Photo: Erik Mclean

What is the best exterior door for cold weather?

fiberglass insulated doors The best exterior doors for cold weather are well-insulated ones. When choosing a door for the cold, look for fiberglass insulated doors, solid wood doors, metal insulated doors, and other heat-trapping materials.

exteriormedics.com - How to Choose a Door for Harsh Weather Conditions - Exterior Medics

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If your home regularly experiences extreme weather, your exterior door could have a lot to do with your comfort level during harsh winters and summers. Your exterior door is the gateway to your home, and it's going to control how much air you can let in, whether the home gets hot quickly, and how much cold air gets in. Here are some of the best exterior doors for cold weather, hot weather, and everything in between.

Cold

The best exterior doors for cold weather are well-insulated ones. When choosing a door for the cold, look for fiberglass insulated doors, solid wood doors, metal insulated doors, and other heat-trapping materials. Check the frame for any gaps and leaks, too: you want to make sure there's an air-tight seal around the door at all times. If you're also concerned about things like hail damage (which often come hand-in-hand with cold weather), consider installing a storm door, too. A storm door is a protective door in front of your existing door, that will protect it from damage. Feel free to ask one of our experts about installing and finding the best exterior doors for cold weather in your area.

Heat

Like cold weather, you want a well-insulated door to keep out heat. However, you may also want to install a screen door. During those hot, humid days, a screen door gives you the option of opening up your main door and letting air flow through. Metal doors don't perform great in the heat. Metal captures heat and keeps it in, and metal will often be hot to the touch. Consider wood or fiberglass doors instead if heat is a major concern.

Humidity

As with heat, the best door for humidity is going to be a screen door. You can install both a screen door and a storm door to protect from the elements. Keep the storm door closed during bad weather, and open up to the screen door when you need to let the humidity out. Wooden doors tend to perform poorly in areas that have high humidity, because they do swell during humid weather. If you do want a wood door, make sure it's a solid, hard wood, as these swell less frequently. Otherwise, a metal door or a fiberglass door will retain its shape and size regardless of the weather.

Direct Sunlight

Is the sunlight beating down on your door? Consider a fiberglass, insulated door. A fiberglass door is going to be long-lasting and resist sun damage, while wood may weather, and metal will get hot. Avoid doors that have glass in them if your door is frequently in direct sun, or make sure the glass is properly treated and insulated. A mostly glass entryway door is definitely not a good choice for direct sunlight. (Though, if you adore the look of glass, stained glass can limit the amount of light that comes in.)

Professional Installation

Regardless of the type of door you want, you need professional installation. Hanging a door is more complex than it might seem: doors need to be perfectly hung if they are going to insulate your home from the weather. There are many styles and materials of door to choose from, and not all are suited to all environments. A professional can review your home's environment and help you pick out the perfect door for you. Exterior Medics can help you choose the right door for your needs and your style. Contact Exterior Medics today for a consultation and a quote.

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What's the rough opening for a 30 door?

32″ wide Now all you need to know is how to properly frame your door rough opening. So, if you have a bedroom door that is 30″ wide (which is considered a 2/6 or 2′-6″ door) just add 2″ to the width and frame it 32″ wide.

ezhangdoor.com - Door Rough Opening Sizes and Charts - EZ-Hang Door

Why Does the Opening Need to be Bigger than the Door and its Frame? Three Reasons: 1. Room to adjust the door and the frame in the opening. Wall framing is called rough framing for a reason. Not all rough openings are completely plumb and square. Leaving this extra space allows you to perfectly plumb, level and square your door installation. 2. Next, not all doors are exactly the same size. The sizes of the door will vary by manufacturer. Normally this isn’t much, but if your rough opening was tight, or exactly the size of the door and the jamb, you may not get the door to function properly without having room to adjust. 3. Finally, this leaves room for expansion and contraction of the wall. Yes, your wall gets bigger and smaller as the seasons change. It does this by taking on moisture when it’s humid outside and shrinks when temperature and humidity levels drop. Again, we are talking about small amounts, sometimes less than 1/16″ of an inch, but this can be enough to make that once perfectly fitting door start to stick, rub on the frame or not latch properly.

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