Door material – what kind to choose?

Door material – what kind to choose?

When choosing a door material for our home, we look for those that will meet our expectations in terms of aesthetics, functionality and durability. The choice of this welcoming showcase of the house should be thought out and considered from various angles – let’s try to answer the questions: which door material to choose and what factors should we take into account?

Wood, metal or PVC – which is the best material for an exterior door?

Doors made of wood are unflaggingly popular, and their main advantages are solidity, durability and excellent thermal insulation. Wooden entrance doors have low thermal expansion, but they are not very resistant to changing weather conditions, primarily moisture, namely rain and snow. Despite the use of waterproofing and maintenance, exterior wooden doors are still recommended to be installed where they will be protected by a canopy from the effects of precipitation. The second of the most frequently cited disadvantages is low fire resistance, making wooden doors ineffective firewalls.

PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, is widely used in the construction industry as a thermoplastic material, and used in the manufacture of entrance doors is specially reinforced. Doors made of PVC have wings composed of pressed panels with reinforced side panels. Lightweight polyurethane foam is used as a seal, while extruded panels of PVC panels or MDF are used as the filling. Unfortunately, despite the use of these treatments, PVC entrance doors still do not achieve high stability and rigidity, so they do not prove themselves as effective burglar-proof doors. On the plus side, on the other hand, they have very good thermal and acoustic insulation and favorable prices, and are easy to care for and clean.

Steel or aluminum entrance doors show a fairly low level of thermal insulation, so to improve this ratio the entire leaf is filled with insulating materials: polystyrene, mineral wool or polyurethane foam. They are the most resistant to mechanical damage, also have a high level of fire resistance and will be the best choice for resistance to burglary attempts.

What are the most weatherproof door materials?

The place of installation determines which front door to choose. Outdoor models, exposed to changing weather conditions, not covered by a protective canopy or facing the sunny side, will have a difficult life. Wooden doors are a great solution when we have a covered porch limiting their contact with rainwater. Despite impregnation or periodic maintenance, in the long run wooden sashes may not do well in this situation, so metal doors are probably the best choice in this case. Once they are installed, too, do not forget about periodic adjustment, maintenance and care, so that they enjoy their fresh appearance for a long time. The most important thing is that the galvanized sheet metal used in the manufacture of the door is perfectly protected against corrosion in the factory.

Are there eco-friendly door materials?

It would seem that the best choice in terms of ecology would be wooden doors, but it turns out that the opposite is true, and this is a direct result of production technology. Unfortunately, although wooden doors are sourced from natural resources, this always involves the cutting down of trees, perennial, healthy and often exotic. Although wood is biodegradable, and theoretically a wooden door would be unbeatable in this aspect, the chemicals used for impregnation and maintenance, as well as glues and varnishes, are no longer eco-friendly. Besides, wood treated in this way can neither be recycled in any form, nor even burned for heat energy.

For the preparation of raw material for the production of wooden doors, energy-intensive drying is also necessary, so this seemingly most eco-friendly material carries many other environmental disadvantages. On the other hand, doors made of PVC can be recycled and recovered raw material, they will also be much more durable, the same is true of aluminum doors, for example.

How does the door material affect its insulation performance?

Door insulation is one of the key parameters of an energy-efficient home, as important as triple-glazed windows or a properly designed ventilation system. The heat transfer coefficient determines the amount of energy “escaping” through the walls of a house, but it also applies to windows and doors. It is used to determine heat loss, and the value is expressed in watts, more precisely in units hidden under the abbreviation W/(m2*K).

Styrofoam is still most often used as an insulating material, which is relatively inexpensive and effective, but in order to provide adequate thermal insulation it must form a rather thick structural layer, which, after all, directly affects the thickness of the door leaf itself. An alternative is polyurethane foam, one of the best products in terms of thermal insulation, resistant to adverse weather conditions, so it is ideal as a filler in areas exposed to frost and heat. It has a higher thermal insulating capacity than polystyrene foam, and is definitely better at soundproofing doors, and in addition, due to its density, it provides significantly greater rigidity of the door leaf.

Thus, the material for the exterior door is a more practical choice, while the infill is already a matter of fairly strict parameters, which each manufacturer informs about in the product sheet. Pay close attention to this and choose solutions that fit into energy-saving norms and standards – this will repay you with much lower heating bills.

Does the material of the door affect its price and durability?

Faced with the dilemma of what material to buy a door, remember that its cost is correlated with its durability. The most expensive metal models offer all the advantages in terms of aesthetics, color and style, in addition, they are better and better in terms of thermal insulation and most solidly protect against burglary attempts. Choosing wooden sashes we also have a guarantee of solidity, excellent thermal and acoustic insulation, nevertheless this is a more practical choice mainly for apartments in blocks of apartments or multi-family houses, unless we are not afraid of more labor-intensive care and more frequent adjustments – then they will successfully prove themselves as the entrance door to a detached house. The most attractively priced PVC doors are practical, easy to clean, their advantage is also low weight and very easy installation, which should be taken into account by those, for example, building a house in a light frame construction.