Entrance plastic doors to a private house, cottage

Not so long ago, metal-plastic doors were installed only on balconies. With the development of technology, wider and more reliable profiles have appeared, allowing them to be used as entrances in private houses and cottages. They are devoid of the main disadvantages of wooden doors – they do not swell from moisture, do not require regular updating of the paintwork, and they can look exactly the same or completely different – it’s up to you. Of course, they cannot be compared with the reliability of metal entrance doors, but in cottages and private houses such a margin of safety is not needed. First, you can enter through the windows. They are not smaller now. Secondly, fences, gates and gates protect the territory. So the entrance plastic doors are a completely justified choice. Especially when you consider that they have many advantages and not very many disadvantages.

Pros and cons of a plastic front door

Advantages:

• Flexible manufacturing technology that allows you to make PVC entrance doors of any configuration, color, design.
• Good performance in protection from cold / heat.
• Various opening systems
• Can be used in hot and cold climates.
• They do not respond to changes in humidity.
• Provide good protection against noise, dust.
• Alarm compatible.
• The ability to install locks of any complexity – conventional and with closing in all directions.
• Requires minimal maintenance, easy to clean.

Of all the advantages, it often becomes decisive that you can order plastic entrance doors according to your own project. Without any restrictions. Another plus is the possibility of implementing a swing or sliding system. The sliding system is perfectly combined with French windows. Glazing area and they practically do not differ from windows, as a result we get a very harmonious solution. Thus, they make out the exit to the terrace, to the garden, to the backyard. Other materials do not provide such an opportunity – they are not compatible with the sliding system.

Despite all the advantages, they have plastic entrance doors and disadvantages:

• High price.
• Difficulty of installation.
• Not too high burglary resistance.

Most of the questions arise during installation. To increase reliability, a metal reinforcing plate is installed around the perimeter of the doorway. This also increases the complexity of the installation. In addition, it is necessary to comply with the technology that provides a high degree of heat and sound insulation. All this makes installation more difficult.

Entrance plastic doors: types, materials

How plastic entrance doors will meet your expectations, how well they will work, whether or not they will cause inconvenience, depends on whether the materials and fittings are correctly selected. The stability of the form depends on how mature the technology is (whether there is reinforcement in the corners, how holes for fittings are cut in the profile). The combination of these points ensures that even street plastic doors work without problems. Therefore, pay attention to every nuance.

Opening method

By the number of wings, plastic entrance doors are one, two, three and four-leaf. Most often in private houses they put doors with one or two wings. Bivalves can be with two or one movable doors. The second sash also opens, but only in certain situations – if you need to let more air into the house or bring something voluminous. For such models, the second sash is fixed with latches at the top and bottom. Three-leaved most often have one fixed and two movable leaves, in four-leaved – a two-to-two ratio.

The number of leaves is determined by the width of the doorway. Up to 90 cm, you can make one sash, from 1 meter to 1,8 m – two. A wider passage requires a three-leaf door.

According to the method of opening, the doors are hinged (with opening inward or outward) and sliding. Swing doors can be ordinary or pendulum (when they can open both inside the room and outside). In private houses, pendulum doors are very rarely installed, mainly if the doors lead to the terrace.

Another point: the entrance doors to a private house usually open outwards. It’s not a rule, but it’s accepted. Firstly, it is more difficult to knock them out from the outside, and secondly, it is easier, if necessary, to take them out from the inside. But we must remember that this increases the cost of the design, since loops are required of a different type, more expensive.

  Profile

The quality and properties of entrance plastic doors are determined by the quality and properties of the profile from which they are made. Therefore, be very careful when choosing a profile. It is advisable to use products of well-known companies. Rehau, Veka, KBE. They are tested, you know exactly what you will get. Nameless or little-known manufacturers are a big risk. No matter how soon the doors had to be changed because of their unsatisfactory quality.

Profile thickness and number of chambers

Street plastic doors are made of a special profile. It is wider and “thicker” than the one used for the manufacture of balcony doors and certainly wider than the one that goes to the windows. A reinforcing element is installed inside the profile. For plastic doors, they put a contour made of durable plastic, in metal-plastic reinforcing contours made of aluminum.

For metal-plastic entrance doors, a class A profile is used, the minimum thickness of which is 70 mm, the maximum is 118 mm, the thickness of the outer wall is at least 3 mm. In addition, it has more chambers, reinforced with thicker aluminum.

The choice of profile thickness depends on several factors. The first is the climate zone. The colder / hotter in your area, the thicker the profile should be taken. The second factor to consider is whether there is a vestibule in the house. If it is, you can try to save money – the vestibule will be a buffer zone. At the same time, do not forget about the cost – the thicker the profile, the more expensive it is.

Another important point is the number of isolated chambers in the profile (the more, the better, and the minimum is 3 chambers, but 5 is better), as well as the wall thickness of the outer lintel. A thicker outer wall – its greater strength, better protection against temperature extremes.

Also, to make the PVC entrance door more rigid, reinforcing elements are placed in the corners. This is an important point that prevents distortions from gravity or temperature differences. All these features affect the final quality and ease of use.

There is also the so-called “warm profile for a plastic door.” It has an additional plastic insert – a thermal break. It isolates the outer and inner part of the profile. This improves thermal insulation characteristics, and has a positive effect on sound insulation.

Reinforcement

A profile is used to manufacture the frame and sash, inside of which a reinforcing element is inserted – an aluminum profile. It can be C-shaped, U-shaped and closed – in the form of a rectangle. The most reliable is closed. It has a high rigidity, which guarantees the preservation of the shape of the door during temperature changes. And pay attention, such a closed reinforcing profile should be both on the frame and on the sash. Then, even with large temperature differences, the doors will not “bend out”.

