Modern exterior doors: with a handrail and a fingerprint reader

What will you learn from the article?

Choosing an entrance door is not an easy matter. The market offer is very diverse. Most often they are ordered together with windows from the same manufacturer, because more and more companies offer windows, doors, even garage doors. Then all elements have the same finish and fit together perfectly. You can also buy a door from a manufacturer specializing only in this type of product, especially if you want a model with a higher class of burglary resistance.

It is important to choose a solid product with decent quality fittings, a sufficiently long warranty period and service, which allows, for example, to repair or replace a damaged element. In the cheapest market doors, there is often no option to replace, for example, a lock (which breaks down quite often in these models), then the savings when buying very quickly turn out to be only apparent.

Modern exterior door with a handrail (photo: Gerda)

What should you pay attention to when choosing a modern entrance door?

Dimensions and colors

External doors must be at least 90 cm wide and at least 200 cm high (in the light of the frame). In the case of double-leaf doors - it is enough if there is only one leaf. The height of the threshold should not exceed 2 cm.

Single-leaf doors are standard, but in new buildings more and more often models with a second narrow additional leaf or transom mounted above the entrance are used. These elements can be filled with transparent glass, with decorative inlays or ornamented glass, with various patterns (non-shattering laminated safety glass). The latter type guarantees privacy. Sunlight enters the interior, invisible to passers-by. In buildings with a vestibule without a window, glazing in the entrance door will illuminate the interior.

Full wings with a handrail and a single (photo on the left: Krispol) and a double (photo on the right: Hörmann) a narrower, fully glazed element that serves as a side light.

Most often, the type of decorative door coating is selected for windows and garage doors. Some, however, decide to emphasize the entrance to the house with a strong color. You can choose from many veneers imitating various types of wood, uniform coatings painted in any color, all in several levels of gloss.

As a standard, external doors are purchased together with a steel or steel-wooden frame, e.g. with three types of thresholds to choose from (steel with a PVC gasket, wooden with a gasket and PVC lintel, aluminum with a gasket and a sill).

Currently, more and more investors choose exterior doors that stand out in color against the usually subdued facade. The red, burgundy, green or blue entrance is an original decoration. (photo from the left: Vetrex, MS more than OKNA, Vetrex, Nicewicz)

The way of opening

Exterior doors can open inwards or outwards. The second variant is more convenient and such wings are more difficult to balance. They are also tighter, because the wind presses them against the frame. In addition, they do not take up space in the vestibule and when opened, rain does not flow from them inside. When considering the use of this version, it should be remembered that in front of the entrance you need a space of at least 1.5 m deep for the sash to open fully and you can easily stand in front of it. Regardless of the method of opening, but especially in this case, there should be a canopy above the entrance, protecting the door and guests from rain and snow.

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Technical parameters

When choosing the front door to the house, you should pay attention to their technical parameters. The most important of them concerns thermal insulation. According to the regulations in force, the heat transfer coefficient U of external doors installed in a new house must not exceed 1.3 W / (m2 · K).

According to the regulations currently in force, the heat transfer coefficient U of external doors installed in a new house must not exceed 1.3 W / (m2 · K). (photo: Gerda)

There is no such requirement for renovated buildings, but also in this case it is worth taking care of a "warm" model. This parameter depends mainly on the thickness of the insulation used in the door. It can be polystyrene, mineral wool or polyurethane foam. Considerable thermal insulation and good sealing of modern doors prevent cold outside air from entering the interior, and prevent warm air from escaping from the rooms heated in winter. Heat loss is also prevented by the tight and firm seating of the door, preferably with the use of the so-called a warm threshold and tapes securing the mounting foam against moisture.

The second parameter worth paying attention to - especially when the house is close to a busy street or some other noise source - is the Rw sound insulation coefficient. Its value should not be less than 30 dB. The higher it is, the better the door dampens outside sounds. Manufacturers do not always specify this property. In houses in a quiet neighborhood and with a vestibule (separating the entrance from the residential part), the Rw value is not that important.

Equipment

Currently, a handrail is increasingly planned in the front door instead of a classic door handle. It is a much more convenient variant, which makes it easier for, for example, small children to open quite heavy wings.

Convenience of using the entrance are also various access control systems, previously used mainly in public buildings as well as in blocks and apartment buildings. One of them is automation, which allows you to control the door using a remote control or a smartphone. Some models are designed to work with an alarm system. They can have various sensors - pressure (triggering an alarm when an attempt is made to open forcibly), closure (informing about whether the lock is open or closed), signaling the use of a non-genuine key.

