Types of Doors
We are so used to using doors for privacy, safety, and warmth. From internal doors into the living room to external doors to prevent unwanted access, you would be hard-pressed to get through the day without using a door!
But where did the concept of doors come from? The idea of the door dates back to prehistoric times when humans used stones or animal skins to shield their living space from the outside elements or predators. Thanks to the advancements in metalwork, doors became more robust and manoeuvrable during the Iron Age. Then, as we moved into the Middle Ages, carpenters started to design doors to stand the test of time.
The inspiration for door designs has come worldwide, from intricate detailing in China to large medieval European designs.
Over the years, different door styles have evolved and different types of door have been in fashion at certain points. If you are searching for inspiration on your next door purchase, we have created this guide to help you find the perfect door type for your space. So whether you are looking for a fire door or bifold doors, read on to see the options available.
French Doors
French doors are elegant, with large glass panes across most of their length. They are typically installed as a pair rather than a single door. French doors are sometimes referred to as French windows due to their extensive glazing and ability to open up spaces like large windows.
French doors originated in France during the 16th and 17th centuries, when Renaissance architectural ideas were highly influential. Inspired by the emphasis on symmetry, proportion, and natural light, this design featured large glass panes set within a lightweight frame. The French found this style ideal for introducing brightness and a sense of balance to interiors, which is why these doors became widely associated with French design and earned their name.
Why Choose French Doors?
French doors are a fabulous addition to any home, combining style and practicality. Available in a range of materials, they provide various benefits. The wide-open design of French doors makes it easy to transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. They connect your home to a garden or patio, allowing you to enjoy an open, airy atmosphere, especially on warm summer days. French doors open outward, so preserve your indoor space. This feature makes them ideal for smaller rooms or spaces where maximising interior space is important. The classic design of French doors improves the visual appeal of any room. Their large glass panels flood interiors with natural light, creating a bright, inviting atmosphere.
Bi Folding Doors
Bifold doors or folding doors slide open and are made of multiple panels that fold neatly against the wall like a concertina. While conventional single-leaf doors are a common choice for many modern homes, they can be impractical when you are looking to optimise space. Bifold doors offer a more unique alternative, opening from the centre to provide full access and a clear view in one motion.
With options for both internal bifold doors and external bifold doors, they can be used inside and outside the home, making them highly versatile. They’re a popular choice for:
Connecting indoor and outdoor spaces: This is ideal for transitioning to a garden, patio, or conservatory.
Room dividers are perfect for splitting larger rooms without sacrificing an open and airy feel.
Maximising smaller spaces: Commonly used for pantries, laundry rooms, or wardrobes.
With their flexibility and functionality, bifold doors are a great choice if you are looking to improve both style and practicality.
Features of Bifold Doors
Folding Mechanism: The panels fold in or out and stack against the wall, maximising usable space.
Traffic Door: Many bifold door setups include a single operational panel for easy daily use without fully opening the entire system.
Glazed Panels: Large glass panels allow plenty of natural light to enter, making them an excellent choice for brightening interiors.
Durable Materials: Bifold doors come in various materials, such as timber, aluminium, and uPVC, to suit different styles and needs. Timber doors provide a classic, elegant aesthetic, while aluminium options are durable and modern.
Internal vs. External Bifold Doors
Internal bifold doors are often used for smaller spaces and wardrobes or to divide rooms while maintaining an open feel. Typically, external bi-fold doors are found at the back of the home, connecting indoor living areas to outdoor spaces. External bifold doors are built to withstand harsh weather conditions, ensuring longevity.
Customising Your Bifold Doors
Bifold doors come in various colours, finishes, and materials to match your home's style. From warm, natural timber to sleek aluminium designs, a bifold door suits every preference. Whether you are looking for an elegant indoor solution or a robust outdoor connection, bifold doors provide functionality and beauty, enhancing your living spaces in multiple ways.
Stable Doors
A stable door, often called a Dutch door, is divided into two sections. The top and bottom halves can open and close independently. This innovative design provides flexibility, more often than not for an external door option, allowing for ventilation through the open top section while keeping the bottom section closed for added privacy and security.
This distinctive design makes stable doors a popular alternative to sliding patio doors, offering functionality and charm.
