How to choose a steel door

First, the steel door should provide some protective function. Several of these functions: counter brute force (determined by the strength and reliability of construction); opposition "intellectual cracking (determined by the complexity and" cunning "locks); opposition all sorts of non-standard effects (there are fire doors, bullet-proof doors, equipped with devices for access control - from a glass to the audio and video, etc.). First, the steel door should provide some protective function. Several of these functions: counter brute force (determined by the strength and reliability of construction); opposition "intellectual cracking (determined by the complexity and" cunning "locks); opposition all sorts of non-standard effects (there are fire doors, bullet-proof doors, equipped with devices for access control - from a glass to the audio and video, etc.). Secondly, the door must provide the original functionality, protection of the environment: it must have some heat and sound insulating properties. Thirdly, the door should not be hostile to the kind of hearing and smell - that is to be in some way decorated, should not squeak and bang, shall be made without the use of toxic materials. Finally, the fourth group of characteristics relates more to sellers than directly to the product: the door and its parts must be reliable, the seller must provide and perform warranty on its products. Obviously, it is impossible to determine the "ideal door." You must first figure out why exactly she meant, and continue to choose the model according to the needs and financial capabilities. Thus, we have formulated the first (and possibly the main) the principle of "reasonable approach" to the choice of door: you'll first need to understand what requirements you will bring to production, and, accordingly, what group characteristics listed above, will be important, and which - of secondary importance in the further selection. 1. Stability of protective properties of the door to brute force is not the most, in our opinion, the main one. Indeed, the door to an ordinary apartment in a town house can be quite low: if it will break with a sledgehammer, it is unlikely that attackers will not attract attention. Entirely different need in choosing the doors to holiday cottage or unguarded warehouse: in this case likely is "rough breaking", and the door design must provide high mechanical strength of the product. Unlike the ill-effects, "intellectual hack" requires some qualification attacker and can be done virtually silent. Accordingly, the attacker has at its disposal a virtually unlimited supply of time (almost no one lock can not resist a qualified attacker more than 15 minutes). That's how most of the apartment opened the door in big cities. Typically, the object of "intellectual hack is a castle, and, in our opinion, it defines the castle (again, in the standard urban) burglary doors in general. Therefore: a) on the locks do not save if you want to get resistant to unauthorized entry door, and b) it is better to put two locks, with different systems (cylinder and lever) - opening various types of locks requires a specialist higher qualification, c) if you seriously afraid of hacking - it makes sense to establish a special additional protection to the locks, unless they are supplied with the lock (such as the castles at MUL-T-LOCK); d) remember: you can open any lock, so if you think that your apartment can attract the attention of highly skilled professionals - set the alarm. We reviewed the characteristics of relevance to ordinary apartment doors. If for some reason you need a door that has some special properties, then, unfortunately, have to sacrifice some indicators: for example, fire doors should be staffed with special locks that can withstand thermal stress, but as a rule, are less resistant to cracking ; bulletproof doors are heavier than standard, which increases wear locks and moving parts. 2. Heat and sound in principle, metal door has the worst heat and sound insulation properties than wood. This is due to the fact that the metal is generally a better conductor of heat and transmits sound than wood and that wood - a material more soft and flexible, being amenable to a good fit at the installation site (respectively, in well-made wooden doors fewer cracks and Door leaf fits snugly to the box, to achieve similar performance with a metal door can be, but the cost is many times will increase the cost of the door). There are several ways to improve the thermal and acoustic insulation characteristics of doors: can be filled with all sorts of fabric with insulating materials (foam, mineral wool, etc.) can "stop gap" between the blanket and a box of various seals, can be mounted on the door thick decorative panels ( Experience shows that they are effectively quenched by the sound). Nevertheless, our experience shows that the best option is to install two doors: foreign steel, which accounts for the protective function, and the inner wood, takes on the heat and sound insulation (as well as some decorative features). Unfortunately, the wooden door, especially high-quality, solid wood, are now quite expensive, so it makes sense to try to keep the old door: even if it is a standard cardboard and plywood door of the modern new buildings, it could further insulate the apartment from the noise and cold. 3. Exterior Trim Long ago there were only two options for finishing doors: painting and close-fitting all sorts of artificial skins. Builders reasons of economy, whether, or personal gain left front door naked and painted them first got paint, and after settling tenants tried to somehow increase the heat and sound insulation, and to hide defects fabric. "Elite" with a panel doors made of wood and varnished (these doors are, for example, in old houses belonging GlavUpDK). When the first steel doors, their finish is not very different from the standard: the metal to be painted, covered with artificial leather or studded paneling. The first two options still exist; lining in Moscow, almost withered, but remained in St. Petersburg, and provincial towns. However, in the mid-90's on the Russian market appeared imported doors, which got off quite differently: Israeli doors (SuperLock, Magen and Mul-t-Lock) were coated with PVC film, and the Italian and Spanish doorway stood decorative panel-lining. Gradually, and domestic producers have learned to use foreign experience. In our experience, more and more people prefer even on cheap domestic door to install all sorts of panels instead of artificial leather upholstery. Are commonly used thin (up to four millimeters) thick and flat (from eight to twenty millimeters) volume panel. Thin panels may be plastic, orgalitovymi or made of MDF. The outer surface of such panels can be coated with plastic or wood veneer. "Volume" panel made of thick plywood or MDF or solid wood. In the first case on a piece of MDF or plywood is applied milled pattern, after which the surface is covered with foil or veneer. Panel from an array of tint and varnished. The advantages of finishing panels are clear: as a rule, variations of color and pattern of panels is much more than color, and embossed artificial leather, and you can choose the color and pattern for the overall design of the apartment, and finally, the door panels with simply become "fashionable." Prices on the panel depend on the material of the panel itself and finishes. Thin laminated panels cost from 500 rubles, solid wood panels cost at least $ 250. And the panels, and artificial leather, a common drawback: they are easy to screw up. Therefore, quite often outside the door is painted or covered with special plastic coating. Unfortunately, the one and the other requires the manufacturer to major investments in equipment, so the quality of painting is often poor. 4. Obviously guarantees that any thing, sooner or later breaks; more complex device, the more it requires high-quality service. Therefore, when choosing a door should pay attention not only on their own products, but also on the manufacturer or seller. It is important that the buyer was certain: the company will last the entire warranty period. In principle, the best to the company there was a special warranty department - if warranty work is done quickly and conscientiously. So, in order to choose a steel door, it should be, firstly, to articulate their needs to the door and identify what quality will be key, and which - as secondary. Next is to choose a company that offers an adequate range of products and reasonable prices. Particular attention should be paid to the sales service: the duration of warranty, availability of special units, carrying out warranty work. Material provided by the company "has become -"