When creating a dream home, many decisions need to be made, and one of the crucial ones is the kind of impression you want to make with its exterior and facade. The front door is an expression of your individuality that helps emphasize the style of your home. Among the classic materials used for manufacturing front doors in residential buildings, it is worth considering wood, steel, and aluminum. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Wooden Doors
With endless options for paint colors, glass inserts, and various carved elements, solid wood doors often become the choice because of their aesthetics. From traditional to modern designs, you can choose a wooden door that adds attractiveness to a home of any style. Wooden doors may develop dents or scratches over time, but sanding and repainting a wooden door to make it look like new is relatively easy. When choosing a wooden door, it's easy to change its color to match current style preferences.
However, all these wonderful qualities come at a cost. Wooden front doors are usually the most expensive option, especially for premium types of wood such as mahogany or walnut.
Wooden front doors also require regular maintenance - sanding, repainting, or refinishing every few years - otherwise they may warp and bend under the influence of natural elements. However, with proper care, they can easily last for more than 30 years and, in some cases, much longer.
Pros:
·Insulation properties. Wooden front doors significantly outperform other materials in terms of thermal and sound insulation. They provide protection against cold and external noise, with no need for additional seals or insulation layers.
·Appearance. No material can replace the natural texture of wood. A wooden door is a real luxury item, especially in modern houses.
·Easy maintenance. If any damage occurs to a wooden door, it can be eliminated without the need to involve specialists. Wooden doors can be sanded, filled with putty for any gaps, varnished, painted, etc. Also, it is relatively easy to change the appearance of the wooden door.
·Durability. With proper care, a wooden front door will serve for 20–25 years. During this time, for example, metal doors usually get corroded.
Cons:
·Low moisture resistance. A wooden door can be damaged due to constant exposure to moisture.
·Changes in size. Depending on the humidity level, a wooden door may change in size. During high summer temperatures it tends to shrink, while in winter, it may jam due to expansion.
·High cost. A genuinely high-quality wooden door is quite expensive. In addition, additional costs will be required to purchase materials to care for the wood.
Wooden front doors can be a practical and visually appealing option if proper care is provided. Given the mentioned drawbacks, it is necessary to ensure proper maintenance for a wooden door to serve its homeowners well in the long term.
Steel Doors
Steel doors are an excellent choice if you are looking for a reliable barrier against intruders. High-quality steel doors can also be energy-efficient, isolating warm air in winter and cool air in summer.
However, steel doors have higher thermal conductivity than wood. If they are exposed to direct sunlight, it is better to opt for light-colored doors to avoid excessive heat absorption. Also, even high-quality steel doors are prone to dents and scratches over time. Unlike wooden doors, these issues cannot be resolved by sanding, and the appearance of scratches can lead to corrosion. Using stainless steel material provides greater corrosion resistance. However, in coastal areas with humid and salty air, which is common in Cyprus, a steel door may still be susceptible to rust, and its surface needs consistent care.
Pros:
·Material strength
·Does not crack or deform due to weather conditions.
·May be energy efficient. The energy efficiency of a steel door depends on the construction specifics, but high-quality steel doors are generally energy efficient.
·Security. Steel doors offer reliable protection against intruders when equipped with a good lock.
·Affordability. Variety of steel doors in various price segment allows to find a suitable door for every budget.
Cons:
·Lack of unique design. Available styles and colors are limited, and steel doors are not normally repainted.
·Corrosion. When scratched, steel doors may form rust.
·Complexity of maintenance. Maintenance of a steel front door is more complicated than, for example, of a wooden door and often requires involvement of a specialist.
·Thermal conductivity. A steel door can heat up significantly under direct sunlight and may expand in intense heat.
·Does not guarantee protection against cold: Condensation may form on the inner side of the door during the cold season.
PVC Plastic Doors
Traditional beliefs mandated a metal front door to ensure the security of the household. Metal doors used to be a symbol of reliability. Over time, this perspective has evolved, and modern plastic entrance doors do not only provide protection and prevent doors from freezing, but also allow more light penetration. This is achieved through a popular trend of installing tempered glass inserts in the PVC entrance doors. Engaging modern technologies, these doors are now manufactured not only with thermal insulation and safety features but also with a focus on aesthetic appeal.
Pros:
·Aesthetic appeal. The visual aspect plays a key role in choosing front doors, as the ability to combine various house elements in a consistent style gives any home a harmonious and attractive appearance. The external and internal aesthetics of the house are considered when designing plastic doors.
