We choose the interior door. What material is better?

It would seem that such a difficult - to choose the interior door? I measured the doorway at home, decided on the width of the canvas (it is usually a multiple of 10 cm) and go to the store! But once you find yourself in it (especially if it is a large specialized shopping center), the choice of the door becomes very difficult.
So, how to choose the right interior door and is it worth saving when buying?
The price variation for interior doors (regardless of the region of Russia in which you live) is usually represented in the following categories:

• Cheap doors (the so-called "budget option", the cost of which varies from 2 to 7-8 thousand rubles) from wood substitutes (including MDF) or solid bars;
• expensive wooden doors (with full surface cladding) - from 9-10 thousand rubles and more;
• elite imported door leafs, the cost of which usually exceeds 30 thousand rubles.

In this case, the main difference between cheap and expensive interior doors is the material from which they are made and, accordingly, the process of production of door leafs.

Production of cheap door panels

Door leafs belonging to the "budget option", despite the "wood" color, do not consist of 100% purely wooden elements. The production of such doors is as follows:

• boards of a certain thickness and width (usually pine) are placed for three weeks in a specially equipped heat chamber, in which drying alternates with moistening (this allows to achieve uniform drying of the workpieces without cracks and warping);
• after that, the dried boards are exposed to external treatment: the surfaces are polished, the knots are removed;
• The wood prepared in this way is then cut into small pieces, which ... stick together to a new board (after this “operation”, it practically ceases to react to the effects of water and temperature, that is, it does not deform during further operation);
• in the other workshop (or in another production) at that time wood linen is made from chips impregnated with glue;
• the next stage is the assembly from the glued boards of the frame of the door leaf (frame); the door hinges, the lock and the handle will be attached to it in the future;
• the inner space of such a web is filled with a special cardboard, having a honeycomb structure, which makes it more rigid;
• after that, solid sheets of wood leaf (for example, MDF or HDF) are attached to the door blank from two sides;
• then a special film is glued to both sides of the canvas, imitating the structure of wood (the film can be either on a paper basis or PVC);
• if necessary, in the center of the workpiece cut holes (of various shapes and sizes) for glass.

 

Virtues door panels "budget option":

 

• low cost
• low weight
• in the presence of PVC cladding, the door leaf becomes waterproof (that is, this door is ideal for installation in a bathroom),
• variety of colors and design solutions;
• ease of maintenance (in case of contamination, such a door should simply be wiped with a damp cloth);
• do not undergo deformation due to sudden temperature changes.

disadvantages "Budget" doors:

• poor sound-retaining properties (honeycomb content is a good conductor for sound);
• use for inserts ordinary glass, which is badly withstand shock loads and easy to beat.

Very often, instead of a film for facing the surface of the door leaf is used veneer - a thin layer of wood.Since the veneer itself is a rather fragile material, it is glued onto a layer of paper before being used in the production of doors, which makes it possible to give it the necessary flexibility and strength.
The veneer stuck on the door slightly increases its cost. At the same time, a quality door is not just veneered, but also additionally covered with several layers of lacquer.
However, some manufacturers, trying to reduce the cost of the door, reduce the number of varnish layers to one or two. As a result, after a year or two, such a door leaf begins to lose its original shade, as if burning out (even without being in the sun). Therefore, often sellers in stores, offering you a budget version of the door, lined with veneer, are advised immediately after installation in the room to cover it with additional layers of varnish (at least two) manually (if desired, you can use a tint varnish).

Cheap doors from MDF

Often in stores you can hear that this or that door is made of MDF. In most cases, this means that the door (cheap, classified as “budget”) has a wooden frame, sheathed with two sheets of MDF, and is lined with veneer or film.

Some manufacturers of the frame or the internal filling of the door leaf is also made of MDF bars, having the necessary thickness. In addition, to such a door in the kit are a box and trim from MDF. And since MDF without the upper facing layer is afraid of water (it swells when it hits), it is necessary to protect the open sections of the elements (for example, with a layer of sealant).

Doors from bars

Full option wooden Doors (but not having their main drawback - high cost) is a door leaf glued from separate slatted bars without an upper veneer facing layer. These doors are often sold in construction markets, along with ordinary wooden boxes and platbands.

