BECOME A PRO

What are different types of doors and how to find the best one for you?

door contractor

Most of the time we don't give doors a second thought, yet in most buildings there are far more doors than there are windows. While the range and design of windows is huge, the designs of doors are astronomical by comparison, often depending on the particular purpose they are meant to serve. For instance there are interior doors, exterior doors, fire doors, security doors and they can be made of every type of material imaginable - steel, wood, pvc, glass - anything at all.

It is almost impossible for a door manufacturer or contractor to produce every type of door, so most specialise in a particular area. For example, there are exterior door contractors, interior door contractors, fire door specialists, storm door contractors, security door contractors - the list is endless.

Even when you talk about a specific area, such as exterior doors, there are any number of combinations. They can be made of vinyl or a wide range of different types of wood. They can be glazed or unglazed.

There are doors that open automatically as you approach them as are now fitted in many retail premises and public buildings and there are circular doors. There are also doors that are hardly ever seen by the users since they will open into a recess when the building opens to the public, the resulting gap being controlled by a heat curtain during the opening hours, closing only at night for security purposes.

Residential front doors can be made of many materials, but in most cases the homeowner will want to make a statement about the sort of person that lives in the house and the design of the front door will reflect that. A simple front door may cost only $300 or so, but the price can soar enormously if the owner wants something rather grand. The door may be glazed or unglazed and can be made of a range of hardwoods, or pvc. Exterior door contractors can supply doors that can be double or even triple glazed to conserve heat and many have important security features included to deter thieves.

An important point to note when considering external doors is that not all exterior door contractors are the manufacturers; many of them will simply supply and fit the doors made by other companies. Of course some contractors also manufacture the doors, and then there are manufacturers who do not deal with the public but only supply the contractors.

When choosing external doors it follows that if you are dealing with the manufacturer the range will be limited. If you deal with an exterior door contractor he will probably be able to supply whatever door you wish from a wide range of manufacturers.

Interior door companies fall into the same categories as exterior door companies. Of course, interior doors very often do not need to be constructed in anything like the way an exterior door is made. In many instances they will simply be the entrance to a room or an office providing entry to the room and privacy to those inside the room.

Nevertheless, the range of designs is vast and again may be chosen to reflect the tastes of the building owner or developer, or be chosen purely on the basis of cost.

In a public building, of course, it may well be that legislation requires fire doors to be installed and then the cost is going to increase considerably. Very often a fire door is required to withstand a certain temperature for a specific period of time - perhaps half an hour. In this case the materials required and the construction needed is going to result in a door that is much more expensive than something that is merely in place to break up the vista of a long corridor.

Then there are security doors. These, of course, are designed to withstand the efforts of criminals whose intent is to steal, or, worse, terrorists whose aim is to kill and create widespread panic. In either case the door is going to have to be something pretty substantial and in some instances may even be required to be bomb proof. A considerable amount of steel may be called for here, and a door that may easily weigh a ton or more.

Many public buildings and offices now use glass doors which gives a view of the reception area and, in turn, supplies the reception area with additional light. Often these may be automatic doors, but new buildings are returning to tall glass swing doors more and more today since they have an air of elegance about them.

Storm doors are an additional door, the object of which is to provide an extra layer of protection to an exterior door and also gives additional insulation to the house by creating a pocket of air between the two doors. These are often made of vinyl or aluminium which are relatively cheap materials, but may also be of wood treated to prevent warping and twisting. They usually have heavy duty hinges to withstand the harshest of winter weathers.

We have hardly scratched the surface of the subject of doors here, but the one thing you might wish to take away is that when you need a new door there will always be something that reflects your personality and is within your budget. That alone is cause for comfort.

Request Free Quotes

© 2024 eHARDHAT - All Rights Reserved.