How to Choose a Solid Door for Your New Home: A Checklist

“Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.”

John Barrymore, the American actor might mean it in a totally different context that an open door could invite many happiness. However, in a literal sense instead, if you leave the door open unknowingly before you leave for your work, no one can guarantee that it won’t catch eyes of any thief or burglar in the neighborhood. It may even turn into a lethal surprise for you at the end of day.

Can you even imagine a home that doesn’t have door? It almost makes no sense to define why every home needs a solid front door. To make an impression in the neighborhood, keep your family safe, keep the home warm, or prevent free trespassing into your house, you need a door in front of the house. Besides, an energy-efficient door will save almost 10% of your total electricity bill. With the advanced technology implementation, the global doors market is witnessing a significant growth in the upcoming years.

Entry doors of the house is referred to as door systems. This is because while you are buying a front door, you’re not buying just a door; you’ll have to buy the frame and locking mechanism along with the door.

While purchasing a door system, you’ll have to follow a checklist. This is mainly because the door will be the most essential part of your security system. Here’s a few things to look out for while purchasing a front door:

1. Material

Wood, steel, and fiberglass are the three basic materials that are used to build doors. A modern front door system combines two or all of these materials.

Wooden material gives the entry doors a classic look along with outstanding resistance to dents which make it the first choice for any customer. Any scratch on these doors can also be easily refurbished. Doors are usually made from a variety of woods such as mahogany, maple, walnut, cherry, fir, pine, and oak.  A wooden door requires intervallic varnishing or painting to sustain its look and resist any kind of damage.

Next most common choice is the doors made of fiberglass. Fiberglass has many qualities such as it can be stained or painted, a range of textures, resistant to wear and tear, and needs no maintenance. However, the cheap fiberglass doors can break under pressure and it’s recommended to avoid.

Steel is the most adaptable and affordable material for making of a door. It offers exceptional security and weather resistance. Steel is stronger than wood or fiberglass and it won’t crack or warp. High-density foam insulation and an inner steel frame are used to build an advanced steel door. Many customized steel doors are available in the market with laminated-wood veneer, a stainable wood-fiber coating, or a range of other finishes.

2. Hanging Design

There are many hanging designs for a modern door. Apart from the three-hinge system, hidden hinges are available for modern front doors. These hinges enable the door with a wider opening range and brightness infiltration. Choose a hanging system in which the hinge or pivot is located on either side of the door.

3. Energy Efficiency and Insulation

When you’re choosing a door, the quality of construction of the doorframe is another component in your checklist. Look out for a door in which the weather-stripping can be sealed properly and the threshold can be locked effortlessly with the bottom edge of the door.

Thermal break, a heat-resistant material, is placed between the inside and outside skins of the highest quality steel and fiberglass front doors. This material prevents heat and cold from being conducted through the frame and skin, which leads to frost forming on the internal surface.

4. Security

For security purpose, all the materials including steel, wood, or fiberglass – are equal in strength. Locking mechanism is the most important aspect to be careful of while buying a door. Choose a door that comes with a one-inch-long deadbolt and a reinforced metal strike plate.

There are many modern locking systems. They include keyless entry either with the help of a transponder or a smartphone, RFID entry, or keypad entry.

5. Color

While choosing a color for the front door, you should consider the local climate and style of the neighborhood you live in, and also the design of your home. Natural varnished wood always gives an authentic touch to the front door. However, you may pick up bold colors such as red, blue, green, orange and high-gloss black to give your house a contemporary statement.

Before Departing

Selecting the best front or indoor door might be a difficult work. Although there are so many options to consider before buying a door. The most important thing to look out for is the strength of the door- if it can survive the weather conditions of your locality or prevent any kind of burglary. If you’re opting for a glass door, make sure that the glass is bullet-proof and sledgehammer can’t do any harm to it.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.