Metal entrance door? Or maybe a PVC door? In this post, we will focus on the latter. We will point out which elements to pay attention to before buying them. Learn valuable tips…
Why choose PVC exterior doors?
Choosing exterior doors for your house or flat is usually a very difficult decision that requires a thorough look at what manufacturers have to offer. In addition to excellent parameters, we want the door to be aesthetically made and nice. Visual qualities are of great importance, especially in the case of house doors, as they have to match the colour and style of the windows, roof and the entire facade. PVC doors are a very good choice if you want excellent quality at an affordable price. Polyvinyl chloride doors have very good thermal and acoustic parameters. They come in many designs and colours, so you can easily find one that will perfectly match the window frames or exterior windowsills. In addition, PVC doors are very easy to keep clean, as the material is resistant to chemicals, which means that they can be cleaned even with more powerful agents. Importantly, plastic doors will not be damaged by low temperatures, snow or rain, which can happen with wooden doors, for example.
The front door is primarily a protection against the cold, so it is worth choosing a solid model that will guarantee the lowest possible heat loss in the apartment. External doors are constantly exposed to various weather conditions and cold wind and rain can effectively cool down the interior of the house if the door is not sufficiently tight and warm. PVC doors are an excellent choice in this respect. However, it is worth paying attention to the profile thickness and the types of filling in PVC doors, as their thermal insulation mainly depends on these parameters. The filling is most often polyurethane foam, polystyrene or mineral wool. 400;”>, as their thermal insulation depends mainly on these parameters. The filling is usually polyurethane foam, polystyrene or mineral wool. A good quality PVC door has a heat transfer coefficient of U < 1.3 W. The filling of the profile is also designed to soundproof the room. The thicker the door, the greater the sound barrier. This factor is particularly important for people living in a block of flats who want to minimise the noise from the corridor.
Due to the material they are made of, PVC doors are often not stable and rigid enough to provide maximum protection against burglary. Particularly thin and cheap models from DIY stores may not meet our requirements in this respect. Reputable door manufacturers have decent and solid PVC door models in their range, which will definitely protect the flat from unwanted visitors. The burglary resistance class is described on a scale from RC1 to RC6, with RC1 being the least burglar-resistant door and RC6 being the door with the highest level of protection. For doors to single-family homes, RC2 or RC3 is usually sufficient. However, experts point out that it makes no sense to invest in very expensive security doors if the rest of the joinery, such as windows or patio doors, do not also have the highest level of burglary protection.
Read also: Barrier against cold and noise
Burglar-proof doors – what you need to know