Doors
Introduction
All doors, be they internal or external, serve two purposes; to provide security and to provide privacy.
Doors are designed for either external or internal use and their purpose determines how they are constructed. External doors are built with security in mind, and as such are made of durable and solid materials. By contrast, internal doors can afford to be less sturdy, and are often made with a hollow core to make them lightweight.
A front door is often the first thing most of us see of a property, as such it’s worth spending some time and effort choosing a door which is not only secure but also styled to compliment the look and feel of your home's façade.
Internal doors serve a purely functional role by segregating areas within a building. However as one spends time and effort decorating and/or covering the walls, ceilings and floors, one should also consider the style and type of internal doors to compliment this interior décor.
- External doors are manufactured with an 18% moisture content, whereas doors for internal use have a moisture content of around 10%. This means that external doors hung internally will warp as their moisture evaporates, while internal doors hung outside will crack and break, when exposed to cold and frost.
Types of door
Unlike Glass and UPVC doors, which are mounted on a pre-built frame to match the size of the door space, wooden doors are constructed in one of three ways; Flush, Panelled or Ledged & Braced. Each construction method looks very different to the other two, and is on the whole designed for either internal or external use.
Materials
Both internal and external doors are available in a wide variety of materials, and on the whole the material is chosen specifically to compliment the doors purpose. for example hard wood doors (i.e oak) externally, soft wood doors (i.e pine) internally. Therefore it's best to choose a material which has a finish to best compliment the look and feel of your home - be it interally to match the decor, or externally to match the house type, brickwork etc.
Hanging a door
The simplest way to fill a door frame is to hang a single door using hinges attached to the door and the door frame. However, doors can also be hung in pairs, hinged together to create a sliding partition, or attached to rollers to slide alongside one another, or a wall, to conserve space.
Fire Doors
Current building regulations stipulate; if your home has three or more stories, or is situated in a building with three or more stories, doors leading to staircases, escape routes and communal areas must be fire doors. In any dwelling, an internal door connecting to a garage must also satisfy these regulations.
Door sizes
Modern homes are usually built with standard sized joinery, thus doors are manufactured in a range of standard sizes. Several companies do exist nevertheless who will make doors to measure, although this is generally the more expensive option.
Further information and useful links
- Introduction to garage doors
- Introduction to painting doors
- Door security
- Full list of windows & doors topics
- Find a Door supplier near you
- Find a Door Furniture supplier near you
- Find a Carpenter near you
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