Benefits of Choosing a Stable Door
Versatility
The standout benefit of a stable door is its duel function. Homeowners can open the top half to improve airflow—perfect for warm summer days—while keeping the bottom half closed to maintain security and privacy or to prevent children or pets from wandering outside.
Visual Appeal
Stable doors add character and charm to a home, with a blend of functionality and aesthetics. Available in various colours, materials, and styles, they complement various architectural designs, making them a great choice for traditional and modern homes.
Stable doors come in several types to suit different needs and preferences:
Solid Stable Doors
These doors are solid without glass panels, offering excellent insulation and a classic, rustic look, ideal for colder climates.
Glazed Stable Doors
With glass panels on either the top or bottom section, glazed stable doors let in natural light, brightening your interior with all the charm of a stable door.
Stable doors are made from various materials, each with its advantages. Wooden stable doors add warmth and character. Composite stable doors offer excellent weather resistance, insulation, and longevity. They are made from a blend of materials, such as a timber core with a durable top layer.
Why Choose a Stable Door?
Stable doors merge both practicality and style. Whether you’re looking to add ventilation, improve security, or simply choose this style through choice, stable doors provide a charming solution that suits a variety of settings.
Fire Doors
Fire doors are essential to fire protection, designed to save lives and slow the spread of fire. The main purpose is to protect during fire emergencies by supporting safe escape and fire-fighting efforts. Fire doors are required in different settings, including residential buildings, public spaces, offices, and factories.
Key Functions of Fire Doors
Fire doors allow for safe exits and are designed to close automatically once released, helping contain the fire.
They act as a barrier against fire and smoke, ensuring that escape routes remain clear and safe/
Fire doors can help slow or stop the spread of fire by limiting the oxygen supply and buying critical time for escape.
Fire Resistance and Construction
Fire doors are built to stop the spread of fire for a specific duration, typically at least 30 minutes. This fire resistance provides time for occupants to escape and for emergency responders to manage the situation.
Fire Door Installation
For fire doors to perform effectively, they must be installed following the manufacturer’s instructions. Any variation or cut corner can reduce its ability to contain fire and smoke.
Fire doors are vital in protecting lives and property from fire. The correct design, construction, and installation are key to their effectiveness, making them necessary safety devices. Even though a fire door’s primary purpose is safety, it can still look appealing and stylish. Available in oak, walnut, and even with glazed options, you can choose a fire door to suit the aesthetics of your home.
Glazed Doors
A glazed door or a door with glass panels, is designed with one or more glass elements. These glass panels can vary in size, from small windows to full-length panes, and come in a range of finishes, including clear, frosted, tinted, or textured, catering to all preferences and functional needs.
Glazed doors are a versatile choice for both internal and external doors. They complement various interior design styles, from traditional to modern. Glass doors are typically used for entrance doors, patio doors, or decorative sidelights to enhance natural light.
Benefits of Glazed Doors
There are many benefits to choosing a full-glazed or half-glazed door.
Noise Reduction
Glazed doors are excellent at creating a sound barrier, effectively reducing noise between rooms. This makes them an ideal choice for:
Homes in busy or noisy locations
Spaces where privacy and quiet are essential, such as home offices, libraries, or bedrooms.
The type of glass used can impact the amount of soundproofing. Options such as double glazed or triple glazing can improve noise reduction.
Heat Retention and Energy Efficiency
Glazed doors contribute to your home’s insulation and energy efficiency. By allowing natural light to flood into the space, they reduce the need for artificial lighting during the day, helping to save energy.
Additionally, sunlight entering through the glass can naturally warm your interior, which is beneficial especially in the colder months. Glazed doors are available in many styles, from traditional wood-framed designs to sleek, modern aluminium finishes. Because they are so adaptable, they suit any home, whether as a grand entrance door, a stylish patio door, or a practical yet elegant interior room divider.
Sliding Doors
Sliding doors are commonly used to create a transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, offering natural light and, if you are lucky, great views. Whether installed as patio or balcony entrances, sliding doors provide quick access to outdoor areas, making them a practical yet stylish choice for modern living.
Their sleek design has made them a popular choice in homes. Sliding doors enhance a space's visual appeal and offer functionality and space saving, whether as room dividers, wardrobe doors, or exterior access points.
Why Choose Sliding Doors?
Sliding doors have many advantages, making them a preferred choice for many homeowners.
