Choosing the right balcony or patio door is a challenging task for both home owners and interior designers. First of all, because they must have a large degree of glazing, but at the same time be safe, durable, made of high-quality materials, and also correspond to a certain style so as not to disturb the design of both the rooms and the facade of the house.
In this article we will tell you how to choose the right balcony and terrace doors. We will consider all the pros and cons of each option, and also talk about design and insulation options for such doors.
Doors to the terrace and balcony. What are their differences from ordinary ones?
Perhaps every homeowner dreams of a large terrace overlooking the hills, a flowing river, or simply picturesque meadows still untouched by man. Unfortunately, realizing such a dream is not so easy, and not everyone can afford it. If the view from your home is completely different, there is no reason to despair. Even on a small plot, you can create a beautiful garden, create a small park or flower garden and admire them from the windows of your home.
You can admire the beautiful view not only from the windows, but also from the doors. Modern balcony and terrace doors can be a pleasant and elegant addition to both the design of your rooms and the façade of your home.
Any balcony or terrace starts with a door, they will also be a window into these rooms, so it’s worth thinking about what they will be like: what size, design, how to open, what materials, etc.
You can choose wide doors that will open along the entire length of the wall and create a feeling of more space in the house. Or you can choose small ones - they will cost less, will transmit less heat and will create a more comfortable and intimate atmosphere when entering your terrace or balcony.
Of course, how you arrange your balcony or terrace depends primarily on you, but designers recommend keeping them in the same style as the rest of the house.
Once you have decided on the size and design, you also need to think about choosing the right material from which the balcony door will be made. Unlike traditional doors, it must be a durable, wear-resistant and heat-insulating material.
You should not skimp on the choice of material for a terrace door, otherwise you will sooner or later be faced with the “other side of the coin” of such savings: high bills for heating the house or frequent failure of the door due to poor performance in an aggressive natural environment: strong winds , precipitation and temperature changes.
The most popular and practical materials for balcony and plastic doors are PVC plastic (polyvinyl chloride) and solid wood. Of course, not all types of wood are suitable for external doors (we’ll talk about this later).
As you can see: the differences between balcony and terrace doors are not only in appearance. Let's now take a closer look at what needs to be taken into account when choosing such a door.
Tree
Much more popular among summer residents is fencing terraces made of wood: boards, slats, logs and beams.
- Firstly, this material is cheaper.
- Secondly, it is easy to process.
- Thirdly, it does not involve wet work.
- Fourthly, it has enormous artistic potential.
The only point in which the board loses to brick or concrete is durability. But you’re not planning to build a family castle, but a terrace? And therefore, the five to fifteen years declared behind the tree will be quite enough for you.
But let's talk better about design. After all, all these non-letters will not be worth the time spent on them if the wooden fences for the terrace are not to your liking.
Cross to cross
A simple and effective type of wooden palisades, which, in addition to being barrier and decorative, also performs a structural function, acting as diagonals for a canopy located on the terrace.
The starting material is a beam connected in half a tree, and it is used for slanting, handrails, and vertical supports. Although the latter can also be stone structures.
Popular articles Description of the Siberian iris variety Concord Crush
Ranch
Another simple, but no less beautiful type of wooden railing is the ranch style fencing. It consists of supports and horizontally located bars or boards. It is not particularly rigid, but it looks solid and presentable. In the twenty-first century there is a strong trend towards simple solutions.
Classic
Classic fences include fences that have balusters in their design. The latter can have an elaborate rectangular shape, or they can be turned on a carpentry machine. In some cases, balusters are cut from boards and slats.
This design is popular in colonial and American architectural styles and is not used in the construction of modern cottages.
Net
A grid pattern fencing is popular in a variety of rustic styles. It can be either oblique or orthodox, but in any case it is made of slats, but not boards or, especially, beams. It attracts owners with its airiness.
