Replacing the front door may be needed both by owners of new buildings and those who live in the old housing stock. In this article we will tell you how to choose and install a new door in the apartment.
Content:
- How to choose the front door to the apartment
- Metal and design of the door leaf
- Filling the door leaf
- Doors finish
- Lock
- Loops
- Door box
- Replacing the front door in the apartment
How to choose the front door to the apartment
The front door should provide reliable protection against hacking, be strong and durable, and also harmoniously fit into the interior of the apartment. When choosing a door, you should pay attention to the material of the door leaf and box, the quality of the locks and loops, the type of insulation, the number of seals, as well as on the external finish and additional functions.
Photo: front door
Metal and design of the door leaf
Let’s start with the features of the door leaf. It can be made of cold -rolled or hot -rolled sheet steel.
Cold steel is more expensive, but it is more durable and resistant to corrosion. Hot -rolled steel is used for the doors of the budget segment.
The thickness of the steel sheet for the door leaf can vary from 0.8 to 5 mm. The thicker the sheet, the more reliable and stronger the door. For example, at the budget door, the thickness of the metal is 0.8 mm, which is slightly larger than the thickness of the tin can. Such a door can be easily opened with an ordinary knife, and in this case, no lock will help.
Photo: a thin metal door can be opened with a knife
It is optimal when the thickness of steel is around 2-3 mm. To open such a door, it will have to cut it with a grinder. Such a canvas will not rust and skip the sound. The door made of two steel sheets from the outer and inside is stronger than the door, which only the outer side is made of steel.
Photo: door leaf with the outside of steel
Even at the door leaf, there are stiffeners, longitudinal and transverse. The more there are, the stronger the door.
Photo: Entrance door in section
Filling the door leaf
To penetrate the apartment less sounds, special fillers are added to the door leaf. Because of this, the thickness of the door is up to 12 centimeters.
Photo: front door thickness
Different materials are used as noise insulation.
Polystyrene is a budget option, and mineral wool is more expensive and high -quality. Vata does not burn, it is safe in case of fire, and it absorbs sound well.
The door has an indicator of sound insulation. A low degree is 20–25 dB (even a whisper will be heard through such a door), the average is 26–31 dB (ordinary conversation), and high – from 32 dB (loud conversation).
Important: to check the door for the quality of sound insulation, it should be tapped on it. The sound from the knock should be deaf.
Photo: Filler of the front door
Even sound insulation is affected by the number of shells. These are elastic bands along the edges of the door leaf and door frame. In expensive models, 3 contours are used in more budgetary ones – 2.
Photo: front door seals
Doors finish
The door leaf can be covered with powder paint or decorative MDF panels. In budget models, the door is painted outside, and MDF panels are closed from the inside.
Photo: door -covered
In more expensive models, the door is decorated with MDF panels on both sides, and they are protected by a special PVC film.
Photo: The front door with the outside of MDF
Lock
A good castle makes the hacking process make it difficult. In modern entrance doors, two locks are usually installed: leaf and cylinder.
Photo: Types of locks at the front door
It is difficult to open the cylinder lock with a master lint, but it can be broken with rough power. The leaf lock, on the contrary, is difficult to break. In its design there are metal plates, which are driven by the key. These plates are called sowalds. The larger the Suvald in the castle, the more difficult it is to hack it. In expensive castles, their number can reach six pieces.
Photo: The design of the leaf lock
A leap castle can be protected with armored plastin. It is installed on the castle case. So the robber will not be able to quickly drill the mechanism.
Photo: Armoredoplastine on a leaf lock
Especially protected doors have a deviator in their design. This is a mechanism with bolts that enter the door box when you turn the key. Deviators can enter the box horizontally and vertically.
Photo: Deviator of the door
Loops
There are two types: external and internal. External loops are highly reliable, but they can be cut off when you try to hack.
Photo: external loops
Therefore, such doors are often equipped with anti -removable crossbars – special metal rods, which are included in the door frame when the door closes. This allows you to maintain the integrity of the door, even if the outer loops are cut.
Photo: Anti -Writable pin
The internal loops are hidden in the doorstone and less accessible to attackers. However, if they jam, then expensive repairs will be required.
Photo: internal loops
Door box
The box is a frame with the hinges on which the door rests. It comes with the door. When choosing, you should pay attention to the thickness of the metal base and the quality of the seams. Some expensive models are equipped with sound insulation, which fills the box.
Photo: The front door box in the section
Replacing the front door in the apartment
First you need to remove the old door with the box. Then you should clean the opening of excess mounting foam or cement. Before installing, the canvas must be disconnected from the box in order to facilitate the process. It is important to take into account that the box should be 5-7 cm less than the size of the doorway.
Photo: doorway before installing the box
Next, set the door frame in level. It should stand exactly both in the horizontal and in the vertical plane. For accurate fixation of the doorway, plastic plates of the desired thickness are inserted into the gap between the box and the wall. It is important that the door frame is installed at the same level with the outer wall.
Photo: Installation of the front door box
The box is attached to the wall with anchors. To do this, drill a through hole in the wall. First, the anchor is screwed into the lower point of the box from the side of the loops. Then the box is again checked using the level and after that the next anchor is screwed. If everything is even, then the box is attached to the wall from all sides. Sometimes the box has metal ears through which an anchor is screwed into the wall.
Photo: Installation of the door box
You can put the front door after installing the box. To do this, the door leaf must be hung on the box. If the loops are hidden, then they are screwed to the door leaf. To do this, one person must hold the door and the other to twist the bolts.
Photo: Installation of doors with hidden loops
If the loops are external, then they are lubricated, installed on the pin ball, and then the loops of the door leaf and the box are connected.
Photo: Installation of a door with external loops
After installation, the door should close tightly, without making extraneous sounds, and it is easy to open. At the same time, there should be no gap between the door and the box. The sagging of the door is also unacceptable. If there are similar signs, then the box is regulated by level. To do this, unscrew the anchor a little and the box is knocked out from different sides.
If everything is done efficiently, the gap between the box and the opening is filled with mounting foam or cement mortar. The door must be left in a closed state and not open it for about a day, so that the foam or cement freezes.
Photo: installation of the front door
Conclusion
- To make the door strong and protect against hacking, it is necessary that the thickness of the door of the door leaf is more than 3 mm.
- It is also worth paying attention to the presence of two different locks: suvold and cylindrical.
- It is better if the lock is reinforced with armored plastin and there is a deviant in the kit.
- So that the door does not pass extraneous sounds, it needs to be filled with mineral wool, and 2-3 sealing rubber are installed along its edges.
- More expensive entrance doors are decorated with panels on both sides of MDF. They allow you to make the surface textured.
