Ten Popular Types of Doors-Many Door Types You May Want to Know

Similar to windows, doors are another important part of a house. A beautiful and functional exterior door is nothing but a good way to guide your house while representing the owners’ housing style and taste while a good interior door provides a pleasing entrance to the room. House doors are generally classified into exterior doors (or front door or entrance door ) — doors for the entrance —and interior doors by their different locations. Due to its location, an exterior door is supposed to be strong, safe, good-looking, durable, and of good quality. An interior door is a door mostly for separating the space and providing privacy, most of them are hinged doors. Different doors are designed to meet different location and their purposes of use.

Door Parts You Need to know

A door is made of several parts, the biggest portion door part is called panel or leaf. The casing is around the sides and the hinges secure the door to the frame. The threshold fills the gap between the floor and the leaf. The thresholds of the exterior door are much higher than the interior doors (some interior doors don’t necessarily need a threshold). Finally, you turn the handle to open or close the door. Most of the exterior door is about 1-3/4 inch(42mm) thick, and an interior door is 1-3/8 inch (33mm) thick.

1. Wood Hinged Doors

A hinged door is a door hinged on the side with two or more hinges while another side swing to and from the room, also known as a passage door. A hinged door could be in one or two panels. It might be a complete solid wood or a hollow-cored door. Most people would like wood hinged doors to be their entrance door. One of the reasons is that it matches their wooden houses. The other reason might be wood doors are energy-efficient and owe great aesthetics.
Wood has been used for housing or windows or doors for ages, and people just love woods. Wood doors are easy to paint and finish to match your housing styles. Wood doors have good insulation, security and great soundproof, and a touch of nature. With some glazing installed in the wood door, the wood door is modern with elegance. Wood doors are beautiful and have always been a classic option for most housing. However, wood doors could be pricey and need a lot of maintenance to prevent the wood door from warping or contracting, or changing shapes. Most people tend to choose oak or teak or other wood types for doors while pining for windows.

2. Glass Doors

A glass door is an extended window with a door handle. Glass door is a door with big glazing installed between the panels. Glass door is mainly manufactured with an aluminum frame or wooden frame. Glass doors invite more sunshine in the house, making the house brighter and look larger. Glass doors are good for back door or side doors as you can see clearly the view of your yard through it. You could also decorate some built-in grilles for your glass door. Some of the cons are glass door is not strong enough. They are easily broken into. To prevent this from happening, you may need strong glazing. Therefore, the glass door is heavier than other doors as the more glazing is between the frame and more pricey.

3. Folding Doors/ Bifold Doors

A folding door is also called a bi-fold door. With several fordable equal panels sliding on a track (its threshold), folding doors open a seamless connection between the house and outside. Normally, there are four panels for the folding doors, one panel is on the side, the rest three are folded to the other side, or two panels by two panels. If the opening is wider, there might be 6 or more panels.

A folding door doesn’t take up much space and offers just awesome views. Folding doors are good choices for wide openings, such as a front door to make the house more modern and elegant or a back door to the yard or garden to make a great connection. You may also see the folding door on the first floor or kitchens or utility rooms. Most folding doors are aluminum doors, as aluminum is strong, durable, and easy to finish in various RAL colors. It’s up to your preference to go with the grilles or not. Built-in grilles are not a bod option. Folding doors is good for both individual housing and commercial housing. Although folding doors are good for wide opening, not many people would like a folding door that is too big.

4. Sliding Doors/ Bypass Door

Just like sliding windows, a sliding door slides on the track to open, also called a bypass door. It usually has two or more panels, with two panels movable and the other rest fixed. Sliding doors are good for wide openings. Sliding doors are flexible, you could stop anywhere on the track, allowing for your easy use and proper amount of ventilation. They are good for exterior doors or interior doors. Sliding doors are also good for your closet or pantry. A sliding door sometimes goes with the same size screen door to keep the fly away, although most doors don’t have a screen door. Sliding doors are easy to operate and lightweight,

A sliding door is a good way to divide the area without blocking the sunshine. It doesn’t take up much of the interior space as the panels don’t swing to open, and it’s a great way to enjoy the outside while you just sitting in your house. Most homeowners prefer a sliding door at the back door facing their yard, so they can take care of the playing children in the garden. You can also see siding doors in the offices, as they save space and are good for a meeting room.