Log house
Lovers of log huts will appreciate the fence for the terrace in the “Loghouse” style. It is made from rounded logs according to the same principle that the entire house is built. And it can be either monolithic or have decorative inserts that visually unload the structure, making it less massive. Judging by the market value of the log, this is not the cheapest type of fence.
Wattle
If you are not attracted by the process of installing balusters on your terrace and are generally reluctant to spend money on fencing, you can weave a fence from a vine, as our ancestors did. Well, or follow the traditions of the Swiss and build an alpine wicker from boards. It looks very original.
Palisade
The palisade also migrated into terrace construction from the Middle Ages, only today it has only formal stylistic features, which are expressed in vertically installed wooden elements, but instead of massive logs, modern designers use deck boards. And this is what the result of such creativity looks like in practice.
It is clear that the height of such railings on the terrace cannot be regulated by any standards or templates.
In general, wooden terrace railings always look fresh and natural, but require constant and regular maintenance. Without varnishing and tinting, various oils and impregnations, natural material quickly loses its appearance.
Opening method
The way a balcony or terrace door opens is extremely important not only in terms of design, but also in terms of ease of use. Typically there are two options:
- doors that open into the house;
- and doors that open outwards onto a terrace or balcony.
When choosing doors that open inward, you need to take into account that there is enough space for them to open freely. As practice shows, people usually think about this moment last, but in vain. If the area of the rooms adjacent to the balcony and terrace is small, such a door will “eat up” it even more. You won't be able to put a chest of drawers, a closet or anything else next to it. In this case, it is recommended to choose a door with an outward opening or a sliding option.
Guide location
Many people are interested in what is the principle of installing a glass door on a veranda? For the functioning of sliding structures, special fittings are required: rails (guides) and rollers for them.
Depending on their location, the structures are produced:
- Only with top guide. This type allows you to create lighter systems, including frameless ones. In this case there will be no threshold at all.
- With two guides (top and bottom). This type of door provides better sealing, protection from noise and cold. The lower guide is practically recessed into the floor, so the threshold is minimal.
The rails are made of aluminum and can be painted in any color if necessary. Sliding doors are useful for arranging not only a terrace connected to a private house, but also for a separate gazebo.
Door design
Correctly selected balcony doors can completely change your interior. Good doors can make the design of your home more sophisticated and elegant, add visual depth to rooms and optically increase its area, which is especially important for small houses and apartments in block houses (townhouses).
In addition, you need to consider that the design of balcony doors should match the style of your home. So, for example, white wooden or plastic doors with a patterned pattern will fit perfectly into the Scandinavian style of the interior and make it more expressive and complete. In addition, you can also retrofit them with white wooden blinds, which will give your interior an even more Scandinavian flair.
Foundation
For a light frame wooden building, you can make a columnar, strip, screw pile, rubble or rubble concrete foundation.
A column foundation is the most economical option for a frame wooden veranda. To erect it, columns are made at the corners of the veranda and in gaps at a distance of 50-60 cm. The columns can be made of brick or blocks, or they can also be poured with concrete. For the pillars, dig holes about 1 m deep, but not less than the depth of the house foundation, and pour a sand or crushed stone cushion 20 cm thick into them. The sand is compacted, a small layer of concrete is poured and brick or block pillars are laid out.
To make concrete columns, asbestos-cement pipes or roofing felt rolled into a tube are lowered into the pits, reinforcement is placed in this formwork and concrete is poured. The gap between the post and the soil is filled with sand.
Important! All supports of a columnar foundation must be leveled, this is done using a level. They are made with a height equal to the height of the foundation (basement) of the house
Between the brick and the subfloor joists, waterproofing is laid, for example, two layers of roofing felt. The foundation is made at such a height that there is approximately 30 cm left to the finished floor.
Door color
The choice of color for the balcony door is also an important criterion. It is better to choose a door leaf color that matches or is combined with other colors of your interior.
For example, for a wooden house it is best to choose doors in natural wood colors: yellow, beige, brown. For brick: brown, gray, orange. For a house made of foam blocks: white, gray or corresponding to the color of the facade.
