Every apartment starts with a door. The latter is able to both protect against unwanted intrusion and completely change the impression of the appearance of the hallway and corridor. You need to choose the entrance doors to the apartment very carefully and deliberately, because the safety and reputation of the owner of the house will depend on this element. How to choose an entrance metal door to an apartment?
What do we need from the front door?
Let's figure out how to choose an entrance metal door? In order to purchase a quality front door, you need to make sure that it meets the following requirements:
- Its design must be hermetic. This means that nothing from the outside can get into the apartment.
- It must be strong - this is a guarantee of safety.
- She should have a peephole - another plus for security.
- Guarantee period. If the manufacturer refuses to guarantee the quality of the design, you should pay attention to another.
- Appearance. The door that welcomes guests allows you to make a first impression of the owner, reflecting his tastes.
- Convenience. It is necessary that the door can open easily and silently, in a direction convenient for you and at the optimal degree.
- Lock security. It should be easy to use, but at the same time it must protect the apartment from ill-wishers.
- Massive loops. There will be no point in a lock if the hinges can be easily cut off and the door leaf removed.
- Protection against external damage. The canvas must be resistant to impacts and attempts to dismantle.
Production material
What do you pay attention to when choosing a door structure? Of course, what it is made of. The apartment can be equipped with a metal or wooden front door. However, not every tree fits the requirements outlined above.
For those who want to stand out and are ready to purchase elite class products, manufacturers can offer designs made of solid mahogany and ebony. If you do not want to overpay, then you can pay attention to ash, beech or oak products.
Another type of construction involving the use of natural wood is a kind of "sandwich". Outwardly, it looks like an ordinary wooden door, inside - a metal sheet.
However, it is not so easy to choose a high-quality wooden structure at an affordable price, so metal models are much more in demand. The entrance metal door to the apartment can be found in any hardware store, which allows you to choose a product for every taste and budget. Such structures can be made of various alloys, but models made of steel sheets with a wall thickness of more than 2 millimeters are especially popular, durable and easy to install. More than enough for an apartment.
When choosing a door to an apartment, you should pay attention to the quality of the metal. Some unscrupulous manufacturers produce metal so thin that it can literally be cut with a knife. With such an entrance design, even the best lock will not save, as the robbers will simply cut a hole and climb into the apartment, dents remain on it even from a pram or the claws of pets.
How to choose the right front door with a margin of safety? People who ask "Recommend a door that even a bullet will not take" may pay attention to the armored design. Armored plates can be installed on almost any door leaf so that it will not be noticeable.But you need to think about whether you need such an expensive front door to your apartment? How often will you be shot at the door? If such a situation is not expected in the near future, it is worth abandoning such an undertaking.
What's inside?
If you listen to the advice of professionals, it is better to choose a design whose internal space is divided into sections. They improve sound insulation and provide additional rigidity. It is better if these sections are made of steel, in which case the door will withstand most mechanical damage.
In addition, the design must provide for heat and sound insulation. Mineral wool, isolon, polystyrene or polyurethane foam can act as a filler. Such materials will save you from heat loss in winter and from noise from the entrance at any time of the day.
At the junction of the canvas with the door frame, rubber bands are installed to ensure tightness.
External appearance of the door
As mentioned earlier, the door should not only perform a direct function, but also please the eye. If the apartment is exquisitely decorated, you should not put a simple black door - it will simply not be aesthetically pleasing. The color of the door structure must match interior design. Choosing from a variety of finishes is quite difficult, but if you choose the right door, it will perfectly complement the interior of the room.
After manufacturing the door, it will be difficult to make changes to its design, so we select all the details carefully and think through everything in advance. You can order the sheathing of the canvas with laminate, MDF or film. An exclusive option is the veneer finish, which will make the door look luxurious and rich, as it imitates the finish of solid wood. If the design allows, you can choose genuine leather upholstery, taking into account that this option is found only in expensive models.
Castle selection
People often write on forums: "Advise on how to choose the right lock for the front door." In fact, a good front door should have several types of locks. One of them is the main one, the rest are for cases when the apartment is left for a long time. According to professionals, the combination of a lever model with a cylinder will be the ideal combination:
- The first works like a plate into which you can stick a key. When the key is "native" and enters the grooves, the door opens.
- The second is a cylinder that is turned to the working position with a key. The disadvantage of this system is that such a lock is drilled and knocked out.
For greater security, a lock is additionally installed, which can only be opened or closed from the inside. A door with this lock can be opened from the outside only by sawing off the tongue or tearing it out of the jamb. Previously, the role of such a lock was performed by simple heck.
Loop selection
On the front door use different types of loops:
- Screw-in. They can be adjusted, so that you can evenly set the door leaf even with sagging walls. Fasteners should be selected in accordance with the weight of the structure: hinges with 2-3 rods are suitable for light canvases, for massive ones you will need a model with 4-5 pins. Low quality hinges of this type break easily.
To protect open hinges, use anti-removal pins that do not allow the door to be removed in the closed position.
- Mounted. The cheapest and simplest loops. Do not allow to remove the canvas without dismantling, not suitable for heavy structures.
- Mortise. Popular hinges with a variety of solutions. Some of them use bearings for ease and quiet operation.
- Hidden. When the door is closed, they are completely invisible, they cannot be cut down, but they limit the opening angle to 90 degrees.
For greater reliability, it is better to opt for a design with more than 2 loops. They must hold the weight of the canvas for a long time, work without jamming and be massive, complicating the hacking process.
Summing up
Answering the question "Advise which is better to install the front door?", We can summarize the above:
- If you need reliability, the ideal choice would be a steel structure with a sheet thickness of at least 2 millimeters. When there is money for luxury, of all types of wood, the oak or beech version with a metal plate between the layers is the best.
- Inside there should be an insulating material that does not let in sounds and does not release heat.
- Correct hinges must be made of steel or hard alloys, capable of stopping burglars and not deforming during operation.
- The door should be equipped with several types of locks. The best choice is a combination of lever and cylinder lock. In addition, do not forget about the internal lock.
- The door must have a peephole or the possibility of installing video surveillance.
- The door structure must have a suitable design. If you do not have enough experience, you can contact the designer to choose an option that fits perfectly into the interior of the apartment.
- Not worth saving. In some cases, the life of the owner of the apartment and the safety of the property depend on the quality of the door.
