Steel Doors

When you think about the security of your home, think about steel doors. Steel doors are a robust, secure, and more efficient alternative to more expensive and traditional materials such as wood doors. While they are not the most affordable entry door options, their benefits for your Canadian home make them a worthwhile investment.

What are steel doors?

When some homeowners hear about modern steel doors in Ottawa, what immediately comes into their minds is an expansive panel of steel. That is not what you ought to perceive as a steel door, as it is not entirely made of steel. A steel door made of 100% steel would be very heavy, making its operation incredibly difficult.

To avoid this, the core of the steel door is filled with polystyrene insulation. This makes the door light and enhances its thermal efficiency qualities. 

Features and benefits of steel doors

There are various materials for door types, but none beats the benefits of steel doors. From increased security to potentially reducing your monthly utility bills, here are the benefits of installing steel doors in your home.

• Security — steel is a strong material that is difficult to break through blows and kicks. Thanks to their robustness, steel doors are mainly installed as exterior steel doors, where security is at the top of every homeowner’s list when looking for a replacement door. After all, a door is supposed to keep your family and belongings safe and give you peace of mind.
• Thermal efficiency — while thermal efficiency is usually overlooked, especially when shopping for exterior doors, it is essential to look for a door that will keep your home cool during the summer months and warm during the winter months. The more heat you lose through either the doors or windows, the more work you give to your HVAC system, and that ends up consuming a lot of energy, hence shooting up your energy utility bills.

The core of the steel door is filled with foam insulation, making it an incredible insulator. By preventing heat loss, it helps keep your energy bills low, saving money in the long run.

• Durability — when you replace your steel entry doors, you want to wait many years before the next steel door replacement project. Undoubtedly, that gives you peace of mind. Steel is a solid material that will serve you for many years to come. It can withstand any force directed towards it, including exposure to extreme weather conditions like snow and ice.
• Little maintenance — installing steel doors is a case of install and forget. All you need to do is an occasional wipe down to remove any dust that may settle on the surface.

However, there are some considerations you need to make when you install steel doors in your home. While it is incredibly durable and secure, prolonged exposure to moisture can make it rust, especially if the paint is chipped. To avoid this, you may need to repaint your steel door occasionally. Additionally, the door may dent if exposed to extreme force.

However, depending on how you take care of your steel entry door, you may never have to deal with denting and rusting. Now, the only thing you need to be prepared for is the price. Steel doors may not be quite as affordable as other doors, with some steel doors Ottawa costing as much as $10,000.

What to consider before buying steel doors

Cut-outs

When buying a steel entrance door, ensure that it has all the cutouts you need. If you get a solid door and then decide that you need a pet or window door, it will be challenging to cut through the door. In this case, you would need to hire a door installer to add the cutouts.

Coating

Typically, steel doors Ottawa come with a factory-applied primer, ready to be manually painted by spray gun or brush. Some doors come with an additional PVC vinyl coat stuck to the steel skin to give the door a specific appearance, typically woodgrain. Note that you cannot paint this PVC vinyl layer if you want to change the colour of your door.

Weather

Steel doors are excellent in resisting weather, just like fibreglass and wood. So, if weather tightness is your primary concern, you wouldn’t want to choose steel doors primarily for this factor. If you do, it would be prudent to install a storm door in front of your steel door to offer additional resistance against the weather.

Scratching

Steel doors would, undoubtedly, resist pets’ scratches effectively, but when wouldn’t be able to resist metal scratches. Getting rid of metal scratches can be challenging, but you can apply new paint to hide them.

Choose professionals for installation and replacement

Regardless of your steel doors’ quality, they will not look perfect and function well unless installed and glazed correctly by a professional service installer near you. The Buildmart steel door supplier company provides a unique steel door installation and replacement service — we supply and install replacement exterior steel doors with glass to ensure your home is secure and, most importantly, more energy-efficient!