How many times do you ever think about your home’s front door? It’s rare for most homeowners to do so, and that’s rather unfortunate.
The front door matters a lot in every home. It’s one of the home elements that leave a good or bad first impression to visitors.
There are many more functions offered by the front door. Any time you’re thinking about it, you should focus on certain features including security (both perceived and real), weather elements, inviting reception, and protection against weather elements. Don’t ignore these considerations when choosing your front door.
But how can you make a more informed choice? It can be quite challenging to choose the best door for your home. Luckily, we’ve made it easier for you by discussing all the best options available today.
Read on through this article to learn more about the different door options available today and choose the best one for you.
Types of Doors Based on the Material Used
Wooden Doors
Timber/wood is one of the most commonly used materials for making windows and doors. Wood is actually among the oldest materials used in the manufacturing and construction industries.
Wood is popularly used due to its wide availability and ease of working with it. You only need a few basic tools and supplies to create what you want from wood.
There are several types of wood available today. Some are softwoods while others are hardwoods. Before making a choice, consider crucial factors such as durability and your budget.
Also, your choice will depend on whether you need the door for a residential or commercial property. This is because longevity may differ depending on where you want to use the door. Although you can use wood for all the doors in your home, it’s most ideal for use on the front door due to its durability.
Metal Doors
Another popular material for making doors is steel. Steel is preferred due to its usefulness and strength in making both front and interior doors.
Steel doors come in many options, including hollow and solid ones. Metallic doors are a good alternative to wood. Besides, metal is popularly used for making door frames.
Metallic frames often feature steel plates, tees, and channels. Steel frames usually come with hinges and locks that are welded in place. Besides, you can use any panel material such as glass, aluminium or wood and have it installed on a steel frame.
Steel is more economical than most materials used in making doors. That’s why steel doors are popular in both residential and commercial properties. Steel doors are typically made of cold-rolled premium quality steel. The steel sheet is then crafted to a preferred design and size.
Steel doors come in different styles. Some come with wood grain texture for enhanced beauty. Besides, steel doors require minimal maintenance. They’re extremely durable and enhance the security of the property.
Glass Doors
Glass is another material used for making windows and doors. Glass is mainly used as a panel for either windows or doors. You can choose the kind of glass design you want based on where you want it installed.
Typically, glass panels are used for balcony or backside doors to offer unobstructed views of the backyard or garden. They’re also used as shower area doors.
You can also go for glass doors for a more gorgeous and luxurious look. However, front glass doors should be a type that offers privacy and made of hardened safety glass.
Most glass doors comprise of a glass panel fitted in a wooden or frame. Framed glass doors are ideal for use as front doors. You can use frameless glass doors in the shower area for a luxurious look.
However, framed glass doors, especially those made of hardened safety glass are quite heavy and expensive due to their luxurious appearance and higher cost of production. Besides, glass requires regular maintenance to maintain its shine and luxurious look.
Aluminium Doors
Another ideal material for making doors is aluminium. Aluminium is mostly preferred due to its lightweight and durable nature. Aluminium is widely used for making partitions, curtain walls, windows, and doors.
Another benefit that comes with aluminium framed doors is their ability to withstand daily usage without getting damaged easily.
Aluminium frames and doors are extremely durable. They’re not affected by insects such as termites, thereby making them a worthy investment.
Aluminium doors and windows come in various styles. You can choose between side hung and sliding aluminium doors. Moreover, you can find attractive options to add to the décor and value of your home.
Fiberglass Doors
Fiberglass is a fibrous type of glass that’s typically woven into a fabric material. Fiberglass is popular for its extreme tensile strength. It’s also lightweight, non-inflammable, and durable.
Glass fibers mixed with resin are ideal for manufacturing several products like windows, doors, and bathtubs. Additionally, fiberglass is among solidified construction materials that only require little maintenance. Fiberglass doors actually require lower maintenance than wood and steel doors.
Fiberglass is extremely stable. It doesn’t twist, warp, or bow. Doors made of fiberglass have effective insulation properties due to the foam layer that lies within fiberglass panels. Besides, you can go for fiberglass doors with wooden panels for enhanced aesthetics.
These doors are ideal for installation in both exterior and interior locations. Moreover, you can have front doors made of fiberglass and customized with beveled glass and stiles. These doors can also be customized with architectural designs for a more personalized look.
Ledged/Battened Doors
If you’re searching for a simple door design, then you can go for ledged doors. These doors are also known as battened doors. They’ve been in use for many years.
