How to choose the front door

Americans call the front door "a smile at home", and for good reason. After all, this is the first thing that greets guests. In addition, it protects against penetration and hacking. Therefore, when choosing, one should take into account all the details. Such a construction will last more than one year, and the safety of the house depends on how well all the details are thought out in it.

Kinds

Before making the final choice, it is necessary to consider existing varieties. Conventionally, all doors can be divided into steel and wood.

Entrance doors must perform a number of functions:

1. Be aesthetic. This is not the main property, but, nevertheless, it would be foolish to overlook the appearance.
2. Protect the house from hacking, i.e. to withstand mechanical stress. In addition, you need to think about the system of protection against intellectual hacking.
3. Protect from the cold and good sound insulation.
4. Mandatory access control system (peephole or surveillance camera).

Steel structures are strong and durable. These are their undeniable advantages.

Metal doors are cold bridges and have no sound insulation properties without additional protection. Wooden products, on the contrary, are less durable, but at the same time warm and protect from excessive noise.

Apartment owners often have a question about which door to choose. Is it possible to compensate for the shortcomings of both types? Of course, you can, if you approach the matter wisely.

Constructive modern door

Today, no one installs wooden entrance doors. Wood can only be a decorating element. A design made entirely of such material does not meet safety requirements. Therefore, all modern products are made of steel.

Despite the fact that all doors are made of metal, there is a big difference between the designs. And it depends on the quality of the components.

The door consists of several parts:

1. Steel sheets (front and back). The front sheet is usually made from solid material. It should not be welded seams. If there are traces of welding on the face, then it can be cracked mechanically (with a sledgehammer and other heavy tools).
2. Casings. These parts are not only an aesthetic function, but also protect against hacking. They close the gap, which always remains between the box and the opening.
3. Pretense This is the part that covers the gap between the door and the box. Sham prevents hacking.
4. Stiffening rib. This is the invisible interior of the structure. Ribs enhance overall stiffness. In expensive products there is also an internal steel sheet.
5. Hinges are also a very important part of the door. Sometimes hacking is done from this side. The most reliable option - hinges on bearings.
6. Insulation and sound insulator. Materials like wooden bars, mineral wool, foam rubber are placed inside the structure, between the stiffeners.
7. Box. It accounts for more than half of the power of various detractors. Therefore, a lot depends on the quality of the box.

The strength of the door is determined by several indicators. One of them is the thickness of the steel sheets and their quality. So, inexpensive Chinese products can be opened very easily by cutting the sheets of "metal".

The best option is alloyed or hardened steel. Such doors do not break, a sledgehammer bounces off of them, and the drills simply burn. Products made of hardened steel are heavy, so they are often used in summer cottages or cottages - this is a good choice for any occasion, but they are expensive.

The strength of the box depends not only on the thickness and quality of the profile, but also on the hands of the master. In most cases, only competent installation of the box is required.

In ordinary urban apartments do not require increased strength, because the thieves here are unlikely to wield a grinder or drills. Therefore, it is possible to do with structures with a sheet thickness of less than 2 mm. Hinges in these doors are ordinary. For cottages, it is better to choose loops on the leverage system.

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Economy option

Most apartment owners install cheap doors. They have only one steel sheet - external. From the inside you can see stiffening ribs and reinforcing elements. It is assumed that the owner himself will conduct insulation, because in the original version the metal is an excellent conductor of cold to the apartment.

Economy option is not so bad if the steel sheet thickness and the quality of the metal are at a high level. Such doors will protect from the majority of robbers. However, they require additional work.

Well, if the apartment has a second wooden door. They will protect against cold penetration from the entrance. If they are not, then you have to do the insulation independently. For this, foam is best suited. The foam blocks must be measured and laid between stiffeners. From above, you need a decorating element.

It is necessary to carefully check the operation of the locks. Often in the cold season cheap doors wedge due to the fact that the locks are frozen.

When installing inexpensive products, it is necessary to monitor the quality of the platbands and the professionalism of the craftsmen who will perform the work. The box must be mounted in the opening tightly, otherwise it is easily broken along with the door.

Door hinges

Loops often become an object that attracts the attention of burglars. The easiest way to get into the apartment knocking loop. Therefore, before choosing an entrance metal door, it is necessary to look attentively at this element.

Installing a steel door, you need to count how many hinges will be required on the canvas.

If the design is massive and its weight exceeds 65-70 kg, then it is better to put three - four loops. If the quantity is not enough, then soon the door may begin to sag. The hinges will quickly wear out, and this will be the main vulnerability.

To enhance the loops using various tricks.

1. Hidden loops. They are located in a place inaccessible to hackers. They are inside and it is simply impossible to knock them down.
2. Double. On the door, some curtains are open, while others are hidden. Killing external loops, the attacker will find that everything is not so simple. It takes him too much time.
3. "Fingers". So called special anti-pins. They are installed through the door frame. To get into the apartment, the thief will have to cut them. It takes a lot of time.
4. Bearing system. Such a door is really strong. Break it from the side of the loop does not work.

Possible problems

Iron doors open, as a rule, outside. This may interfere with the site neighbors. In addition, there is a law according to which it is prohibited to change the direction of opening in apartments. It can place evacuations of residents in the event of an emergency. Everybody violates this law, and yet some individuals are still punished for it. It is worth one of the neighbors to file a complaint, and the door can be dismantled by the emergency services.