Steel doors are often seen in commercial buildings as security barriers but are not seen as often in homes. For residential buildings, wood and fiberglass are the most famous choices as entry doors. But given the advantages steel doors offer, they can be an ideal fit for residential buildings. In this article, we have enlisted everything essential about a steel door you need to know. So let’s dive in, starting with learning about what is meant by a steel door. So let’s get started:
What is a Steel Door?
Steel doors are not 100 percent solid steel. They are made of a polystyrene base with a steel skin coating on the top. The door comprising of entire solid steel would be too heavy to carry for the hinges. The steel varying from 16 to 24 gauge is used as a coating or the skin of a standard steel door.
Most metals, including steel, are fine conductors of heat, cold, and electricity. Thermal conduction is not a desired feature of a steel door, and the polystyrene base functions as a thermal barrier.
As per the research and studies, synthetic materials like polystyrene are better at resisting or blocking unwelcome heat and cold than wood doors and better by five times.
Where the Steel Doors are installed?
It’s up to your choice where you want to install the steel door; from interior to exterior, you can install these doors in any area, but they often operate as entry doors, which means they are suited for the cover. The steel doors are generally placed/installed between the garage and the house. But for the sake of security or fire protection, steel doors also can be installed in the interior to interior spaces.
Characteristics to Ponder When Buying a Steel Door
Cut-Outs
The first step to consider is ensuring that the steel doors have all your desired cut-outs. If you want a solid door and later change your mind that you need a window or a pet door, it would get challenging to cut through the steel door. The door installer would be the option to add cut-outs to a steel door.
Coating/Layer
The second to consider is the coating of a steel door. The steel doors come with a standard or factory-applied primer, which can be efficiently smudged manually using a brush or a spray gun. These steel doors also come with a PVC vinyl layer attached to the steel, providing a specific appearance and color. These vinyl layers are difficult to paint if you later decide you require a different color.
Weather Resistant
Steel doors are not as efficient against the weather as they should be. They are at par with standard wooden and fiberglass doors in terms of resisting the weather. So if you want a door that resists or withstands weather, then you should opt for a storm door over a steel door as they would be the right choice.
Scrape
Steel doors are fit to resist the scratches caused by the pets, but they cannot resist the metal scratches and will get affected by them. And removing or getting over those scratches can be challenging. The only choice or option that can save the scratchy door or fix those scratches is to repaint the steel door.
Pros and Cons of a Steel Door
Pros:
- A steel door is durable and long-lasting.
- The steel door is energy-efficient compared to other door types.
- They can resist the weather better than wood and fiberglass doors.
- They are cheaper.
- These steel door repairs in Staffordshire require no or less maintenance.
Cons:
- They can be easily scratched.
- They can easily be dented.
- They can get rust.
- They are hard to stain or paint compared to other door types.
- They are prone to the factor of a fragment.
- They can be good conductors of either heat or cold.
Bottom Line
The steel doors work as security doors in Staffordshire and resist standard weather conditions. They work as a heat or cold protection aspect, which makes them the right fit for many reasons. They have a downside, and so do every other door, but these steel doors are worth buying.