These doors feature several wooden battens that are tongue or groove jointed to make up the door. The battens are similar in height. The doors also feature three horizontal members/ledges for the bottom, center, and top sections.
They’re ideal for use in the bathroom and toilet. Besides, they’re an affordable choice for anyone working with a tight budget.
Flush Doors
Flush doors feature a smooth surface. They’re typically made of two medium-density plywood or fiberboard panels and built over a light wooden frame.
Basically, the framing is sandwiched between the panels. Thus, they have a hollow space between the panels. The hollow space is typically filled with cardboard material.
Flush doors come in different finishes and are ideal for interior use. However, these doors can be modified for exterior use.
If you want to use a flush door as your home’s front door, then ensure it has wooden or steel frames for enhanced security. These doors are hinged for opening towards one direction.
These doors are preferred due to their affordability, durability, and aesthetics. However, if you want to use these doors in your toilet or bathroom, you can have the inner panel covered with aluminium sheets to keep the door protected from water damage. Frames for toilet or bathroom doors are designable in conventional styles.
PVC Doors
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a form of plastic material used for making a wide variety of products like fittings, water tanks, and pipes. The popularity of PVC in the manufacturing industry is increasing.
Today, you can also find a wide variety of PVC doors. These doors come in different styles and colors. Thus, you’ll have several options to select from.
PVC doors come with several advantages including being lightweight, high resilience, termite-proof, anti-destructive, and moisture resistant. Besides, they’re easy to manufacture and install.
However, they’re unsuitable for use as entry doors due to their lightweight nature and poor protection against harsh weather elements. Nevertheless, they’re more cost-effective than metallic and wooden doors.
Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Doors
These doors comprise of fibrous glass reinforced with plastic. Fiber-reinforced plastic, abbreviated as FRP, is extremely durable. This makes it ideal for manufacturing doors.
The material also boasts of having superior tensile strength. Their rated tensile strength is at least ten times more than that of polyvinyl chloride.
FRP doors come in a wide variety of finishes and colors. You can choose an FRP door with a wood finish for a more natural look. Standard FRP doors come with a thickness of about 30 to 35 mm. The doors can also come with two leaves, featuring a thickness of about 1.5 mm.
Leaves in FRP doors are molded over core materials to create a sandwich type of panel. This is especially important for making the door fire retardant.
Some of these doors come with wooden attachments for fixing handles, stoppers, locks, and other door accessories. These accessories can enhance the overall look of the door.
Paneled Doors
These doors are a preferred choice in most modern homes. They feature a wooden frame and panels made of wood, tough board, plywood or blockboard. The panels are available in different styles for enhanced aesthetics.
You can also find paneled doors made of glass. In this case, the door comprises of both glass and wooden panels. This design creates a glazed and paneled door structure. These doors are aesthetically pleasing and versatile.
You can also have the door designed as per the style of your home and the specific installation location. Frames for paneled doors are often made of wooden or metallic sections.
Bamboo-Jute or Jute-Coir Composite Doors
If you need doors made of renewable material, then you won’t go wrong with bamboo laminates. Bamboo matures within 3 to 4 years, making it a favorable natural resource for manufacturing doors. Besides, bamboo matures faster than other hardwoods.
Bamboo-jute and jute-coir composites are ideal for making boards. These boards are ideal for making doors. Coir and jute are hard fibers. They’re blended with top quality phenolic resins.
There’s an increasing demand for these doors due to their numerous benefits such as being biodegradable, environment friendly and having properties that resist termites, rust, and water. Since they’re a great alternative to wood, they’re ideal for making composites.
Moreover, these doors are affordable and mainly produced by entrepreneurs and manufacturers who focus on sustainability.
Types of Doors Based on Their Design
Hinged Doors
Single hinged doors are commonly used in most homes as interior doors. The hinged end is typically installed onto the wall such that you swing the door open from the free end. Thus, this style requires enough space for swinging the door open.
If not, you won’t be able to open the door fully and you’ll have limited space to pass through, especially when carrying luggage through the door.
Hinged doors may come as single pieces. Some hinged doors come as pre-hung systems for easier and faster installation.
Exterior hinged doors typically feature three hinges for enhanced security. The hinges are distributed along one vertical end of the door, with one hinge at the top, another at the middle, and another at the bottom.
Furthermore, exterior hinged doors are heavier than two-hinged interior doors. Exterior doors come with a thickness of around 1 ¾ inches whereas interior hinged doors generally have a thickness of 1 3/8 inches.
