Exterior double doors, also known as ‘French doors’ in most of the United States, are some of the most popular choices for exterior doors in virtually every type of home. Making great additions to your home as a front door(s) or any other entry door around your home, double doors are one of the most sought-after products by both custom designers and homeowners alike.
Here are a few of Northeast Architectural’s favorite reasons for installing a French door in your home:
Light
One of the top reasons homeowners opt for French doors is because of their ability to let a large amount of natural light into a room. Although a feature exclusive to those with windows or models fabricated predominantly out of glass, most double doors will provide a refreshing burst of nature into any room where they are installed
Not only do these doors bring in lots of sunlight, but they also act as an additional, particularly large window, making them a great choice for rear doors or balconies where the owner would like to look out onto their yards, patios, decks, and pools and experience all of the nature and scenery without needing to open the door and expose themselves to the elements or install an additional window.
Symmetry
Another thing that makes exterior double doors a great piece to include in your creative vision is their symmetry. Unlike other doors that are almost exclusively rectangular in shape, double doors can take on a multitude of shapes such as archways and squares.
Not only can these doors come in shapes usually unavailable for most other types of doors, their construction also allows for both doors to be opened in opposite directions like a box lid. This allows them to remain symmetrical regardless of if they are opened or closed, making them a great addition to symmetrical rooms or entranceways.
Size
In addition to their symmetrical construction, being composed of two separate doors which swing away from each other to open, this means the space that these doors can potentially occupy can be much larger than that of a traditional door.
Likewise, this allows for ease of opening that would otherwise be incredibly cumbersome to manage with a single swinging or sliding glass door of the same size because of the French door’s division of weight between two equal-sized doors.
Durability
Because exterior double doors rely on the same style of hinge hardware as most standard types of doors, they have much more longevity than sliding glass doors of the same size and with the same sunlight allowance or transparency.
In addition to being much less difficult to open and close, these hinges are oftentimes stronger and more durable than the rollers or sliding guides that sliding glass doors rely on to function. Likewise, the opening motion of pivoting on a hinge causes much less overall friction and therefore less wear and tear on the moving components than those of sliding doors of the same size.
In addition to their opening mechanisms, French doors are often composed of high-quality hardwoods such as knotty alder or hardy and lightweight metals such as stainless steel or aluminum. No matter if they are predominantly wooden doors or are glass doors with these materials as their structure, they are unanimously strong and durable.
Overall, exterior double doors can bring a lot of benefits to a home, which makes them an excellent addition to virtually every room.
If you would like to learn more about these beautiful pieces of hardware or are curious about how an industry pro like Northeast Architectural can help find the perfect French door to seamlessly fit into your vision, visit our website or give us a call at (732) 571.7321 to get started on making your dream home a reality!