Plastic Entrance Doors: Varieties, Accessories, Installation And Operation Features

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Plastic entrance doors: features of selection and installation

Doors made of plastic material have been used relatively recently. Typically, they are used to equip the entrances of non-residential buildings, such as shops and office centers. But more and more often, plastic entrance doors appear in private houses.

Content

• 1 Features of entrance plastic doors

  • 1.1 Design advantages

    1.1.1 Video: why a plastic front door is better than a metal one

  • 1.2 Design features of a plastic door

• 2 Varieties

  • 2.1 Single-leaf entrance door
  • 2.2 Insulated doors
  • 2.3 Double-leaf doors
  • 2.4 Internal entrance doors
  • 2.5 Arched structures

• 3 DIY making

  3.1 Design selection criteria

• 4 Features of installation and operation of plastic doors

  • 4.1 Do-it-yourself plastic door installation

    4.1.1 Video: installing a plastic entrance door

  • 4.2 Repair and adjustment

    4.2.1 Video: Plastic Door Troubleshooting

  • 4.3 Care features
• 5 Accessories for plastic doors
• 6 Design and decoration

Features of entrance plastic doors

Plastic entrance doors may differ from each other in appearance, while their design remains practically unchanged.

Plastic entrance doors can be very presentable, but they are based on a standard design

Design advantages

The popularity of such a product is due to a large number of advantages:

• light weight, which is why the probability of sagging is minimal;
• increased strength due to the combination of aluminum and plastic - such a door is almost impossible to cut or break;
• the presence of a sealed shutter due to the use of a special seal and clamps;
• good thermal insulation properties;
• ease of repair and adjustment - these actions can be performed independently;
• long service life, which reaches 20 years, while the appearance and performance characteristics do not change throughout the entire service life;
• fire resistance - plastic doors are almost non-flammable, moreover, the air gap, which is located inside the profile, is able to protect the living space from the ingress of smoke and smell from the street;
• resistance to acids and alkalis, therefore such doors can be washed with any detergent;

• environmental Safety.

  

  Doors made of plastic reinforced with aluminum inserts are distinguished by elegance, functionality and high durability

But when choosing, it is worth remembering about some disadvantages, among which are:

• poor compatibility with expensive facade and interior finishes;
• the risk of cracks appearing at the junction of the glass unit with the frame, as well as bubbles on the door leaf, provided that its surface is laminated;
• quite high cost.

Video: why a plastic front door is better than a metal one

Features of the design of a plastic door

The long service life of plastic doors is due to the use of elements that meet certain requirements. The structure includes:

• profile 94–118 mm thick;
• canopies that can withstand a load of up to 80 kg;
• rack locks;

• double-glazed window, consisting of one or more chambers.

  

  A plastic door is arranged quite simply - a double-glazed window or sandwich panels, awnings, a lock and a profile

But like any other door, the metal-plastic construction includes:

1. Cloth - is the basis of the door, is responsible for heat and sound insulation functions. It is a metal frame, which is sewn on both sides, while its strength is provided by a multi-chamber profile.
2. Box. It is made of a profile with several chambers and has a stiffening rod - a reinforcing metal profile.

3. Fittings - can expand the standard capabilities of the door, in particular, set the position of the door in micro-ventilation mode with fixing a certain opening angle. To ensure the operability of the metal-plastic entrance door, it is necessary to install crossbars along the perimeter of the canvas. For locking, a lever lock is usually used.

   

   A variety of fittings expand the possibilities of plastic doors

4. A seal used to seal and soften the sound of the closing door. The presence of this part will help to extend the service life of the plastic door due to the fact that the edge of the leaf and the frame will not knock from each other.

5. Threshold. Can be a separate element or part of a complete door structure. It can also be insulated.

   

   A plastic threshold is sometimes an independent element, but most often it is included in the design of the door frame

When choosing a plastic entrance door, you must pay attention to its main elements:

1. The door leaf, which usually consists of plastic and glass units. In some models, a sandwich panel is used instead of a glass unit. The best are the models with a double-glazed unit or sandwich panels with a solid margin of thickness.
2. Door fittings. For a plastic door, you need to choose a handle, as well as special mechanisms responsible for locking and unlocking. In this case, you need to ensure that the fittings are suitable for the selected door.