Single-field models
These models are installed on terraces quite often.
Opening can be carried out according to the principle of a single-sash window, or using a tilt-and-turn mechanism. For models of this type, there is a restriction on the dimensions of the canvas - no more than 240 x 160 cm. The design is equipped with fittings that provide additional protection against burglary .
The fittings for a single-leaf terrace door include:
- latch equipped with a handle on the outside;
- opening function limiter;
- a lock that allows you to hold the door in an inclined position, eliminating the possibility of slamming;
- adjustable tilt mechanism with angle adjustment in different positions.
A mandatory attribute of any door to the terrace is a locking mechanism that prevents the handle from occupying the wrong position. As a result, opening the front door will not displace the locking pins with the handle. Neither a draft nor any other situation will allow the door to close spontaneously, and the frame will not be damaged by the pin.
Door material
In principle, balcony or terrace doors are made from the same materials as windows, i.e. mainly made of wood and PVC. Plus aluminum. Although the latter is not yet very popular among homeowners due to its high price and ambiguous practical qualities (aluminum is a soft metal, it is easily deformed and scratched).
The same cannot be said about PVC balcony doors - they are characterized by high strength, as well as a long service life - up to 40-50 years, without the need for additional maintenance. They do not require painting, and their durability depends mainly on the color of the window frame. Balcony doors are considered to be the most durable in bright shades of white and ivory. In contrast, dark colors are the least durable.
Balcony and terrace doors made of wood will cost an order of magnitude more. Although the difference in cost will depend on the type of wood. The main species from which wooden doors are made are:
- pine;
- Red tree;
- and oak.
The best doors are those with frames and door frames made of oak or mahogany. This is because it is a hard type of wood that is resistant to deformation and weather conditions, but the disadvantage of these materials is the relatively high price.
On the contrary, pine doors will cost much less. And today this is the most popular type of wooden balcony doors. However, when choosing such products, pay attention to the quality of the wood - it should be of the highest grade with regular grain, without knots or fillers.
Installation
The installation of patio doors should be carried out by specialists, but you can install them yourself. So, if you need to mount a sliding PVC system, then its top and bottom are equipped with profiles to which mounting brackets are provided. A solid frame is installed in the opening, attached on all sides using self-tapping screws. Sliding plastic elements are connected to each other with a threaded tie. When installing packages to the full height of the wall, the posts are attached to concrete to strengthen them.
At the final stage of installation, plugs are installed into the hole on the profile, and the distance between the wall and the door is filled with foam. Next, the sliding system guides are attached. When installing panels of a sliding plastic structure, they must be attached to the upper guide, matched and then placed on the lower part of the guide.
During installation, it is important to install the elements horizontally, otherwise the sliding mechanism will be disrupted.
When installing aluminum systems, you need to stock up on specialized tools. The opening must be leveled before installation. The frames are placed in a horizontal position and fixed with anchors. Next, using polyurethane foam, you should ensure the tightness of the space at the junction of the wall and the profile. After assembling the basic structure, the installation of door compartments and fittings begins.
There are two or three rollers at the bottom of the sashes, and their ends are equipped with a brush seal, which prevents dirt from appearing in the room and reduces the level of street sounds. After such preparation, they are mounted into runners, placing them in the upper part of the guide and lowering them onto the lower part. Finally, check the level of the position of the canvases.
Door dimensions
The length, width and height of the balcony door can be any - it all depends on your taste and the capabilities of your home design.
If you love light and space in your rooms, then you should think about a balcony door with wide walls, connected to spacious windows, due to which a lot of sunlight will enter your rooms, allowing you to visually enlarge the room and combine the space of the garden and living area.
However, of course, you need to take into account: the larger the size of the balcony door, the higher its price. Especially when it comes to non-standard sizes.