·More light. Preference is given to abundant natural light, as people aim to make their homes bright and spacious, creating a visual sense of expanded space. Unlike metal doors, which can visually shrink the room, plastic doors offer diverse design possibilities.
·Tailored design. PVC doors are available in various colors and finishes, including white (made from the base material), laminated finishes to mimic various types of wood, and can be painted in any RAL color. Material variety includes options like plastic construction with metal filling, plastic construction with aluminum overlays, or a plastic-wood hybrid. PVC doors also allow for easy selection of lock types, from mechanical to automatic. Design flexibility includes choosing door shapes such as arched, classic rectangular, or angled.
·Thermal insulation. Due to modern materials and technologies, plastic doors are protected from freezing. They are manufactured from profiles with a mounting depth of 70 mm or more, ensuring high thermal insulation comparable to the best thermal window systems. Additionally, a "warm" threshold is installed at the bottom of the doors, effectively preventing cold from entering the interior.
·Sound insulation. The multi-chamber profile, sealing layers and insulation threshold ensure high soundproof qualities.
·Durability and ease of maintenance. PVC doors are durable, corrosion-resistant, and characterized by ease of maintenance.
·Easy to adjust. These doors are easily adjusted if the house is settling, which may cause issues in the normal operation of the entrance door. All components, from hinges to locking elements of the hardware, can be easily adjusted on PVC doors.
Cons:
·Changes in size. PVC is more prone to size changes under thermal influences when compared to metal. In high temperatures plastic expands, while in low temperatures, it tends to contract. To address this issue, the design of plastic windows and doors incorporates the use of steel reinforcement installed inside the PVC profile. This reinforcement serves not only to increase rigidity but also to prevent alterations in the material's dimensions due to temperature fluctuations.
·Careful handling. The surface of plastic doors is notably softer than their metal counterparts, making it susceptible to damage, such as dents, that becomes immediately noticeable and can compromise the appearance of your front door.
Aluminum Doors
Aluminum is a common material used in contemporary homes. Aluminum exterior doors have been popular in Europe for a long time now. A front door is used every day and should be convenient to use, have an appealing appearance, and provide safety. Aluminum, with high resistance to corrosion, is an ideal material for an entrance door. The price of such doors is usually close to their steel counterparts.
Pros:
·Wear resistance and durability. Aluminum alloys are resistant to various environmental factors, and the high corrosion resistance of aluminum is an important advantage for front doors. Moisture, rain, and fog pose no threat to an aluminum door. Tempered aluminum alloy is resistant to various negative environmental factors. Hence the doors last a long time and do not lose their original appearance.
·Lightweight. Aluminum is a lightweight metal with lower density and weight than steel, making it much lighter than a steel option. The relatively small weight of the structure reduces the likelihood of deformation of the door frame under the weight of the door, preventing the entrance door from sagging.
·Non-standard door size and variety of design solutions. Aluminum front doors offer more variety and flexibility in manufacturing compared to steel doors. The entrance door can be made according to any size, including non-standard sizes, which is especially important for houses with large doorways. Aluminum doors are made in two-leaf and three-leaf versions and can be up to five meters wide and three meters high. An aluminum door does not require owners to adjust the project to the door, offering a wide variety of designs, glazing options, unusual patterns, finishes, and colors.
·Security. Tempered aluminum alloys are highly durable and resist forceful methods of entry, same as their steel counterparts. If the door has glass elements, installation of a security glass will provide the necessary level of security.
·Eco-friendliness and fire resistance. Non-toxic materials are used in the manufacture of aluminum doors. Moreover, aluminum is a non-combustible material, and doors made of aluminum alloy are fire-resistant.
Cons:
·Cost. The high cost of aluminum can be considered a disadvantage. However, if the total cost of the product is divided by its useful life, comparing the result with other options, the overall cost is likely to be lower than that of wooden doors.
·Thermal insulation. Aluminum doors are not characterized by the highest thermal insulation properties, but door manufacturers address this drawback by equipping doors with special thermal inserts.
In Cyprus conditions, where Mediterranean climate prevails with hot summers and mild winters, it is advisable to choose a material for the front door that is resistant to the effects of sunlight, high temperatures, and humidity. However, if preferences lean towards design rather than practicality, one can always opt for timeless solid wood door, that will decorate with style entrance of any home.
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