Shopping for Front Doors: What Should I Choose?

There are many types of doors to choose from, but only one of these will become your entry door. In many ways, this door represents the personality of your house, your “welcome mat” that speaks volumes about your taste and eye for real estate. How can you have a lovely home without a striking and yet complementary front door?

When choosing an entry door, you will soon notice that you have a variety of options in construction style, design and material. Consider the most popular types of door construction styles:

Hinges: The traditional swinging door that is hinged along one side to allow the door to pivot towards the other direction. It can be swung inwards or outwards.

Sliding Doors: These doors may have two or more sections and slide in a given direction along parallel overhead tracks. Sliding doors are usually backdoors for residential areas, and entrances to commercial buildings.

Rotating Doors: Rotating doors are front entry doors that have four wings that hang on a center shaft and rotate on a vertical axis.

There are also automatic doors and inward opening doors, standard of large commercial businesses. For residential neighborhoods, a hinge door is the most common entry door used.

Doors can be made out of a variety of materials (along with composites and sections of material). Some popular materials include wood, fiberglass, steel and aluminum. Wood is a popular choice because of its visual sophistication as well as its insulation properties. However, steel requires less maintenance overall, while aluminum is inexpensive in comparison.

Though doors can be constructed of more than one material, it’s best to consider the “surface” material of a door first, as to how it will affect cost, durability, security and appearance.