Why you shouldn't save on windows for your veranda
Glazing a terrace is cheap - a short-lived and definitely “summer” option. Sometimes it is so short-lived that the glazing has to be replaced after the first winter.
You should not save on windows for the veranda, as well as on installation work (a lot depends on quality installation). Especially if you plan to use the extension all year round.
There is also a flip side to the coin: a warm PVC double-glazed window can be deformed during frosts if it is cold on the veranda. So it is better not to use it in unheated summer cottages that are empty in winter.
But in general, when choosing between film, cold sliding windows, single-glass structures and sliding/hinged PVC, wooden Euro-windows, portals or premium class frameless glazing, it is better to buy more expensive but high-quality windows.
There are also some nuances here. Warm profiles for verandas are usually made solid or hinged. Finding an affordable sliding option of decent quality is more difficult. And Slidors sliding models, although they are not much more expensive than cold aluminum, are actually not that “warm”.
High-quality warm hinged plastic windows for the veranda can be purchased cheaper directly from the manufacturer. Of course, in terms of cost they cannot be compared with single glass joinery or film. But in the long term they clearly win. In addition, due to their tightness, such systems effectively protect the extension from bad weather and other negative factors.
But solid warm glazing of terraces and verandas can be purchased at an affordable price. But, as mentioned above, the veranda/terrace needs to be ventilated often, because this is the place of maximum contact with nature. To feel close to nature and in a comfortable environment, order warm sliding / swing systems like portals. At first glance, they cannot be called an inexpensive option. But having paid once, you will not have to invest money, effort and time on repairs and replacement of structures. The same can be said about frameless glazing, adding that from the point of view of heat conservation, it is still inferior to warm floor-to-ceiling windows made of wooden or PVC profiles. But it creates a complete illusion of being in nature.
To save space on the veranda/terrace, you can install accordion windows. But this option in general is afraid of strong wind loads. So if you order such windows, do not skimp on profiles, fittings and professional installation.
A good way to save money is to order glazing on sale or out of season.
Thermal insulation
Previously on our website we wrote about the disadvantages of large windows. And the main problem is heat leakage. Large balcony and terrace doors are no exception. You need to understand that the larger the door glazing area, the higher its heat transfer coefficient Uw - that is, the more heat will leave the house during the heating season.
Fortunately, in recent years, many door manufacturers have become seriously concerned about their thermal insulation parameters. There are even models with energy-saving glass, profiles and even special spacer frames in the glass.
The quality of thermal insulation of a door depends, first of all, on the glazing method. The warmest glass terrace doors are made from several layers of glass, onto which additional films are applied, which increase thermal resistance and reduce heat loss.
In addition, the level of thermal insulation of balcony doors and windows is affected not only by the type of glazing, but also by the material from which the frame is made and the way it is connected to the glass. In general, wooden balcony doors have fairly high thermal insulation and in this indicator are practically not inferior to plastic models. However, PVC doors practically eliminate the appearance of cracks and crevices during operation, which allows them to be considered a warmer option.
Did you find this article helpful? Please share it on social networks: Don't forget to bookmark the Nedvio website. We talk about construction, renovation, and country real estate in an interesting, useful and understandable way.
Features of the sliding design
The plastic sliding door to the veranda does not have a good seal, and is used mainly in the summer. In winter, it will not retain heat in the room, but in summer it is simply irreplaceable, because it will protect against wind, dust, rain and other negative weather conditions. Therefore, for capital verandas it is better to give preference to the use of glass.
The sliding design has many advantages:
- Cheap option when compared with insulated structures;
- It has fairly thin profiles and therefore does not block the entire view from the terrace or veranda;
- The design is easy to install because it is lightweight;
- Allows you to make the doors wide enough.
If the decision was made to install a sliding structure where the winter garden is located, then you will have to purchase a warm version of the doors, and they will cost much more than a cold one. In order for sliding glass doors for a terrace or veranda to serve for a long time, several times a year it is necessary to clean all the grooves where debris and dust get in with a vacuum cleaner.
