May 17 2019 0Comment
french doors

All You Need to Know About French Doors

French doors are an excellent solution for your home if you need a functional and beautiful door leading to your outdoor living space.

French doors will not only give you great functionality and aesthetic appeal, but they will also provide you with excellent protection and provide you with great amounts of natural light. Read on to find out what French doors exactly are and what are some of the main benefits they will bring you.

What Are French Doors?

French doors are a specific type of doors that are made almost entirely out of glass. This means that they are made out of panels of glass, which can be in several different sizes and that are placed in between the door frames. The frames, on the other hand, are made out of wood, aluminium, steel, fibreglass or UPVC.

French doors usually come in pairs and they can be of many different styles, types, colours, and sizes. The main distinction we can mention here is that there are interior and exterior French doors.

Interior French doors are used to divide different rooms or parts of rooms. They are very often used when two rooms are linked, but nowadays they have also found a bit more non-traditional uses, such as in bathrooms, dividing the showers, baths, etc.

One of the most common uses of French doors, on the other hand, is as the exterior doors, leading to the patio, backyard, garden, and other outside places and living spaces around your home. They are not very commonly used as front doors due to their transparency.

The glass panels on these types of doors can also come in various different forms. A French door can consist of a single long glass pane that stretches from top to bottom, but they can also be in the form of several smaller glass panes between smaller frames, resembling windows.

A quality French door can provide your home with excellent protection, a lot of natural light, as well as greater energy efficiency. Contrary to what some people may believe, French doors are extremely durable and resistant, very hard to break or to break into, and they will be one of the best investments and additions to your home.

What Is the Difference Between French and Patio Doors?

Many homeowners probably wonder what the difference is between a patio door and an (exterior) French door. Some even think that they are the same types of doors but with different names. However, there is a significant difference.

The most important distinction is that a patio door typically comes in the form of sliding doors, i.e. you can open them by sliding them to the side, as opposed to a French door, which is typically opened inwards or outwards (most commonly outwards).

Patio doors are, therefore, installed on a type of a metal track that allows them to slide from side to side. French doors, on the other hand, are installed on hinges that allow them to be open inwardly and outwardly.

Main Benefits of French Doors

Apart from being a very practical entryway from your home into your garden, patio, backyard, balcony, or any other outdoor space you have, a French door will also provide you with numerous other benefits. Some of the best ones include:

Increased Curb Appeal and Home Value

French doors can come in many different colours, styles, as well as materials, which means that you can match them perfectly to your existing exterior, to the architectural style of your home, to the colours, garden, etc.

Your home will look amazing and your aesthetic appeal will be significantly increased, which usually means that the overall value of your property will also be increased. Adding that to the rest of the amazing benefits leads to a higher asking price for your home if you decide to sell it sometime in the future.

Better Energy Efficiency

As opposed to the patio doors that we mentioned earlier in the text, French doors will provide you with great energy efficiency precisely due to the fact that they are not installed on tracks like patio doors, but in door frames.

Apart from that, the glass that the panels on the doors consist of is low-emissive, it is usually double and triple-glazed, the frames often come reinforced with galvanised steel, they are weatherised and draught-proof.

All these features allow your home to waste much less energy as less air will escape you home, lees air will seep through the doors, which means that your air conditioning and heating needs will decrease. Your home will generally have a more comfortable indoor temperature and you will see a decrease in your monthly energy bill.

Resilient, Sturdy, and Safe

One of the common myths and misconceptions about French doors is that they are not strong enough and that the fact that they are made from glass makes them weak and easy to break through. This, however, is very far from the truth.

French doors nowadays are extremely sturdy, resistant, and safe solutions for your home, especially due to new technologies that have allowed for an evolved and strong hardware, longer hinges and latch plates, as well as impact-resistant and durable glass that comes double and triple glazed.

French doors are very tough, tougher even than many types of traditional exterior doors. They are resilient and can withstand very harsh weather and natural disasters and are very often even rated against fire and impact. With a French door on your home, you will have a strong, beautiful, efficient and practical entryway solution.

Conclusion

French doors offer homeowners extremely practical and efficient solutions that will not only increase the aesthetic beauty of their homes but also increase the levels of safety, energy-efficiency, and functionality. These doors are among the safest and most resistant and resilient types of doors that come in various different styles and colours.

This means that any home can find a type of French doors that suits their style, needs, and wishes. If you, too, want a quality and durable door solution, contact your best French doors installers in Dublin and get the best exterior doors for your home.