What Type Of Exterior Door Is Most Durable
Finding that perfect gateway to your home is an important decision but may not be easy. With so many different materials and designs to choose from, it can sometimes feel overwhelming. Not to mention making sure that they effectively keep the cold out and act as a safety barrier.
Steel doors are among the best material for an exterior door if durability and safety are a prime concern. Steel doors are stronger than fiberglass or wood. Its durability and low maintenance make it ideal as an exterior door. Pricing is also a reason that steel doors are so popular.
But what about aesthetics? You don’t want your front door to be a sheet of cold metal greeting your guests? Your front door is the entry portal to your home, and generally, the first impression people make about you. So choosing a door that ticks all the boxes is also important.
The Best Material Exterior Doors
Considering the aesthetically pleasing importance of your exterior door is just as important as making sure that you don’t compromise your home’s energy efficiency.
The most common material used for exterior doors are:
- Wood
- Steel
- Fiberglass
- Glass doors
Considering all the pros and cons of each material will help you decide the best exterior door for you.
Let’s have a look at the different materials used.
Wood For Exterior Doors
Wooden doors have been the most popular door, even into the 21st century, highly because wooden doors are customized to the clients’ liking. By adding glass accents, crafting intricate designs in the wood, and deciding what wood color or stain to use, all these factors help you decide what door would best suit your home.
Wood needs constant maintenance to ensure a prolonged life. However, it is the most affordable option in the short term.
Depending on the wood that the manufacturers use and how the door is built, wood will have natural energy efficiency against extreme hot and cold weather.
Fiberglass For Exterior Doors
Nowadays, fiberglass front doors mimic natural wooden doors. Fiberglass allows you to have a look and feel of a wooden door but is a much more durable and safer option to the wooden door.
Fiberglass doors’ color, shape, and design could be customized to your specifications to better suit your requirements. This synthetic wood style of door is also much more resistant to external weather conditions.
Fiberglass can withstand scratches, nicks, and dents but will crack if hit with a hard enough blow.
Steel For Exterior Doors
House break-in is unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence and can leave devastating after-effects on a person. So if safety is at the top of your list, the steel exterior door is a perfect option.
What makes this door a better defense to the outside world is that most steel doors have insulated foam between two panels, making it stronger and helping in your home’s energy efficiency.
The drawback of this specific material is that it is not exactly flexible when you want to customize it to your requirements. You are limited to a few designs and colors.
Solid Glass For Exterior Doors
Having solid glass doors gives you the added benefit of inviting the outside world into your home. Glass doors are the general preference for patio doors. The feeling that your home has been sun-kissed on a beautiful sunny day goes a long way to adding character and feel to your home.
Though this material doesn’t give you much privacy, there are options available to help give you more privacy in your home. Glass doors are coupled with other materials that make up the frames.
I’m sure you must be wondering how this is energy efficient? With today’s technology and resources, it is possible to make glass doors energy efficient so you can invite nature into your home.
Several options are available to you, but the most efficient option would be a three-pane glass door.
Best Exterior Door For Energy Efficiency
Wooden doors – are made from natural elements and can easilywarp. The continuous exposure to external factors like heat, rain, cold, sun, and other extreme weather conditions can cause the wood to perish and warp over time.
Fiberglass doors-are made from a double panel with an extra insulation core between the panels; this increases your home’s energy efficiency.
Steel doors-the insulation panel between the two panels helps with energy efficiency; remember that metal is a conductor, so extreme heat and cold will be absorbed by the door, reducing the insulation’s efficacy.
Glass doors-have three glass panes and two spaces between the glass panes. The spaces alone add insulation properties to the glass. The two spaces between the glass panes are then filled with argon gas; this increases the insulation of the glass as it reduces the ability to reach the home inside the windowpane and prevents moisture from building up and creating fog between the glass.
What Is The Most Cost-Effective Exterior Door?
The cost of doors can range quite radically. The price depends on the type of door you choose, what materials you use, how intricate the design is, and if they include installation or not.
| Wooden door | $200 to $2000 | These doors are the most cost-effective. Dependent on the type of wood, design, and size of the door. |
| Fiberglass door | $800 to $5000 | Fiberglass doors are the most expensive of the lot, taking into consideration that they are much more versatile and durable makes these more cost-effective in the long run. |
| Steel Door | $200 to $1800 | Steel doors, in comparison, still offer a better security option than their wooden counterparts. |
| Glassdoor | $300 to $4000 | If you are looking for the top range with the highest insulation and complex design, expect to pay a premium price. |
Which Exterior Door Offers The Lowest Maintenance?
Wood doors require maintenance every 1 to 2 years to protect the wood against external weather conditions and moisture. The door will need to have the side, top, and bottom treated to avoid moisture absorption into the wood.
Fiberglass doors apart from the periodic repainting and ensuring your door keeps looking as new as the day you bought your prized door, there is little need to do maintenance. Making fiberglass doors the most durable in terms of maintenance.
Steel doors are pre-finished in the factory and have already been coated with the required coatings; however, it will still need periodic repainting and repair of nicks and dents to avoid the door rusting for contact with moisture.
Glass doors don’t need to be maintained regularly apart from cleaning them daily to remove any dirt and marks that may have accumulated there. However, periodic maintenance may be necessary depending on the frame you have chosen to accompany your glass doors.
What Exterior Door Is Best For Security?
If you’re looking for doors that offer the best security as its top priority, choosing a steel door will be your option. Even though the design chosen is limited in this range, you will be guaranteed a secure door as your primary entrance to your home. Remember to keep up the maintenance on your door as it may be prone to rust.
Conclusion
The best exterior door depends on your priorities when choosing an exterior door. As much as we want all the best features exterior doors have to offer, some priorities need to be met above all else. Deciding what’s most important for you will help you determine what exterior door is best for your home.
