Doors are an important part of our home’s interior, and getting a quality door is even a more important upgrade for your home. But choosing one is not an easy job. However, although the choice might be hard, your options are plenty and the desired one can even add a bit of character to your home.
Doors nowadays come with a couple of functions. Apart from the obvious one which is security, doors have soundproof capabilities that minimize the noise coming from different areas of your home. Since every residential home has multiple doors, and most apartment buildings have at least one, it goes without saying that upgrading to the highest of quality can be very beneficial for you.
So with all that said, we’re going to present all the options you have. This is the ultimate guide to the types of doors you can select for your home.
Before we begin, a very important thing to consider is the construction type. There are two construction types when it comes to your home interior doors, those are panel and flush types.
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Panel Doors
Panel doors are more detail-heavy and they’re made out of a solid frame with built-in panels that can run horizontally or vertically. Most panel doors are eighter made out of wood or glass, making them less versatile.
Flush Doors
Flush doors, on the other hand, are the simple option. These doors have no raised area, unlike panel doors, which are completely flat, and without any details. It’s safe to say that these doors are made out of a single piece of wood, making them very budget-friendly. Flush doors are a great option for a lot of residential homes since they can easily match with your homes’ style.
Now, let’s take a look at your design options.
Door Design Options
Sliding Doors
You’ve all seen how sliding doors work. Sliding doors are the most ideal types of design for most residential homes, and especially for those that have limited space. These doors are opened by sliding, not by swinging. They’re slid horizontally through a set of tracks mounted on both the top and bottom of the door frame.
Folding Doors
These doors can eighter fold in one piece or two. To open it, you need to pull it. When you pull it, it folds into two. Folding doors are excellent choices for closets and are even better where space is limited.
Hinged Doors
No need to explain how they work, every home has a hinged door since it is the most commonly used design type. Hinges are what hold this door in place. They’re mounted on one side and allow it to swing open whenever someone uses it. They’re mostly sold pre-hung, meaning that the door itself is already mounted on the frame with the hinges installed.
Pocket Doors
Pocket doors work similarly to sliding doors. However, instead of sliding next to the walls, pocket doors slide into your walls. These are even better options if you need to save on space, but also have walls that can fit the door in. They’re an excellent option for your home interior, and extremely poor for an exterior door. Naturally, you have to modify your walls first if you want to use this type of door. As a general tip, drywall works best with this door type.
These are the three most popular design types. Next, we’ll take a look at your material options.
Door Material Option
Glass
Glass is a widely used material for both interior and exterior doors. Glass can stand on its own, making the door frameless, or it can be accompanied by a frame. The frame is mostly steel or wood, but other options aren’t excluded.
If you’re interested in glass doors with metal frames, then the best place to weigh-in your options would be to visit Portella.com.
Wood
It goes without saying that wood isn’t cheap, especially if you consider it’s aesthetical properties. Because of this, wooden doors are one of the most, if not, expensive options out there. Most of the design of wooden interior doors is a mixture of grain patterns. The pattern, however, depends on the type of wood. Wood is also your best option if you’re looking to block most of your noise.
Hollow Core
Hollow core doors are one of the most lightweight options since the core of the door is empty and hollow. Naturally, this option allows more sound to pass through, making it not very good in terms of soundproof capabilities. Hollow core is your best budget-pick options, and they work with most rooms in your home.
Solid Core
Solid core, as you might imagine, are different from hollow core but similarly built. They both have a solid frame, but instead of being hollow, they’re filled with a type of wooden fiber that has more soundproof capabilities. However, the solid is not made out of wood, but rather wooden fibers. This, naturally, makes the material itself more expensive than hollow core, and they work just fine with any room in your home.
MDF
MDF might not be as popular as wood, but it is still a very common option none the less. Considered to be in the mid-range, MDF feels and looks like wood but it is instead made out of medium-density fiberboard, which gives it the name. However, the reason why it is so popular is down to the fact that the MDF is very easy to paint over and it can also be given a pattern.
What Should You Choose?
Choosing the right door(s) for your home should be done based on what you need. We’ve talked about construction types, design, and materials, but the main thing that you should look for is functionality. Functionality is not something that people take into account when choosing interior or exterior doors. While the design is an important factor, you should first make sure that the door is well worth your investment.