The metal door box is practical

The entrance door is a burglar-resistant construction consisting of a door frame to which a movable metal or wooden sheet is attached. When closing, the door is tightly fixed in the box with a locking device or lock.

The article will tell you what a metal box door, especially its design and installation method.

Metal door classification

Before proceeding to the choice of design and material for the door frame, it is worth getting acquainted with their types.

Products are classified:

• To destination. They are:

1. Input. Mounted at the entrance to the building from the street.
2. The apartment. Installed at the entrance to the apartment (see How to choose the entrance metal door to the apartment). Additional protection of the driveway, allows you to finish the outer side of such doors. For this you can use wood, laminate, mirrors.
3. Parade. Used for administrative buildings and private houses. The designs are distinguished by the presence of a transom, several leaves with non-standard sizes, and spectacular decorative elements.
4. Office. These are apartment doors, but with a higher degree of security, and the prestigious appearance of the front door indicates the status of the company.
5. Technical. These are the simplest metal door designs installed at the initial stage of construction, and in various institutions that require an additional level of security. It can be: warehouses, archives, cash.
6. Tambourines. They are placed on the staircase, closing the entrance to several apartments at the same time. Such designs provide additional protection against penetration, increase heat and sound insulation, delay the entry of dirt and dust into the apartment. They may have a simple construction, one locking mechanism of the transom type and a modest finish.
7. Special: fire and armored doors. They are not deformed for a certain time at high temperatures, from bullets. GOST R 51072-97 indicates certification methods and methods for testing the quality of such structures.

Below are examples of design doors for different purposes:

• By way of opening. The doors can open: outside or inside the room, as seen in the photo.

• By resistance to cracking. Security doors for resistance to penetration of outsiders are divided into 13 classes.

Tip: For household doors with the best performance, you should choose the fourth class.

Features of boxes for doors

After getting acquainted with the main types of door designs and their purpose, it is necessary to choose the right design of the door frame.

The reliability of the metal door depends on:

• The material of the door leaf.
• The number of locks.
• Ways to install loops.
• The type of door frame used for hanging the canvas.

Tip: To ensure the safety of your home, first of all, you should correctly select and install the door box.

The main types of metal structures are presented in the table:

Box type	Special features
	In this case, metal equalized rolling angles of 50x5 mm or 63x6 mm are used, which frame the doorway. The design of this type practically does not reduce the doorway: the dimensions of the leaf and the box are almost the same, which is very important for narrow openings. Due to the thickness of the corner shelf, the product is reliably protected from power spin. The lack of design: the inability to seal well the doorway, providing heat and sound insulation of the room. Such models are used for non-residential premises: warehouses, attics.
	For such structures, rolled square tubes or rectangular sections with a wall thickness of 2 mm are used. In order to save, you can use a rectangular pipe from 40x25x2 to 40x40x2 mm, but only for doors of average weight. More solid structures should be made of pipes with a section of 60x40x2 mm. To increase the reliability of the design, double boxes are used, connected by welding at right angles from two profiles. The cross section of the second pipe or porch, most often, is chosen 50x25x2 mm. In addition, such designs allow you to perform excellent thermal insulation, using a variety of materials for compaction. The disadvantage of the product is the reduction of the working doorway.
	Bent profile differs from the rolling method of manufacture. For this purpose, special sheet bending machines are used. The complex shape inherent in the bent profile, allows you to mount seals for thermal insulation. Design flaws: The large thickness of the box, which may require an expansion of the door opening before installing it. At production the sheet 1,5 mm thick is used. With greater thickness increases the weight of the structure, and its price. With too much effort, the metal can not withstand and cut through the lock bolt.

The main reasons for the manufacture of metal doors with their own hands include:

• Custom dimensions of the opening.
• The embodiment of the original ideas of the designer.
• The use of special materials.
• Cost savings.
• The ability to make a product of high quality.

Preparation of the opening

Preparatory activities include:

• The acquisition of the necessary tools.
• Remove the old box.
• Determining the size of the structure.

To perform the work will need:

• Portable circular saw.
• Ruler and tape measure.
• Hacksaw with small teeth.
• Hammer.
• The keys.
• Scissors for metal.
• Building level.
• Lom.
• Electric drill.

Tip: When making a metal box or purchasing a finished one, it is necessary to correct the opening. To increase it, a part of the wall is sawn by a grinder. At reduction the additional framework from a channel or a square is used.

How to change the size of the doorway correctly, shows the video in this article.

Making a metal door frame

Tip: Before proceeding to the fabrication of a structure, it is necessary to measure the opening and make sure that it consists of solid brickwork or concrete, and not a layer of plaster or plywood.

After measurements, a design drawing is developed with an indication of the overall dimensions, reference parameters for installing a lock, hinges, embedded slats, for fastening the box in the opening.

Next, to assemble the box:

• The metal profile selected for the product is cut at an angle of 45 ° on both sides of each part.
• The cutting accuracy is checked by connecting the elements into the frame and putting a joinery corner at the corners.
• When assembling the frame of pipes, the parts are welded into a rectangular structure. In this case, diagonals are checked to avoid its distortions.
• After welding, all seams are machined with an angle grinder. This ensures that the box fits snugly in the opening.

Installation of the door frame

The frame is installed before the installation of the door, which is determined by the technological features of the installation. When working, it is necessary to minimize the probability of deformation of the structure, which is ensured by the proper storage and transportation of all elements. After preparing the opening and making the box, you can install the door opening.

Instruction for work includes:

• Installing the box in the same plane with the door opening.
• Control of its position by building level.
• Fixing the frame with anchors, steel reinforcement or embedded plates.

• Doors are hung.
• The course of the canvas is verified.
• Closed technological gaps. This can be done by foaming with construction foam, or by laying cement mortar.

• After the assembly foam has dried, its excess is cut off.

• The door leaf is installed, and its work is checked for the absence of rubbing.

A few construction installation tips

When installing a metal door should follow some rules:

• When installing the box in the opening, it is necessary to enclose wooden wedges between them, providing adjustment of the position and a strong fixation.
• The used anchors for fastening the frame must have sufficient bearing capacity to work with the load from the mass of the frame and the hinged door.
• Checking the course of the door leaf, special attention should be paid to the absence of its spontaneous movement, great effort when opening and closing, rubbing the doors on the threshold or frame.
• When sealing with technological foam or cement mortar, it is better to glue the surface of the frame with masking tape to prevent contamination of the box surface with mortar.

Metal doorframes are selected for a given height and width of the opening, the thickness of the door leaf and its design. The choice of door material depends on the appearance of the whole house, the family budget and the need to ensure security from breaking.