Mdf door panels for cladding

The best protection of the home from the invasion of uninvited guests, steel doors have always been. No doubt, cloths made of solid wood look expensive and rich, but at a higher cost, they serve not as long as metal at the entrance. Just how to make a non-presentable steel door look as good as a wooden one?

That's what the MDF door panels are needed for, which, due to the original milling and high-quality facial finish, create a very decent exterior for the doors. After watching the video in this article, you will learn how the overhead panels are made and refined in production, as well as how to install such a door trim.

What is the door pad

MDF door panels not only improve the appearance of the door, but also perform some practical functions:

• First of all, MDF has excellent thermal insulation properties, as well as being a good sound insulator (see. Sound insulation of entrance doors with your own hands in the house).
• Secondly, the panel installed outside protects the metal from weathering - and this is very important for street doors.

After these words, you may immediately be asked: "And what will protect the pad itself from moisture?". As is known, all materials produced from wood chips and fibers are not intended for external use.

This is all true, but there is also moisture-resistant MDF, which, due to the addition of polymer resins to the raw materials, has an almost zero moisture-holding coefficient in conditions of high humidity.

In addition, the invoice profile, designed for the exterior door decoration, is not finished with paper-laminated plastic, but with synthetic films or plastic, which perfectly protect the wood-fiber material from wetting. Your task is only to make sure that the panels are made of moisture-resistant material.

Note! MDF, which is intended for internal use only, has a bright yellow color. As for the moisture-resistant option, it is distinguished by a peculiar greenish tint throughout the mass, and it is enough to look at the door MDF lining from the wrong side to understand what kind of material in front of you.

As for the purely decorative lining options, which are intended for facing the interior doors, then the choice is so extensive that the doors lined with them will perfectly fit even into the interior, decorated in any historical style. You can buy them in the kit and here is such a beautiful sandrik that you see above the door in the above example, and much more.

What complete door panels

Manufacturers of steel doors set the decor in the form of plates, immediately in the process of their manufacture. But such accessories are also on sale, which allows you to purchase them, and install them with your own hands on a door that is not faced or to be repaired.

And it does not necessarily have to be external:

• Internal deaf doors that have lost their attractive appearance can also be ennobled with the help of MDF overlays.. But if you need to revet the door with glazing, the specialists of the organization selling the panels can cut a hole for the glass for an additional fee.

• In addition to the overhead panels, the price of which starts from 3000 rubles apiece, the client is offered a complete set and transom (see. Door transom - practicality and beauty)installed above the front door, as well as molded products: MDF door bead, trim, finishing strips. After all, the canvas can not be different from all other details on the texture and color. The consumer is also offered additional paid services.

In addition to the installation of the lining itself, it is the installation of the lock, dobor and platbands, painting the end of the canvas, cutting holes in the panels for fittings and glass. The result is a rather big amount that can be saved only if you have the opportunity and desire to do everything yourself.

Front door panel decoration

We will tell about how to install MDF door linings a bit later, but for now let us consider what kind of facial decor these accessories have. If we keep in mind the source material - that is, the plates that come off the conveyor, their facing can be divided into three main groups.

These are laminates (paper laminates), polymeric films, and paper films with polymeric impregnations.

How to do it in production

There are several lining technologies, but one of the most common is surface caching. Its essence lies in the fact that the film, which is fed from a continuously unwinding roll, rolls onto one or two surfaces at once, which are previously smeared with glue.

So:

• Where synthetic films are used that do not differ in heat resistance, gluing is done cold on PVA glue. Adhesive strength is created in this case, under a certain load. When facing sheets impregnated with paper films, use polymer two-component adhesives.

• The film is applied on the warm layer of the sheet, and rolled with hot rollers. The final setting of the glue takes place under the influence of the weight of the stack into which the coated sheets are folded. But of course, in the manufacture of door panels, no refined material is used in production, since the surface of the coated MDF sheets is not subject to further processing.

Note! Manufacturers of door panels perform caching and lamination in the same way - on a vacuum press specially designed for lining profiled surfaces. That is, cutting to size, and profile milling of blanks for the pads, with the help of which the texture of the panels is simulated, is made from ordinary material, and the finished products are ennobled with films.

• One of the most popular lining options for MDF panels is lamination. So in the plate and furniture production, they call the process of pressing on the surface of the product of paper of the same format, impregnated with melamine resin. The resin in these films is not fully cured, which makes it possible to glue them under a hot press without using glue.
• The front cover of the panel can also be made with the use of a thermosetting film, as well as films with a finishing effect, which allow you to imitate the texture of brushed wood, or simply emboss. But the depth of the pattern, as well as the degree of surface gloss, depend already on the equipment used to carry out these operations.

• Along with the films, the finishing of MDF panels can also be done with paint. It can be monophonic, or with the application of decorative elements in the form of patterns, or the texture of the same tree. In this case, the surface is prepared for painting similarly to any painting work: with the help of soil compositions and fillers, which allow to reduce the absorption of the plate, and improve the adhesion of the paintwork to it.

Paints for this purpose are usually used glyptal, as they form the most durable film on a painted surface. Well, to put a textural pattern, the workpiece is rolled through the shafts of the printing machine and the drying channel several times.

In the manufacture of linings for street doors, often produce powder spraying, which is one hundred percent protect the MDF from moisture and mechanical damage.

Install door trim

Next, you will be offered a small instruction on the topic: "How to install the door trim MDF." If you have the right tool at hand, and of course, you know how to handle it, it will be easy and easy to install the patch panel on the door.

To do this, even remove the cloth from the hinges is not required - it is only necessary to dismantle the accessories: keyhole cover, door knob, peephole.

So:

• Since the fastening of the panel is carried out mechanically, it is necessary to mark on the canvas the points for drilling holes into which the screws will be screwed. This is done with the help of a thin drill, right through the lining fixed by clamps exactly around the perimeter of the door.
• The height of the lining should be at least five mounts, the width - three. Immediately you need to put on the panel markup corresponding to the locations of the removed fittings. This can be done with a pencil, describing the contours of the holes through the holes in the canvas.
• Well, drill holes, you can, using the nozzle on the drill - the so-called, a core drill of the desired diameter, for which the pad should be put on a convenient horizontal surface. Having finished with the holes for the fittings, you should deal with the holes for fasteners.

• So that the caps of the screws could go into the sweat, in small holes, with a larger drill bit or a milling cutter, you need to remove the tapered chamfers. Since the overlay panels can have a different thickness, the length of the screws is chosen individually. It is important that they enter the canvas at least 5 mm, and at the same time do not protrude above the surface of the lining.

It remains only to fasten the panel to the canvas, close the fixing points with decorative plugs, and reinstall the removed fittings. We only add that if you improve the door from the street, do not forget to buy a special sealant for it. It is placed along the contour, and does not allow rain water to fall into the gap of the honey with a sheet and lining - and this is important for both wooden and metal doors.