Hurricane impact entry doors help to provide improved safety and security as well as a quick improvement to your home’s curb appeal. When choosing which door is right for your home, there is more to consider than just the style. 

Overhangs

One of the first determining factors in your entry door shopping journey will be to determine if you have an overhang and if so, measuring its length. This is vital to know what type of door you can get since overhangs are necessary for certain wood and pivot doors.  

For these doors, you are required to have an overhang that is a distance, at minimum, equal or greater to the height between the sill of the door the base of the overhang (see below illustration). This is to prevent both sun and water damage to wood doors. For pivot doors, this is to prevent water intrusion since they do not have a water-rated sill.

Door Types

Once you determine the coverage of your overhang, now you are able to choose what kind of Entry Door you would like. There are 2 basic door types for an entry: Swinging Doors and Pivot Doors.

Swinging Doors are available as single or double doors and can be paired with sidelites depending on the size of your opening. This is the standard type of entry door for a home.

Pivot Doors operate on a special hidden hinge that does not need to be on the side edge of the door panel. Pivot hinges can be as far in on the panel as 50% of the width. Pivot doors are increasing in popularity for those wanting a very modern-looking entry, so long as the overhang requirement is met on the home.  

 Door Material

The final decision to make is what material your door should be. Fiberglass is the most popular option for swing doors, while aluminum is popular for swing doors and is the material Pivot doors are available in. Wood is an elegant choice and will require much more maintenance than fiberglass and aluminum. Wood is also only available for homes with the appropriate size overhang.

Glass

There are many glass options available, including privacy glass, decorative glass, glass with enclosed mini-blinds, and even glass with 100% custom designs.


Special Considerations for Commercial Properties

If you plan to replace the entry door on a commercial property, especially those open to the public, there are 2 main determinations to make before moving forward with choosing a door. It must be determined if you are required (or choose to have) panic hardware for the door and/or an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant saddle threshold.

There are 3 determining factors in the Florida Building Code for whether panic hardware is required on the front door of your commercial property. First, is the door a designated primary egress point? Second, does the building house hazardous materials? Lastly, for general gathering places, what is the occupant load of the building? If you are required to do so, several of our commercial storefront doors can be outfitted with panic hardware.

ADA compliant thresholds are available on all entry doors we offer. These thresholds, also called saddle thresholds, are required in the following buildings:

  • All local, county, state, and federal government agencies.
  • Any business that relies on the general public or for their benefit.
  • Privately run companies that currently have 15 or more employees.
  • Non-profit and charitable organizations which either have 15 or more employees or which operate for the benefit of the general public.

(Source: ADA Solutions)

Upgrading to an impact entry door is a great way to protect not just from hurricanes, but also keep out intruders and prevent other damage. To get an estimate on an impact entry door, request a free estimate or call our office at 561-623-8446.