It is becoming more and more popular to equip doors with a biometric sensor that reads the fingerprints of residents. Then there is no fear that the child will lose the key - they will be able to enter the house on their own after returning from school. Devices in the field of biometric access control are built into the sash, arm, door handle, or are mounted in the wall next to the door. To open them, just put your fingertip to the reader and drag it through the scanner. Additionally, if a special application is installed on a phone or other device with Internet access (e.g. tablet, laptop), it will be possible to remotely (from anywhere) open the front door or check its status (open / closed).

Using the fingerprint reader eliminates the risk of, for example, losing the key by children. (photo on the left: GU Polska, photo on the right: Siegienia)

When selecting the door, it is also worth paying attention to all kinds of security measures aimed at making it difficult to balance them, which are equipped with models with increased resistance to burglary. They are offered in six resistance classes - from RC1 to RC6. The higher the number, the more robust the security. In single-family houses, versions RC2 or RC3 are usually installed. The former provide protection against opening with, for example, a screwdriver for 3 minutes. The thief will need 5 minutes to force a product of another class with a crowbar.

Doors of a certain class are sold complete with a door frame and locks.

It is worth remembering that the installation of anti-burglary doors makes sense when the windows also have increased burglary resistance - otherwise the thief will get into the building through the terrace or the window on the ground floor.

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The most solid doors are made of galvanized steel elements. The leaf frame is reinforced with horizontal or vertical bars or a truss. Sheathing is steel sheet. The leaf can be equipped with two locks with several bolts (extending in three directions), anti-burglary vertical bolt (controlled via the main lock), anti-theft bolts (located around the perimeter of the leaf), 2-bolt auxiliary lock.

After the door is closed, the bolts slide into the openings in the frame, securing them against being forced off or removed from the hinges.

Material

Exterior doors are made of several materials. When choosing a specific model, you need to pay attention to the construction of the door leaf and the frame. Solid, warm doors are those in which the external door leaf (wooden, metal) and the frame are thermally separated from their internal parts over the entire surface of several centimeters thick with insulation.

Timber is made of pine, spruce, oak, ash, meranti and mahogany glued in layers to prevent deformation of the elements due to moisture (warping). Such a wing can be reinforced by a steel plate embedded inside. The surface of the door is sometimes smooth, decorated with slats, coffers or glazed inserts. Wooden doors are sensitive to changes in humidity. They should be protected against rain and snow with a roof.

Wooden doors (photo: Cal)

Metal versions are made of steel or aluminum. Such a structure is filled with heat-insulating material (polyurethane foam, mineral wool or polystyrene) and covered on both sides with metal plates. Such doors can be finished with a decorative veneer that imitates wood or painted in a uniform color.

The skeleton of steel wings are sections, stiffened with bars - profiled sheet or truss. Sheathing is steel sheet, thick chipboard or waterproof plywood, finished with veneer or laminate, imitating wood.

Aluminum models have frames of two or three-chamber profiles and insulation. The frame is usually filled with aluminum panels, the surface of which can be anodized, powder coated or covered with veneer.

Some metal versions insulate against noise to a slightly greater extent than wooden ones, but they are easily dented.

External aluminum doors (photo by Budvar) External steel doors (photo by Gerda)

PVC doors are made of multi-chamber profiles, reinforced with galvanized steel or aluminum inserts. Between the profiles there is a filling made of smooth or extruded plastic plates, often combined with a polyurethane foam insulating layer. Such models are dyed at the material production stage or finished with veneer. However, they are less popular in single-family houses, although they are light and easy to put on.

Cross-section of a PVC door with the so-called a warm aluminum threshold with a thermal break. (photo: MS more than WINDOWS)

Installation of modern external doors

In order for external doors to constitute a barrier against the transmission of noise and heat, and to hinder burglary, they must be firmly installed.

The most recommended installation is layered, in which the frame is covered with a vapor-tight tape on the inside and a vapor-permeable tape on the outside, before inserting it into the reveal. They protect the foam insulation against moisture. They are mounted in the middle or closer to the edge of the opening.

Before inserting the door, the so-called a warm, thermo-insulating threshold, made of e.g. aluminum with a PVC spacer. It will protect the joint of the threshold and the frame against air draft and accumulation of water droplets, and frost in the winter. It will also separate the floor inside the building from its outer part and prevent the formation of thermal bridges in the subliminal part.

In order to secure it, it is necessary to form a channel of an appropriate depth in the floor.

Editor: Joanna Dąbrowska In the opening photo: In front of the entrance with the door opening outwards - you need a roof and a space at least 1.5 m deep to make it comfortable to use. (photo by Hörmann)