At the same time, a reinforcing profile is used with a thickness of 2 mm – this is the minimum, but there is also 3 mm metal. This makes the structure heavier. It is by the mass of the door that one can indirectly distinguish a balcony block from an entrance plastic door. It makes no sense to take too thick metal, but thin metal simply cannot withstand the load.

How holes are cut

There is only one very important point. In many firms, in the manufacture of doors, holes for the installation of locks are cut out with a grinder. Moreover, the holes are made with a solid “margin”. This is easier and faster, but such holes significantly weaken the structure.

It is with this method of cutting holes that the door bends with a “saber” at large temperature differences. This is when it is -20°C outside and +25°C in the house. In principle, the profile begins to bend at less significant differences – from about -5 ° C. Just as the difference increases, the gap at the top and bottom grows. Before ordering plastic doors, make sure that the holes are milled and not cut with a grinder.

Hinges

Since the profile and double-glazed windows for exit plastic doors have a solid weight, the hinges must be reliable. Models – overhead only, window models are not applicable. It is desirable to choose the best available – PVC outdoor entrance doors to a private house open / close very often. Only good quality guarantees many years of trouble-free use.

Three loops are placed on a sash of standard width (60-80 cm), on wider ones – 4, rarely more. Each of the loops is designed for 150-200 kg, so their total “carrying capacity” is very high. But you should not install less powerful ones – the doors open often, so the fittings must be reliable. That is why it is better to order hinges from well-known manufacturers. It is they who are responsible for how long the door will serve, whether or not it will warp.

In order for the doors not to warp during operation, it is important to adjust them well. The weight of the sash should be evenly distributed on all hinges. Then, under any conditions, there will be no distortion and other problems.

Glazing

Plastic entrance doors can be without glass at all. Also glass can be located in the upper part of the door (its height is any). There is a third option – full glazing.

If the glass is made from the very top to the bottom, it is usually separated by a transverse crossbar – an impost. This is not necessary – there are firms that make solid glass, but there are few of them, since the technology is complex. Such glazing is much more expensive, and there is also the possibility that it can change the geometry. So basically they are trying to persuade them to divide by impost. Such double-glazed windows are easier to manufacture, cheaper, more reliable. The location of the crossbar is determined depending on the design – if the entrance group assumes the presence of windows nearby, they are made either at the same level or with a significant difference.

For street plastic doors, double-glazed windows are usually used. They provide a sufficient level of sound and heat insulation. Single-chamber energy-saving double-glazed windows also have good performance. In general, there are the following types of double-glazed windows:

• Energy saving. Silver ions are deposited on the glass surface. Heat is reflected from this coating. This keeps the heat inside the house.
• Multifunctional. Silver is sprayed onto several surfaces. Due to this, both heat and cold are retained.
• Noise protection packages. To improve the soundproofing characteristics, the chambers are made of different widths, and the first glass has a thickness of 6 mm.
• Shockproof (triplex). Several glasses that are bonded together with an adhesive composition, so that they better resist impacts.
  

Glasses can be ordinary, patterned, colored, satin (matte) with mirror coating. There are also armored ones. All this makes it possible to choose the characteristics of double-glazed windows for plastic entrance doors according to your requirements. Each firm has slightly different characteristics, the photo above shows data on Ruhau firms.

Threshold

Outdoor exit plastic doors can be equipped with two types of threshold:

• Aluminum. It has a small height. With such a threshold it is convenient to walk, but because of this, inflation is possible, although the sealant should prevent this, but it is not always effective enough.
• Plastic. In fact, it is part of the frame. The height of such a threshold is greater and this is not very convenient, but in some cases this option is chosen, since it is necessary to protect yourself from cold air.
  

Choosing a threshold is not the most difficult point, but it also contributes to the level of comfort. For entrance groups, it is desirable to make the threshold with a thermal break. This will prevent the cold from penetrating through the threshold.

Locking systems

Entrance plastic doors can be equipped with conventional locks – with one fixation point (single-lock) or multi-clamp. Multi-pressers have several “tongues” coming out of the sash.

There are two types of locks with multiple locks – multi-clamp and multi-lock. Clamps are designed for the best clamping of the sash to the frame. This ensures the preservation of heat, so such locks should be used if the entrance plastic doors separate a warm room from the street or a cold vestibule.

The second type – multi-lock – have a hanged burglary resistance. They have longer crossbars (tongues), which are more difficult to wring out. These locks are worth using if security is of the utmost importance to you. More specifically, the walls are stone, the windows are small, with roller shutters and an alarm installed. Then it makes sense to put a more secure lock. Otherwise, intruders will simply bypass the doors using the windows.

If you need both characteristics – both good thermal insulation and reliability – you can put a multi-clamp anti-burglary. They have trunnions (tongues) in the form of a mushroom. You can’t hack them that easily.

Locks in multi-clamp locks are located vertically (from 4 to 6) and in the corners (additional ones are installed at high heights). This helps to improve the fit of the door. They can be driven by a key, or they can be driven by a handle. It is more convenient to use the pen. But it should be borne in mind that multi-clamp locks require a certain sequence of actions when closing. Over time, the owners get used to this, but at first it causes inconvenience.

Video on assembling a plastic door

It is unlikely that someone decides to assemble plastic doors on their own. It’s just that after watching these videos it’s easier to understand the structure of the door, the purpose of each of the elements.