5. Interior Doors

Interior doors are doors inside the house. They are usually lightweight, good for separating the room to provide privacy. An interior door is often a hinged single panel door. As they are inside the house, they require less security or durability like exterior doors, which means you actually have wide options for your interior doors based on your room style, preference, and your expected budget. An exterior door requires a lot of elements to consider, while a hinged door is much easier to just go with whatever you find pleasing.

For the door material, medium density fiberboard( MDF), solid wood, hollow core, solid core and aluminum are some popular options. MDF is durable and stable but it doesn’t look much like the real wood doors. A solid door is attractive but it is also very expensive, and you will need many interior doors for the whole housing. The total amount of cost is a lot. For hollow core, they are less expensive but they have problems with soundproofing. A solid core is a better hollow core as there is more plywood inside the core, but they are also pricier than a hollow core. Aluminum is strong and durable and affordable, you also need it if it matches your home style.

6. French Doors

A French door is a door with two equal panels and a swing to open in the middle. French doors offer panels that expend almost the same height as the opening, offering a great amount of light into the house. French doors are mostly made of glazing, which invites more cool air into your house in the hot summer days and more warm sunshine in cold winters. Not only do they offer bigger access or entrance to the house when compared with hinged single doors, but they also make the house look more diffident. Most French doors tend to be in white, featuring the elegance and purity of a house. Usually, French doors are made more of wood than other materials. Some homeowners prefer the panels while others prefer the panels with glazing and built-in grilles. French doors or French windows are classic but they are getting popular in modern housing. French doors are eye-catching, making the house more stylish and well-designed. The French door is a good investment for your house, but they are also not budget-friendly.

7. Garage Door

The size of the garage door depends on your garage is for one car or two-car. Garage doors are usually made of aluminum. A garage door should be strong, durable, and require less maintenance, which is the reason why many homeowners prefer aluminum garage doors. Since the garage door is for cars, most garage doors have concise clear designs and match the color of your housing. A quality garage door provides a good shelter for your dearest cars. Using strong and less maintenance material saves you much trouble. Garage doors are expensive, for a 1-car garage door, they can cost $ 400 to 2600, depending on your design. For 2-car garage doors in a double garage door type, they are 1.5 times than 1-car garage and cost more for 2 single garage doors. Therefore, it’s important to choose durable strong, and affordable garage doors with the easy installation before you make your decision, saving more cost for replacement doors.

8. Pocket Door

A pocket door is another kind of sliding door, usually in one or two panels sliding on the track installed on the ceiling. You slide open a pocket door by pushing them into a “pocket”—usually between the walls—to let them disappear. When you close it, they reappear. They require less maintenance. Pocket doors save much space, so they are great for a room that has limited space to swing. You may probably see a pocket door in closets or a power room. Many people like pocket doors because of their style. However, while the pocket door is a good space-saver, its soundproof performance is as good as other door types. And installing a pocket door is not easy, either.

9. Barn Door

A barn door is another type of sliding door with the track installed above the opening. You push the barn door aside to open it. A barn door is easy to install; you simply install the pulleys on the panels, then put the pulleys on the track. Barn doors are similar to a pocket door. Nowadays, the barn door is not as popular as before, more homeowners prefer pocket doors as the pocket door is more functional and useful.

10. PVC Doors

PVC doors or vinyl doors are doors made of polyvinyl chloride, which you can also see the same material in pipes. PVC is cheaper, lighter, and easier to manufacture; those properties make them great for bathroom doors. You will save a great deal of effort to install it or replace it and have more options on its styling and glazing styles since its bathroom requires privacy a lot. They don’t even need any of your maintenance. Although they last for twenty years or so, they certainly deserve the value by the time you have to replace them. With their lightweight and affordable costing, PVC doors make good doors for kitchen doors and bathrooms. They are easy to be installed and replaced, saving the cost of installation.

Other Door types

Above are ten popular types of doors you may frequently see in individual housing and commercial housing, other door types might be pivot door, Dutch doors, louvered door, roller door, etc. Most doors are in a rectangle, if they are with an arched top or another shape, then they belong to irregular door types. Those doors are quite different and cost more to design.

What doors do I need for my house?

To buy doors for your house isn’t something easy. It needs a good design according to your housing style. You may don’t prefer a glass door for your entrance or the PVC door doesn’t match your bathroom or any other problems. It would be much better to consult a door expert to know your housing style and your preference before you make your decision. We are here and ready to help out. Just contact us and let us see what we can do for you and your house!