Your front door is an integral part of your home. It acts as an entryway for family, friends, and guests that will give the first impression of your personal style and home decor. Choosing a new front door may seem like a simple task until you see the offering of styles, types, colours, and sizes! With so many options to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start, let alone pick what is best for you. Here are some of our tips for choosing the right front door for your home.
Front doors are available in a wide variety of styles and materials
With all the door options available, it can be easy to forget about the material that started it all: wood. Materials such as aluminum, iron, steel, and more are gaining a foothold in the home entry door market, and with good reason. While these materials all have their strengths regarding performance, wood doors are still an excellent option even when compared to more modern materials. The uniqueness of each wood door aside, there are virtually unlimited options when it comes to wood species, stains, finishes, and designs. Wood species each have their own unique characteristics, and wood entry doors can be stained and finished to match your home’s architecture. Design options are practically limitless. Wood doors can be constructed of one solid piece of wood or a few planks of wood fastened together. These doors can also incorporate windows and ironwork beautifully into their design, allowing for even more customization options.
You can design your own door
When it comes to aesthetic appeal, few doors can match the level of customization, personality, and natural feel of a wood entry door. Some metal doors are painted and coated to look like wood, but it is hard to emulate the unique knots, grain, and subtle colour differences present in wood. Wood entry doors can be sanded, carved, and shaped to provide even more character. Classic or modern, plain or bold, wood entry doors can be specially crafted to meet your design expectations. Unlike metal doors, which can look much worse for wear if their surface or paint is dented or chipped, imperfections in a wood door often blend in or add personality. Master Doors creates custom solid wood doors, meaning that everything from top to bottom can be customized as per your specifications. You can bring in your own door design, and we can create an entry door similar to that.
Most doors are made of several materials
Perhaps the most crucial decision is what your door is made of. Between fibreglass, wood, and steel front doors, there are plenty of doors to choose from. Most combine several materials; for example, a good deal of fibreglass and steel doors have wood frames. However, it is the surface material that most affects appearance, durability, security, maintenance level, and price.
The surface material is most important
Although doors made of aluminum, iron, and steel are known for their security, solid wood doors are nothing to sneeze at. While one could, in theory, break down a solid oak door, it would be extremely difficult to do so. While metal doors are excellent for security purposes, they are very poor insulators. Wood doors are fantastic at keeping your home temperature-controlled, and they are also great for soundproofing your home. Natural-finish stock and custom wood doors come in various options, such as mahogany, walnut, oak, cherry, maple, fir, and pine. You will also find paint-grade doors in several softwood varieties, such as western hemlock and pine. Many stock wood doors are a sandwich of wood-veneer skins over an engineered-wood core and are a low-cost alternative to solid-wood doors. When shopping for prefinished wood doors, be sure to look for durable stains and clear finishes, such as polyester and polyurethane. High-gloss sheens offer the best protection and weather resistance for painted doors.
Height & width of the door
The size of your home’s entryway will dictate to a significant degree your front door options. Most new doors are pre-hung, which means the door hangs on hinges within a new frame. Pre-hung doors are an ideal option if the old frame is bad or if you want to enlarge the opening. Measure the height and width of the door jamb between the inside edges of its casing. Add 1/2 inches to the frame height and 1/2 to 3/4 inches to the width. The width of the door should be measured across its face. If you are unsure about the door size, you may need to call for assistance from a professional.
At Master Doors, we aim to offer the widest variety of high-end durable interior and exterior solid wood doors. All our doors offer superb styling and long-lasting performance. You can choose any style you like from a variety of samples in our gallery or bring in a picture of a door you like, and we will design your door exactly the way you want it. For more information, contact us today.