The advantages of this door: naturalness, environmental friendliness, good sound and heat insulating properties, very low cost.
The main disadvantage is the lack of a protective coating. Therefore, such a door leaf after installation in the opening must be covered with a special composition for wood (with antiseptic, dirt-and water-repellent properties), as well as with two or three layers of varnish. Without such protection, a gap in the wooden door may appear after a short period of time between the individual elements, which can only be removed with putty.
Sometimes, such fully wooden doors can become “spotty” when painting, since the elements they assembled will absorb the coloring composition in different ways (in order to give a more or less uniform color, it is recommended to apply at least 2 layers).

Expensive doors

High cost is not yet a quality indicator (often the overpriced price for a door is the result of a longer chain of intermediaries between the manufacturer and the buyer, as well as a mark-up for the manufacturer’s name). Although the door, the cost of which exceeds 10 thousand rubles, is most often a hand-made product, created without the use of materials replacing wood. The production of such a door includes the following steps:

• preparation of blanks (from oak, maple, exotic and other wood species) of the required size, including their drying in a special chamber (this part of the process is the same for cheap as well as expensive door panels), sanding and dyeing with special compositions;
• assembling the door manually from separate elements held together by metal clips (glass is inserted into such a door at the initial stage of the door assembly, while it is like the center of the web around which the product is formed);
• veneer lining;
• staining (at least 6 layers, including surface lacquering).

Hand-made doors usually have a more complex design and color, as the door leaf is often painted by hand, which makes it possible to give it extra volume by beating dark and light elements.

Virtues expensive doors:

• respectable appearance
• good sound insulation - the absence of an air gap inside the door leaf and the presence of solid wooden elements instead of it significantly reduces the level of noise passing through the door;
• durable glass inserts - in the production of expensive doors, triplexes (two layers of glass, “baked” in a special furnace with a transparent polymer film laid between them) are usually used, which can withstand even a blow with a hammer;
• variety of design solutions.

TO disadvantages such doors can be attributed to their cost, considerable weight (often not two, but three or four hinges are required for their installation), as well as loss of sound insulating properties, if the door leaf in the box was installed without seals.

But the insulating qualities of cheap and expensive doors are often the same, since the air gap, like solid wood, is a poor conductor for heat. However, do not stick the seal around the entire perimeter of the doorframe (in the lower part of a fairly simple threshold formed by the same box), otherwise when the plastic windows are closed, when you close the door you will feel cotton and unpleasant sensations for the human body.
In addition, the doors, completely consisting of wood, may shrink slightly or thin gaps appear between the individual elements of the product, if the recommended conditions for their operation are violated (for example, neighbors flooded you and the doors were in wet conditions for a long time, etc.) . In such cases, it is better to contact the company that sold these doors to you, and use the help of their specialists to eliminate the defects that appeared.

 

 

Imported doors

 

 

It is not very profitable for the selling companies to transport cheap doors from abroad, so imported doors usually belong to the class elite. At the same time, unlike the products of Russian manufacturers (as well as Ukrainian and Belarusian), such door leafs are sold “in set”: the door itself (with or without glass), a box on a wooden base with a rubber sealant, trims on both sides, an additional plate (it is intended for installation of a door in thick walls), laid on universal loops (on any direction of opening), handles and locks.

Recently, the doors made in Italy and Germany, as well as made on exclusive design projects for a particular interior of the room, are the most popular.

Which doors to choose?

As you can see, both cheap and expensive doors have their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the choice of the door leaf not only from the point of view of the financial costs of its acquisition, but also carefully analyzing exactly what properties the door of a room should have.
So for bathroom (and combined sanitary facilities), a door that will be subjected to high humidity test almost daily is better to choose from among door panels protected by polymeric films.
For hall or living room more suitable expensive designer door, selected for the interior of the room.
a door kitchens should have good soundproofing properties in cases where noisy gatherings or meetings are often held in this room.

Door leaf for bedrooms It is also recommended to choose from a number of expensive and completely wooden products.
And here is the door child's rooms should be chosen from cheap (and better sounding out) - it will be easier to control your child’s actions when you are in another room or in the kitchen.

In any case, choosing a door, do not forget the main design rules:

• the doors are installed last, when the repair is finished.Increased humidity in the room during the repair (for example, when wallpapering) threatens that the door, especially wooden, swell and deform. In addition, it is easy to hopelessly stain or damage the door during repair;
• door leaf color can be in harmony (or make up the contrast) or with the floor, or with walls or interior items located in the room;
• You can “support” the color of the door with the help of platbands, baseboards and wall panels.