In a way, even caves in the Southwest have some type of
thing that you could call a door. But, we're not taking that trip. We're going
to talk about doors in Las Vegas.
We like them to keep the critters at bay, perhaps even the
sweltering heat of Vegas where it belongs, outdoors. Even inside, they're all over the
house. Some portion-off one room from the next. To use a pun; Doors make the
world go around.
Whether your purchasing one or a ton, you've got some
choices. Call it the trinity of portals. The mission: What are the three main
choices?
The First Ever Door - Ones Made from Wood
History tells us the first ones were either single or double
doors. And they were made of wood. Pulled from Wikipedia:
"The most ancient doors were
in timber, those made for King Solomon's temple being in olive wood (I Kings
vi. 31-35), which were carved and overlaid with gold. The doors dwelt upon in
Homer would appear to have been cased in silver or brass. Besides Olive wood;
elm, cedar, oak and cypress were used. A 5,000-year-old door has been found by
archaeologists in Switzerland."
Wood, the old standby, gives a sense of strength and
antiquity to the look of a home, inside or out. The only issue in a climate
like Las Vegas is the potential for warping. The periodic rains and hellish
heat deform certain soft woods so they can become stuck, even unusable.
What About uPVC Doors?
Modern inventiveness leads us to the second type of door for
blistering climates. Not only do they save you money when you buy them, they're
middle-name is durability. Whatever Ma Nature throws at them, for outdoor use,
these are military grade. Maintenance-wise ... as they say in Jersey, "fuggetaboutit."
A little hosing-down and they're just like the day the stork installed them.
There is a limit to this paradise. Both wooden and uPVC doors
limit your design choices.
Flaws, too, if you will. It's because they both use a single
material which restricts the design of the door. That is unless you go
custom-made and don't just load a heap on a cart, straight from the shelf.
That Leads Us to Composite Doors
These guys have some serious 21st Century technology
attached. Those faults which are inherent to wood and uPVC types are eliminated
because they're made from a combination of materials. Manufacturers use PVC, wood,
insolating foam and glass reinforced plastic. Hankering for a wood-look,
composites will do the trick. They never lose their sheen. No fading occurs.
And a wet, old t-shirt with a small spoon of elbow grease will keep them looking
fresh.
Bottom line: Composite is rapidly becoming the gold standard
in doors.
