How to choose interior doors: recommendations

How to choose interior doors

The question “how to choose interior doors” ceases to sound rhetorical for many families, it only costs them to face the widest assortment of the modern market. In addition, from time to time, fashion trends are born in interior design, calling for the abandonment of interior doors in favor of arches or open studios in general.

In fairness, it should be noted that arches, a variety of curtains and screens instead of doors for centuries appeared periodically in the interiors, but never managed to become the main tool of designers. While beautiful and high-quality interior doors at all times remained the most important functional element of the room and a bright element of interior design. In a word, you can’t do without doors between rooms and other rooms when overhauling or building a house, and you will have to make a choice between natural wood structures and products from its derivatives, complemented by decorative fragments of plastic, glass and other materials.

Content

• What interior doors are better?

• Solid wood
• Solid wood doors
• Wood veneered doors
• Laminated and veneered honeycomb (masonite)

 

How to choose interior doors

What interior doors are better?

The range of types and models of doors on the modern market can confuse discerning wealthy buyers, and less demanding ones, counting on a limited budget. The former, seeing absolutely identical externally doors at significantly different prices, do not want to overpay for no apparent reason. Others, having a relatively small amount of money, do not want to be in a known situation with a mean who pays twice. In order to thoroughly understand which interior doors are better, both the first and second, you need to understand what types of doors the market offers today.

Solid wood

The most expensive doors of very high quality are ideal for a residential building and premises for any other purpose. Doors made of natural wood are beautiful, durable and prestigious. If the manufacturer meets the requirements of wood storage standards and the production process, his product is accompanied by an appropriate quality certificate and an impressive warranty period.

The main advantages of natural wood doors:

• durability;
• environmental friendliness;
• low coefficient of linear expansion during temperature fluctuations;
• high soundproofness;
• low thermal conductivity;
• ease of disposal.

Disadvantages:

• the likelihood of hidden defects caused by natural defects of wood: knots, tar pockets, microcracks;
• hygroscopicity, leading to deformation of the product and a change in its geometry in conditions of high humidity;
• flammability.

The disadvantages of natural wood doors are sometimes attributed to their susceptibility to minor damage: chips, scratches, microcracks, which, however, are easily repaired. And the high price of a set of doors and frames from a solid array ranging from 10-12 thousand rubles fully justifies the excellent quality of products.

Solid wood doors

The lower price of this type of interior doors compared to analogues from a solid wood is due to the fact that it is much easier to assemble a canvas from several elements than to select solid wood for it. Of course, the manufacturing technology of glued massif may affect the appearance of the finished product, manifesting itself in uneven coloring of the door leaf surface.

The lack of doors of this type:

• uneven coloring of the door leaf, due to the fact that the shades of its individual fragments can significantly differ from each other.

Dignity:

• lower hygroscopicity than the whole-wood counterpart and, accordingly, better ability to maintain geometry in conditions of high humidity.

Wood veneered doors

This is the largest group of interior doors, occupying mainly segments of the middle and low price ranges. As a rule, manufacturers have to cover veneers with door leafs made of low-quality substandard wood, the openly unaesthetic appearance of which must be hidden.

It can be glued pieces of pine pieces unsuitable for doors or waste of other wood, unsuitable for the manufacture of glued massif.

Dignity:

• affordable price.

Disadvantages:

• tendency to deform under the influence of ambient temperature changes;
• the likelihood of wood stratification and veneer peeling, not repairable
• high likelihood of mold and mildew due to the substandard condition of the wood used.

If the technology for the production of particle boards based on the pressing of a mixture of wood chips and synthetic resins is familiar to the domestic consumer in cabinet furniture and apartment doors of the 60-80s model, then MDF products appeared on our market only in the late 90s. The essence of the technology for the production of MDF panels for the manufacture of furniture, doors, cases of acoustic devices, etc. consists in vacuum pressing a mixture of wood fiber pulverized into fine powder and environmentally friendly carbon resins. The technology for the production of MDF panels allows you to endow finished products with the necessary properties. The surface of MDF doors can be faced with veneer of valuable wood or with a laminated coating that mimics the texture of natural wood.

Advantages of MDF doors:

• presentable appearance;
• competitive price;
• durability;
• moisture resistance;
• low thermal conductivity;
• high resistance to fire;
• high sound insulation;
• coating strength and scratch and chip resistance.

Disadvantage:

• large specific gravity of finished products.

In order to exclude the possibility of distortions of doors from the MDF array during installation and further operation, it is recommended to purchase an engineering array – a set of door leaf, frames and platbands from MDF array. The cost of an engineering array of the highest quality belongs to the segment of the middle price range and amounts to 8500-9500 rubles.

