Exterior French doors are a great addition to your home and are available in a variety of styles. French doors are often used allowing access into the garden or onto a patio. Usually these doors have full height glazed panels but other glazing options can include a combination of solid panels and glazed panels. In addition full height glazed panels are quite often divided into smaller glass panels.
Exterior French door sets are made from different materials such as:
- Wood
- uPVC
- Aluminium
Wooden French doors can be in hardwood, such as oak doors and mahogany doors. Treated and painted softwood is also an option. Hardwood and oak door are usually stained to take advantage of the natural beautiful wood grains. Softwood type are usually treated with an anti rot treatment and then painted to a chosen colour. Prefinished doors from the factory are recommended as a high standard of finish will be provided and they will not need repainting for many years.
Nowadays exterior wood French door frames are not made form solid timbers. Doors made this way in the past had a tendency to swell and contract depending of the environmental conditions. This constant movement meant that the doors did not fit properly making them draughty. Modern doors are engineered which involves cutting up the timber framing material into strips. The strips are rearranged so that the grains of each strip is opposing its neighbour and then glued back together using a high temperature and pressure process. The result is a perfect bond. A hardwood door made in this way will be stable and therefore long wearing.
Example of wooden French doors
PVC Doors
PVC (or sometimes referred to uPVC or PVCu) French exterior door sets are very popular and offer a low maintenance solution for many years. There are numerous building products manufactured from uPVC (which stands for Unplasticised Poly Vinyl Chloride) including windows and doors. Years ago PVC French doors, entry doors and windows etc. were only available in white but nowadays, with modern manufacturing techniques. a full array of colours are available, together with photo-effect wood finish used as a substitute for a wooden finish.
Example of PVC French doors
Wooden effect finish include oak, mahogany cherrywood and rosewood (see below)
Range of uPVC colours
Aluminium French doors are definitely a great choice. White is the standard colour; however there is also a huge range of different colours to choose from. Aluminium is strong and therefore suitable for extra wide French doors if required. The doors incorporate polyamide thermal break to improve the thermal efficiency of the framing.
Example of aluminium French doors
Glazing for French Doors
Due to the large panes of glass found in an exterior French patio door safety is very important. French doors incorporate double glazed units that must include safety glass. The glass can be either:
Laminated glass – this glass incorporates two panes with a thin layer of clear plastic film in between. Should the pane be broken the plastic will maintain the integrity of the pane reducing the risk of injury.
Toughened glass – A tempering process produces glass that is much stronger than standard glass and if broken it will shatter into small blunt pieces again reducing injury.
You may be interested in reading more on UPVC French doors.
You might find something also interesting in mahogany exterior doors. A wooden exterior door is something special on the front of your home.
With French doors there is a lot of glass which may present a security issue. If you are worried about your security and want to upgrade, then exterior metal doors may be an ideal solution as the entrance doors to your house or business. Exterior steel doors are completely made from galvanized steel and very difficult to break through.