Varieties

Plastic entrance doors differ from each other according to several criteria.

1. By appointment. Doors can be entrance to the house or to the balcony. In the first case, it is recommended to use insulated products with a wide profile, in the second - with the ventilation function. A protective coating on the door leaf will be useful.
2. By design. It is possible to manufacture single-leaf, double-leaf or arched doors.
3. By opening method. Most often, swing structures are installed, but if you wish, you can mount sliding and folding models.
4. By the presence of a metal profile in the structure.
5. By profile location - vertically or horizontally.
6. By the presence of a double-glazed window.

Single wing entrance door

Most often, non-insulated single-leaf doors with double-glazed windows or sandwich panels are installed, in some cases they are combined. In this case, the complete set of accessories is also standard, in particular, handles, a lock, hinges are needed. But the owner of the house can stand out if he chooses the right design for the door using glass inserts or different colors.

The plastic door can be framed with glass panels

A single-leaf plastic door can be supplied with a transom - a horizontal upper glass part with a height of 18 cm. Transoms are rectangular, arched, trapezoidal or in the form of a polygon. In all versions, the canvas can be blank or have decorative inserts.

Insulated doors

Insulated doors are used to equip the entrance openings of private houses. Only a door leaf with a deaf filling, which is made of steel sheets or sandwich panels, is insulated. Expanded polystyrene is usually used as a heat-insulating material. It is inserted between two plastic or steel sheets. The thickness of the insulation depends on the climatic conditions of the region.

Double doors

A double-leaf plastic entrance door can have leaves of the same or different sizes, while one of them can be deaf. Suitable for rooms with wide openings. This is especially true in cases where it is often necessary to carry large items.

Double-leaf doors are usually installed in wide openings

Double-leaf doors have some advantages over wide-leaf single-leaf doors. The second option requires the use of a more durable frame, reinforced or additional hinges, which makes such a door much more expensive.

The design of a double-leaf door depends on its location, for example, entrance doors to an entrance, an internal vestibule or to a basement are almost never insulated, and their sound insulation properties are also not important. If the door is installed at the entrance to a residential building, then both door leaves and the door frame are subject to heat and sound insulation. For the latter, a special sealing tape is used.

One of the doors is most often made narrow and opened only if necessary to carry a dimensional object through the doors

The doorknob is usually located on one leaf, and the lock striker is on the other.

As for the external design of double-leaf plastic doors, then the owner can show imagination. Both canvases can be the same, that is, mirror each other, or differ significantly. For example, one canvas has glass or stained glass inserts, and the second is made of sandwich panels.

Internal entrance doors

Plastic doors can open inward or outward. Internal opening models are most often installed in apartments or in blocks of two doors. Such structures have some advantages, for example, they never block adjacent ones in accordance with fire safety requirements. But breaking such a door is much easier. This deficiency can be leveled by strengthening the vestibule.

Arched structures

Arched plastic doors have a unique appearance that can emphasize the richness of the structure and the wealth of the owners of the house. Such products have several advantages:

1. Visual increase in the height of the room. In private houses, this is not always necessary, since the corridor here already has a high ceiling.
2. The ability to install in a doorway of a non-standard size, which is especially important if tall people will use such a door.
3. Aesthetic appearance. Products made from a combination of glass and plastic look especially interesting.

An arched plastic door performs a decorative function; it has no special advantages over conventional entrance blocks

Arched plastic doors do not have any other advantages besides their special appearance. But the cost of such a door block will be much higher due to the non-standard size and shape. With regard to operational and technical characteristics, they are identical to rectangular counterparts.