Space-Saving Design
Sliding doors don’t require swing clearance, making them ideal for smaller spaces. This allows for more choice with furniture placement and better use of floor space.
Views
Sliding doors can accommodate large glass panels, creating uninterrupted views of your outdoor space.
Natural Light
Glass sliding doors maximise the entry of natural light, brightening interiors and creating an inviting atmosphere. Whether overlooking a garden, a landscape, or a cityscape, sliding doors bring the outside in.
Indoor-Outdoor Flow
Sliding doors offer a smooth transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, increasing the connectivity of your home and garden. They’re perfect for entertaining and opening your living areas to patios, decking, or gardens.
Easy Operation
Designed to glide smoothly along their tracks, sliding doors are easy to open and close. Advanced systems improve functionality, allowing even heavy doors to glide on their tracks, making them accessible for users of all ages and abilities.
Energy Efficiency
Sliding doors with energy-efficient glass panels help improve insulation, reducing heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer. This can lead to savings on heating and cooling costs.
Stylish Versatility
Sliding doors can complement virtually any decor and are available in various materials, finishes, and designs. Choose from sleek, modern aluminium folding door designs for a contemporary look or classic wood finishes for a timeless aesthetic.
Why Choose Sliding Doors
As homeowners, we want to increasingly prioritise open spaces, natural light, and energy efficiency, because of this, sliding doors have emerged as a growing trend. They offer the perfect combination of style, practicality, and modern appeal.
Flush Doors
Flush doors are known for their sleek and minimalist design. They feature smooth, plain facings on both sides without any panelling or bevelling. Their clean and modern look makes them a popular choice for contemporary spaces.
Made with simplicity in mind, flush doors typically have a wooden frame covered by thin timber sheets, giving the appearance of a solid wooden door. The door's core often contains insulating materials like MDF, particleboard, or fire-retardant materials for added safety.
Benefits of Flush Doors
Flush doors are lightweight, easy to install, and provide a modern aesthetic.
Clean, Modern Aesthetic
Flush doors’ straight, flat design gives them a simple yet sophisticated look, ideal for modern spaces and contemporary interiors. While they may seem plain in traditional settings, their understated appearance can be complemented by decorative choices.
Lightweight and Easy Installation
Hollow-core flush doors are lightweight, making them simple to install and remove. This makes them a practical choice for temporary or low-priority installations.
Cost-Effective
Flush doors are economical to manufacture and purchase, making them an attractive choice for people who need to watch their budget. Their simplicity reduces production costs without sacrificing functionality.
Superior Insulation and Fireproofing
The solid core of a flush door enhances insulation, reducing heat transfer and noise pollution.
Solid-core flush doors can accommodate layers of fire-retardant materials that can be more challenging to incorporate into other door types, such as panel doors.
Flush Doors vs. Panel Doors
The primary difference between flush and panel doors is their construction and aesthetics.
Flush doors feature smooth, flat surfaces and are more straightforward to make, while panel doors have multiple panels, for a traditional look. While panel doors provide a classic and decorative appearance, flush doors excel in practicality, affordability, and modern appeal.
Flush doors offer an excellent balance of affordability and modern aesthetics. Whether you need a lightweight door for ease of installation or a robust, fire-resistant option for safety, flush doors provide a solution for various settings.
These are just some of the option available to you when you are considering door styles and preferences, there are many more options available to you. Whether you are looking for a bespoke door for an unusual size, or a pocket door to maximise your space, at Door Station we will have the solution. Speak to our team today if you cannot find what you are searching for, and we will be more than happy to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common door type?
The most common door type is the panel door, known for its timeless design. It features a frame with panels that can be raised, recessed, or flat, making it suitable for traditional and modern homes.
What is a door called with no panels?
A flush door is a door without panels. It has smooth, plain surfaces on both sides, offering a sleek, modern aesthetic.
What are vertical half doors called?
Vertical half doors are commonly referred to as stable doors or Dutch doors. They are divided horizontally into two sections, allowing the top and bottom halves to operate independently.
What are the different types of external doors?
External doors come in various types, including Panel, Glazed, Sliding, French, Bifold, and Stable Doors.
What type of door is best for direct sunlight?
A glazed door is an excellent option for letting direct sunlight into your space.
