While protecting your exterior doors is important all year round, it becomes even more essential over the winter period. With wind, rain, cold and maybe even snow knocking against your exterior doors over the cold season, it’s important to make sure they can take it.
Properly preparing your doors for harsh weather conditions, hot or cold, will extend their life, saving you money, and ensure that your home is energy efficient.
Install an Overhang
A long-term solution for protecting your exterior doors is to install an overhang. The overhang should extend the same distance as half the length of the space between the base of the door and the bottom of the overhang. The advantage of this method is that it keeps the rain and snow from coming in direct contact with the door during winter. In summer it also prevents the sun from fading the colour of your door and damaging the finish.
An overhand is particularly recommended if you have wooden exterior doors, as these are damaged more easily.
A plus point for the overhang is that they can also look rather attractive and improve the aesthetics of your home.
Storm Doors
If you are facing really extreme winters you might want to consider a storm door. While not always the most attractive additions to a home, storm doors will effectively protect your door from damage.
Choice of Colour
As already mentioned, sunlight can cause the colour of your door to fade. It can also damage the finish, which leaves the door more vulnerable to deterioration from other factors, such as rain. A way to mitigate the effects of sunlight is to choose a light colour to paint your door.
A light colour will also reduce the amount of heat absorbed by your door. Heat absorption can also cause deterioration in extreme conditions and is best avoided. For example, heat can cause your door to warp or become difficult to open as the door sticks in the frame.
Have you found an innovative way to protect your exterior doors from extreme weather damage? Get in touch; we’d love to hear about it!