DIY making

The peculiarity of a plastic door is that special equipment is required for its manufacture, which is not available in the subsidiary farm. Therefore, you still have to purchase a finished product (there is always the possibility of ordering a door of non-standard sizes), but installation can be performed without the help of specialists.

Design selection criteria

When using a plastic door as an entrance door, you must pay attention to the following products:

1. With a double-glazed window, which will better keep warm in the living space. It consists of three panes that form two chambers. Such a canvas will be a good barrier for noise.

   

   Two-chamber double-glazed window consists of three glasses

2. With an aluminum-plastic profile for maximum performance.
3. With quality fittings that can't be too cheap.

Particular attention must be paid to dimensions. They are determined by the parameters of the doorway. The following values are considered standard:

• 980 * 2050mm;
• 980 * 2100mm;
• 880 * 205 mm.

But standard single-leaf plastic doors are not always able to fit into the dimensions of the existing opening, so they are often made to order. In this case, you can choose one-and-a-half doors with the following parameters:

• width 1010-1550 mm;
• height 205-2370 mm.

The double-leaf models are the largest - 1910-1950 mm wide and 2370-2450 mm high.

The front door should fit as much as possible under the existing opening

The thickness of the door depends on its filling. On average, it can vary from 90 to 120 mm.

Before buying a metal-plastic entrance door, it is necessary to carefully measure the doorway, the design discrepancy even by a millimeter can complicate the installation process.

Features of installation and operation of plastic doors

The plastic door is lightweight, so its installation and then further operation should not cause difficulties.

DIY plastic door installation

Correct installation of an entrance plastic door requires careful preparation of the doorway. To do this, you need to adjust the size of the opening, clean the walls of plaster and prime (which will help get rid of dust). After that, you can proceed directly to the installation of the plastic door. Installation takes place in several stages:

1. Dismantling of doors. Plastic constructions sellers most often supply them assembled. Therefore, before installation, it is recommended to separate the door leaf and the door frame, as this will help facilitate the installation process.
2. Installation of fasteners. These can be special brackets (inserted into a special groove of the box from the back of the box) or anchors (are through fasteners). The latter option is less preferable due to the violation of the integrity of the door frame. There should be 3 fasteners on each side of the box.
3. Installation of stops. They are needed for the correct positioning of the door frame. Their function can be performed by nails or self-tapping screws. To install the stops, it is very important to correctly mark the top and bottom of the opening.

4. Inserting a door into the opening. The door frame must be placed on the stops. After that, with the help of wedges, you need to fix the door at the top and bottom of the opening, while it is recommended to ensure that the box is tightly pressed against all four stops. Adjust the location of the box if necessary.

   

   At each stage of installing the door, you need to check its evenness

5. Fixing the box. It is not recommended to immediately tighten the screws tightly; it is better to do this after installing the door leaf, since the position of the door may need to be adjusted.

   

   The door frame can be fixed with anchors or brackets

6. Installation of the door leaf. First, it is hung on the lower hinge. Then the door is closed and the two parts of the upper hinge are aligned and connected with a pin.

   

   The door leaf is first hung on the lower and then on the upper hinge

7. Sealing the door frame. All gaps between the box and the opening wall must be sealed with polyurethane foam. This can be done with the door leaf closed, and it is recommended to pre-moisten the surface with water. It is necessary to fill the seam evenly, by 2/3 of its volume.

   

   Fittings are installed at the end of the door assembly process

Video: installing an entrance plastic door

Repair and adjustment

The peculiarity of the entrance plastic door is that, under the pressure of its own weight, it may sag slightly if unreliable fasteners were used or they loosened. To avoid this, it is recommended to carry out periodic adjustments. For this you need:

1. Remove decorative hinge strip. After that, you can adjust the hinges.

   

   It is necessary to adjust the plastic door at the first sign of its sagging

2. Unscrew the screws in all hinges if it is necessary to move the sash to one side.
3. Tighten the screws from the lower end of the hinge in order to move the door leaf in the vertical direction.
4. Adjust the lock striker using the hexagon.

