These mechanisms are characterized by a high degree of burglar resistance, as well as excellent vandal resistance - if small objects get into the keyhole, the normal operation of the castle will not be disturbed.
Cylinder (English) lock
There are special grooves on the side of the key. When the key is in the cylindrical part of the “larva”, grooves push out spring-loaded thin plates (pins), consisting of two halves, during which the joints of the parts of the pins are at the border of the larva body and the rotary cylinder, allowing the key to rotate. The key actuates the cam, and that, in turn, moves the bolt.
Metal entrance doors are usually equipped with cylinder locks with flat keys, the rib parts of which have unique protrusions and the flat parts have special recesses. These locks are characterized by an increased degree of secrecy, but they have the disadvantage of low vandal resistance. The fact is that even a broken match in a larva can disable the castle, because getting it will be very problematic.
Cruciform castle
Cross-shaped secret mechanisms are driven by keys that have the shape of a cross from the end. The larva design consists of four rows of pins - one on each side. Such locks do not possess particular reliability - they are easily opened with the help of master keys. And the level of vandal resistance is quite low. Thus, the cross lock as the main locking mechanism for the front door is definitely not suitable.
Disc lock
In the design of these locks there are special-shaped disks that do not allow the cylinder to turn without a key. On the key there are grooves located under a certain slope corresponding to the slope of each particular disk. The keyhole is similar in shape to a truncated circle, so extracting a foreign object from it is not difficult.
Disc locks are characterized by a high degree of secrecy and are very difficult to open with lock picks, so they are an excellent alternative to cylinder locks.
Metal-plastic entrance doors
An excellent alternative to metal entrance structures are doors made of PVC profile. Currently, they are widely used in low-rise construction, as characterized by strength, durability and aesthetic appearance. But most importantly, they allow us to solve the problem of condensation and ice formation. Some believe that these doors are not reliable enough, but these fears are not always justified. The thing is that detractors can enter a private house through the same windows. Therefore, no one will even touch your strong metal door. So it turns out that the use of metal doors is not always justified. How to choose the front street door to a private house made of metal-plastic will be discussed further.
It is immediately worth noting that the technology for the production of PVC windows and doors is similar, but in terms of design these products differ significantly. Because entrance doors are subject to increased requirements for reliability and safety, they are made of a particularly durable profile using reinforcement with steel profiles.
Door frame and canvas
The door frame of good PVC entrance doors is made of a five-chamber profile with a thickness of at least 70 mm. Strengthening the structure is carried out using a metal reinforcing frame of a rectangular or complex section located along the inner perimeter of the frame. It has reliable corner mounts that provide frame rigidity. The presence of the frame allows you to equip the door with powerful hinges and reliable burglar-proof locking mechanisms.
When ordering such a design, be sure to pay attention to the profile: the number of cameras should not be less than five.
The door leaf structure also includes a frame with a metal frame of rigidity. As a placeholder, the door is not equipped with an ordinary double-glazed window, as in windows, but with triplex or armored glass. This solution helps ensure safety and protection against mechanical damage. Along the perimeter of the door and frame, a rubber sealant is necessarily located for heat and waterproofing.
For greater reliability, it is recommended to choose external doors with a glazing area not exceeding a third of the canvas area (the lower part is blind, the upper one with glass).
Doors can be single or double:
Bivalve structures are placed in wide openings to evenly distribute the load on the hinges.
The device of the entrance metal-plastic door:
1. The profile of the door frame; 2. Rubber seal; 3. The profile of the door leaf; 4. The threshold; 5. Closed reinforcing profile made of galvanized steel; 6. Sealant of a double-glazed window; 7. Triple glazing; 8. Closed reinforcing profile of the door frame, made of galvanized steel.
Hardware
Accessories include hinges, a lock and a handle. Doors are equipped with at least three anti-removable hinges that can withstand the large weight of the door (50-70 kg).
The standard kit includes one lock with multi-point mechanism. Locks of this type, in addition to the main locking point (the place where the key is turned), are actuated by powerful crossbars made of high-strength steel located around the perimeter. These elements protect the door from breaking and provide a snug fit of the sash to the frame. Optionally, you can equip the door with an additional short lock (with one locking point).
It is also recommended to equip the door with a door closer so that the heavy leaf does not shake the entire structure when not properly closed.
Advantages of PVC entrance doors:
- excellent tightness of the structure, providing excellent noise, hydro and thermal insulation characteristics;
- high resistance to various aggressive factors (temperature extremes, humid environment, UV rays, chemicals);
- ease of care (easy to clean with cleaning (non-abrasive) products;
- a variety of design solutions (various designs and color options for decor);
- affordable cost;
- ease of installation.
Burglar resistance
Each entrance door belongs to a specific security class. Although, only serious and responsible manufacturers certify their products. Burglar resistance of the door structure is determined by tests.
- I class - such doors can be easily and quickly opened through manual equipment;
- Class II - the design is able to protect against hacking with a simple power tool. Most street entrance doors are in this category;
- Class III - massive doors with double steel cladding on the outside and additional reinforcing elements in the entire structure. Hacking will take about half an hour and a powerful (up to 500 W) grinder.
Tip: when choosing the front door, take an interest in who produced it and where, and also find out whether this product has passed official certification for burglary resistance and what class it is assigned to.
Conclusion
It is, of course, impossible to answer unequivocally the question of which front door is best for a private house. The choice is influenced by many factors: for example, the financial capabilities of the buyer, his personal preferences, features of the house, climatic conditions of the region of residence, etc. However, there are mandatory basic requirements, focusing on which, you can choose a reliable and durable door that can not only turn the house into a real fortress, but also become its hallmark.
Here are the main options for choosing an entrance door for a home:
- design quality and reliability;
- the presence of good sound and heat insulation;
- wear-resistant exterior finish;
- attractive design;
- reliable locking system.
