When you’re designing the interior of your business, you have a lot of choices for your doors. Choosing the right door for your entrance and interior rooms may be a more important consideration than you realize. The right doors offer protection, sound-proofing, visibility, fire protection, or whatever your goal might be. The wrong doors can hinder more than they help. So which one should you pick?
The three major types of doors
The three major types of doors are glass doors, metal doors, and commercial wood doors. Of these, glass doors are typically the most expensive, metal doors offer the best combination of value and cost as well as protection, and wooden doors have the most elegant look and best sound-proofing.
Pros and cons of each type
Glass doors: Glass doors look great. Architects tend to prefer glass doors for their good looks, and glass doors also give you great visibility. They can make meeting rooms seem larger or provide an inviting way for customers to look through into your business.
The first downside of glass doors is fairly obvious: they can break. You should look for double glass doors or those with thicker frames to provide the best protection against shattering. Glass doors can also be fairly high maintenance and require daily cleaning. Lastly, if you have a glass door on the front of your business, it’s important that the inside always looks inviting.
Metal doors: Metal doors are typically hollow inside and offer good security. They are also usually easy to modify, meaning you can put signs on them or run cables and wires through them without compromising security. They are also the best doors in a fire and most can hold back fire and high temps for as long as 90 minutes.
The major downside to metal doors is their appearance. They don’t offer a very pleasing aesthetic, and as the paint or coating on them begins to fade, they are more difficult to maintain than other types of doors. These are also heavy doors and can be prone to rusting.
Wood doors: Wooden doors are the least common type of commercial door you’ll find, but there are some good reasons to consider them. They can lend a significant air of sophistication to an office. If you want the option to make a room private, putting shades over the glass walls and installing a wooden door is a great way to accomplish this. Wooden doors are also the most insulating.
Wooden doors do need maintenance. They need to be painted and coated to make sure they don’t swell up or shrink. Over time they can crack and chip more easily than metal, and if there are any moisture issues in your building, this can wreak havoc with the wood.
When to use each type of door
As you design your office, it’s important to keep your goals for each room in mind.
Using glass doors: Glass doors makes an inviting entrance to your place of business if it’s located within a more secure building. Glass doors also work well for meeting rooms where you need to make it clear when the room is in use.
Using metal doors: Metal doors make the most secure choice for rooms that need to stay private and items that need to be protected. They also make safe exterior doors. If your place of business has areas with fire hazards, or you need to comply with fire codes, metal doors may be the best choice.
Using wooden doors: Wooden doors are an excellent choice for providing a feeling of gravitas and professionalism that other doors can’t offer. They are also a good choice when you need privacy but not necessarily the robust security of a metal door. For soundproof rooms, wood is also the best choice.