Roller Doors
A rolling/roller door is also referred to as a sectional overhead door. Roller doors are typically used in workshops, storage facilities, garages, and shop fronts. They come in a wide range of unique and trendy styles. These makes them ideal for use in a living room.
These doors are usually made of hard-wearing metal or fiberglass. You can also add these doors in your home to separate your interior space from the deck or garden. Rolling doors are advantages in that they don’t require a lot of space to open them.
Moreover, these doors require minimal maintenance. They’re long-lasting and offer safety and privacy, especially for homes located near a busy area. Thus, installing a rolling door means that you’re keeping your home protected from the world out there.
Pocket Doors
Several older homes feature pocket doors in the interior space. These doors slide into a wall when fully opened and have been used for several decades now. Today, they have been upgraded for enhanced aesthetics to match with modern-day interior designs.
These doors are quite easy to operate. You simply slide a pocket door into a wall crevice to open it. The crevice into which a pocket door slides shouldn’t have any electrical or plumbing lines running through it for smooth opening and closing.
Pocket doors come as either single or double door styles. They open without taking any floor space. Thus, they’re convenient for interiors with limited space.
Pivot Doors
Pivot doors are ideal for enhancing the overall look of a home. You can take advantage of their style to make your home look more modern. Pivot doors look like part of a wall design when opened.
Their frame features a design that allows it to support the heavy weight of the door. A pivot door comes with two pivot points that support it at the middle, top, and bottom sections such that the door rotates on the pivots when pushed open or close. Pivot doors give the entrance a more stunning look than most regular doors.
Sliding Doors
If your home has a space that requires a large door opening, such as a back patio or closet, then you can use sliding doors.
These doors slide along a track when opening and closing them. They typically feature steel rollers at the top and bottom. They slide along the track with the help of the rollers.
Their main advantage is that they don’t protrude outward or inward, thereby making them save on space. They’re generally made of glass panels and wooden frames. Besides, they blend well with most interiors.
However, they’re only accessible from a section of the door opening. Nevertheless, they’re ideal for anyone who wants a minimalist style featuring a refined design and clean lines.
French Doors
In case you want a unique door style, then you should consider French doors. They’re typically held in place by three or four hinges, and comprise of two panels that open side by side. These doors are suitable for extra-wide door openings and unblocked views.
French doors have an extremely charming traditional style. You can also choose French doors with glass panels for a more modern look.
Besides, glass French doors highlight the overall design of a space. They’re ideal for creating passageways between rooms. They’re also ideal for use as exterior patio doors.
Bifold Doors
These doors are extremely versatile. They feature several door panels hinged together such that you can fold them to expose a wider opening.
They’re typically fitted on a metallic track that usually hangs from the top section of the door opening. Bifold doors are ideal for allowing maximum natural light into the interior and opening up the interior to the outdoor space.
Barn Doors
Barn doors offer a country vibe. They’re becoming more popular in modern farmhouses and homes. They offer a vintage look that assists in adding style and separation to bedrooms, bathrooms, and closets.
You can add decorative glass and machined hardware to barn doors to make them look more stunning. You can choose the material you want for a barn door depending on the kind of functionality you want it to offer.
Wood is the most preferred material for making barn doors because it minimizes sightlines and blocks light, especially if you want to add privacy to a specific space.
Dutch Doors
Dutch doors feature a distinct style, with a separate bottom and top section. The bottom and top sections of Dutch doors open and close independently.
They’re divided horizontally, making them ideal for any home with children and pets. You can keep the top half open and the bottom half shut to allow fresh air into the room while still keeping children and pets indoors.
You can as well use a Dutch door like a regular door by bolting the bottom and top sections together such that you’ll push them open or close as a single door. These doors are ideal for use as a front door or cooking area door.
When using this door type as a front door, ensure you choose an option that is strongly built for enhanced security. Although the doors feature a traditional style, they’re still preferred due to their practicality and adding an old-world sense of style.
Final words
Upon reading through this article, we’re certain that you’ve learnt more about different types of doors available today. With this information in mind, you’ll stand better chances of making a more informed decision.
Also, remember to balance between function and form when making your choice. If you’d like to repair or replace glass doors, feel free to give our experts a call today!
Also Read:
Unique Design Ideas for Shower Doors in Small Bathrooms
Types of Glass Shower Doors and their Benefits
Advantages of a Sliding Glass Door in a Small Office
A Guide on Selecting Glass Doors and Windows for Your House
Factors to Consider Before Selecting Doors and Windows for Your House