During the operation of a plastic entrance door, other problems may arise:

1. The handle is loose. This problem occurs due to the increased stress when the handle fixing screws are pulled out of their slots for several turns. To eliminate the backlash, turn or remove the decorative cap, and then tighten all the bolts with a screwdriver.

2. Failure of the handle, latch or lock. The damaged part will need to be replaced, preferably with a similar model.

   

   The broken part of the plastic door must be replaced with a similar one

3. Damage to the glass unit. It must be replaced, since there must be a vacuum inside, which will be absent if only one glass is inserted by yourself. This is done in the following sequence:

   • remove the glazing beads. To do this, it is better to use a spatula or a thin screwdriver, which must be hammered in with a rubber hammer as deep as possible. In this case, you need to move from the center of the frame to its edges;

     

     It is necessary to remove the beadings of a plastic door in a certain sequence

   • remove the glass unit. In order not to drop it or break it, it is better to use special suction cups or ask someone to help;

   • install a new glass unit. It is recommended to use special spacers for fixing;

     

     It is better to install a new glass unit together, so as not to accidentally drop it onto the street.

   • fix the glazing beads in the reverse order.

4. Damage to the sealing system. It provides the required level of heat and sound insulation, as well as the adherence of the canvas to the box. When the seal is worn out, it must be replaced. The old rubber cord must be removed with the help of the tools at hand, and then a new one must be installed, rolling it evenly and making sure that it does not stretch. In the corners of the door, the seal is cut off and additionally fixed with rubber glue.

   

   The seal must be laid without tension and fixed in the corners with rubber glue

Video: troubleshooting a plastic door

Care features

Appropriate care will help to extend the life of the entrance plastic door:

• regular treatment of mechanisms with machine oil, and a rubber seal with a special agent;
• timely repair of minor faults, for example, adjusting the hinges and fastening the handles;
• turning the handle when operating the door at the desired angle;
• prevention of mechanical impact and excessive loads on the door leaf and glass unit.

Accessories for plastic doors

The comfort of using an entrance plastic door, as well as a long service life and reliability, depends on correctly selected components. This applies to:

1. Door handles. By the way of execution, they are divided into:

   • push - the most popular, because they are capable of locking the door;

     

     Push handle allows the door to be latched

   • handles-staples - often found in high traffic conditions;

     

     Staple handles are usually installed in offices and shopping centers.

   • rosette handles - on a square, round or oval base.

     

     Rosette handles are most often used on balcony doors

2. Eye. This element is especially relevant for blind doors. The most popular option is the panoramic model. The popularity is due to the ability to view the entire staircase or porch. Recently, video eyes have been increasingly installed in doors.

   

   Panoramic eyes are usually used in plastic doors.

3. Opening limiter. Can be wall or floor mounted. These details allow you to provide the maximum desired opening angle of the entrance door, while excluding the possibility of knocking the door against the wall.

   

   The limiter can be mounted on a wall, door or floor

4. Castle. For a plastic door, lever structures are usually used, which, in turn, can be short, that is, have only one point of contact between the door and the frame, or slats - the levers move out in different directions.

   

   For a plastic door, a short lock and a lock-rail are suitable

Design and finishing

Due to the possibility of design and decoration of the entrance plastic door, the doorway can become an excellent decor for the facade of the house. If desired, you can install ordinary solid white doors, products of brown or black shades, with a window or several glass inserts, with a stained glass film or matte finish. When you insert a window, you can give it absolutely any shape: rectangle, square, circle, a combination of different geometric shapes.

The color scheme of the plastic door can be any

If desired, a plastic door can be given a relief, for example, to make the surface ribbed or with convex volumetric details. The owner of such a door also has a choice of colors. This is usually a light spectrum - from warm milky to cool signal white. But there are also alternatives, such as black and brown in various shades.

A plastic front door can be a great alternative to heavy metal or simple wood doors that are easy to break open. Light weight and simple design allow you to install yourself, and a large assortment - choose a model that favorably emphasizes the facade of the house and the landscape of the personal plot.