Laminated and veneered honeycomb (masonite)

Lightweight interior doors of economy class are a structure made of chipboard or MDF frame filled with a slab of hard cellular cardboard. The product surface is laminated with a PFH film or veneer.

Advantages:

• light weight;
• affordable price.

Disadvantages:

• low structural strength;
• fragility of the product;
• high hygroscopicity;
• low noise isolation;
• flammability.

The service life of cellular (mezzanite) doors is designed for 5-7 years with careful handling. They do not protect the room very well from the cold, are susceptible to minor and medium damage, and are far from suitable for every dwelling, but can very well be used in offices and some other buildings where the weight of the door structure is crucial. The cost of cellular doors is available to a wide range of customers and amounts to 600-2000 rubles, depending on the external design.

Thus, the conclusion is obvious: contrary to the prevailing stereotype, the material from which the interior doors are made, for example, natural wood, does not guarantee their high quality.

Important: The impeccable quality of interior doors made of natural wood is achieved while observing the regulatory regimes of drying and storage of wood, as well as all stages of the process, which is confirmed by a quality certificate and a decent warranty period from the manufacturer.

Of course, everyone independently decides which interior doors to choose for their home or office, relying on their own taste, budget and carefully studying the market offers. And yet, before the final choice of the best option, it’s useful to once again clarify for yourself:

1. the purpose of the room for which the doors are purchased (housing or office, rooms or a bathroom, etc.);
2. how durable the purchased doors should be;
3. the most important properties of doors, depending on the purpose of the room: moisture resistance, sound insulation, etc .;
4. Is a manufacturer warranty important to you.

Answers to these questions will help clarify the characteristics on which you can save if necessary and finally determine the desired cost of the upcoming purchase. If the high quality of the future door is a determining factor, then before buying it you can not bother with unnecessary manipulations and scrupulous calculations. When planning your purchase budget, do not forget that the price of one interior door consists of the cost of not only the door leaf, but also the door frame and accessories, which are often “forgotten” by sellers.

How to choose interior doors

To avoid annoying mistakes when choosing interior doors for a house, apartment or office on the eve of the search for the best option, you must:

1. Together with the interior designer or independently clearly determine the design of future doors.
2. Using a tape measure, make measurements of doorway parameters: height, width, thickness of the wall.
3. Clarify the opening side of each door.
4. Decide on the number of single-leaf and double-leaf interior doors, if any.

Armed with measurements, you can go in search of doors, not forgetting when they choose a few unwritten rules. So, if the width of the doorways is in the range of 80-90 cm, then you can buy single-leaf doors in standard sizes. With an opening width of 90-110 cm, it is easy to reduce it with mounting foam to the dimensions of a standard single-leaf door. If the corresponding width significantly exceeds 110 cm, then it is best to install double-wing swing or sliding doors, which can become a luxurious decoration of the interior.

With a limited budget allocated for the purchase of interior doors, it is not recommended to divide the purchase into two or three stages. It is advisable to buy the number of doors of one model necessary for an apartment or house at the same time, perhaps even for the sake of economy, giving preference to doors made of MDF, rather than from a solid array of natural wood.

Important: Different batches of interior doors of one model and one manufacturer may vary slightly in shade or fittings, not to mention that any model can be removed from production by the manufacturer at any time. Interior doors that differ in shade and small details in the interior of one room look ridiculous, while heterogeneous ones generally violate the integrity of the interior.

When choosing the color of wooden interior doors, it is necessary to take into account the tone of natural or laminated parquet and furniture. It is desirable that the shade of wooden doors be more saturated than shades of the floor and furniture: in this case they will play the role of a bright and elegant interior element.

For living rooms and kitchens, they usually choose interior doors with fragments of frosted or transparent glass, often double-leaf: in addition to their main function, they simultaneously play the role of a “second light” for a too dark entrance hall. For a bathroom, bedrooms and a study, noise-absorbing and light-proof “deaf” doors are better suited.

Economical conservatives who install interior doors for decades to come should prefer durable MDF models. They are respectable at very affordable prices and equally good for living rooms and kitchens in a glazed version, as well as for bathrooms and bedrooms in the “deaf”.

Young people who love frequent changes in the surrounding interior may well arrange cheap cellular (masonite) interior doors. They are sold already painted in a variety of colors or in general with a primed surface prepared for painting. If the owners are not confused by the low noise insulation of mezzanite doors, their main advantage will be unlimited opportunities for experimenting with color and achieving amazing effects at very modest costs..

The modern market of interior doors is able to satisfy the demands of demanding customers who have budgets from the most elite to economical price ranges. Moreover, everyone can only decide which interior doors will turn out to be the best for him, just like the service life will depend solely on a careful attitude to them.