Doors

Entry doors for our Toronto area homes are much more than just a way into and out of the house. They can be stylish, functional, energy efficient, and safe. Or, they can be any combination of these. But in order to decide on the right entry doors for your Toronto home, you need to take all the available information into account.
Everyone wants their home to be safe, and secure, plus they want it to look nice, and be as energy efficient as possible. All these factors apply just as much to your entry doors as any other ingredient in the mix. Here are a few items to pay attention to when making your selections.

• Function – What purpose does this particular entry door installation serve?
• Durability – How well will this door stand up to time, and the elements?
• Security – Will this door foil your average intruder or burglar?
• Energy Efficiency – Will this door lower your heating and cooling costs?
• Style – Does the entry door compliment the style and look of your home?
• Price – How much door can you get for your money?

Obviously, a quality entry door installation should separate the outside from the inside and do it as completely and efficiently as possible. You will want to keep energy efficiency in the front of your mind, right next to price, while considering your other decision factors.
The door’s function may be to merely keep the elements out, like the exterior door that leads into your mud room or garage. Where there is little difference in temperature from one side of the door to the other, a sturdy, secure door will be an easy choice. Generally speaking, the door into your garage is not visible from the front or back of your home and isn’t as heavily influenced by the overall look and style of your home. Here, try to get the most secure entry door you can for your budget. Other function considerations are doors that will lead to your patio or deck, and of course, your front door. Whatever the door is intended to do, make sure the installation you choose is specifically designed to do that job, and do it well.

Consider More Than Price When Choosing Entry Doors in Toronto

Your front door may easily shrug off a stray baseball, whether it’s made of wood or steel, but how well do you think it will hold up against that stone that your lawn mower just kicked out? Although you may never have to weather a hurricane, it’s a good idea to get a sturdy entry door for the front of your home, and use the same diligence when deciding on a patio door as well. This issue of durability will affect the security of an entry door too, so don’t try to get off cheap in this department.

And since I mentioned it, security, simply put, is how well an entry door will protect you and your family from potential home invaders or burglars. Ask yourself this question, “How well will this door protect me from a motivated intruder?” In this department, a rugged steel door is a good place to start. Other simple security devices can make the entry doors even safer, like a double cylinder deadbolt – these require a key to open from either side – a chain, and an extra wide view peephole. The configuration of your entryway will also add to the safety and security of your home. Perhaps one of the most secure configurations is a steel entry door with double cylinder deadbolt and chain, that is framed by narrow, frosted windows on each side, top to bottom. Any member of your home, short or tall, can look out from the windows (which are too narrow to slip through if broken), and assure their guest is not a threat. And even if the window is broken by the intruder, without a key to open the deadbolt on the inside too, this crook will just have to pick another house to rob.
Energy efficiency, as already stated, will help to more effectively separate the outside from the inside, and keep them that way. Doors and windows with higher energy efficiency can save you up to 15 percent on your heating and cooling bills, saving you money over the lifetime of your Toronto area home. Wooden doors are naturally insulated and conduct little, if any, heat, while steel doors with basically the same style and function, have to be filled with insulation to provide comparable energy efficiency.

You wouldn’t expect a Ferrari to look good with doors off a mid-80’s Chrysler station wagon, and the style of entry doors that you choose for your Toronto home will be a similar issue to address. A colonial style home will look great with the previously mentioned “secure” door installation with the narrow side windows and a large, half-round window above it, and a Tudor style home’s back deck would look beautiful with a stately set of French doors leading out. Though style is one of the least important factors, it has very little effect on your final price, so take a moment to at least consider the looks of your new entry doors.

And, as they always say, last but not least, think about what you can afford to spend on your new entry doors. Spending a little more up front can actually save you a lot more in the long run, and if you find a practical, durable, stylish entry door that is secure and energy efficient, but a little more than you wanted to spend, give some serious thought to biting the bullet and shelling out the extra cash. Your home’s look isn’t the only thing you’re thinking about.
Remember, you are the only one who can pick the right entry doors for your Greater Toronto area home, so do what so many others in the area have done, and call Toronto Doors and Windows today and we’ll help you make the right choices.

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Your Toronto home may already have patio doors that are ready to be replaced, or you may have just installed a patio or built a deck, and now you want to replace that simple but functional back door. It’s also possible that you are having a new home built for you, and want to select patio doors that will fit the design of your home but be practical as well. With today’s exterior door and window technology, it is possible to have a full-sized patio door that is nearly as good a barrier against the elements as a well-insulated, solid wall. But there are a lot of options on the market, and choosing the right patio doors can seem like a daunting task.

To narrow down your list of choices, start with a little thought about what you want to accomplish as well as how you want your patio doors to look and function.

Patio doors are a Smart Choice for Your Toronto Home

There will obviously be more to choosing your new patio doors than simply finding a picture in a catalog and saying “Those will do.” To find the best patio doors for your Toronto home, consider the following.

• Space – Do you have room for something other than standard patio doors or will you have to go with “sliders?”
• Design – If you do have the space, will you be better suited with French doors or accordion doors?
• Durability – Will your doors have to withstand a lot of abuse from kids, weather, or a stray baseball?
• Energy efficiency – Big chunks of glass let in a lot of sunlight, and heat right along with it. How well will your patio doors insulate against it?

Depending on the design of your home, French doors may be cheaper and easier to maintain than a traditional sliding glass patio door. They can be configured to open either inward or outward, and generally insulate against the elements better than glass patio doors as well. If you have enough space for French doors, you could even configure them to open inward and include sliding screens or storm doors. Your preferences will play a big part here, but that will be only one small factor.

French doors are beautiful, stylish additions to any patio, but you may want to consider the added luxury of accordion-style sliding doors that can be opened much wider than the standard width of either French doors or traditional sliding patio doors. They can, in essence, let you transform an exterior wall into a large opening to the outside for entertaining, or just enjoying a warm summer night from the comfort of your couch.
Modern glass patio doors are pretty tough. They can easily withstand the abuse most kids are capable of, but might have a harder time with tree limbs thrown around by hurricane-force winds, or even a pebble launched from the lawnmower. At some point, your patio doors may have to shrug off a stray baseball, and will probably be fine, but if you know your patio doors are going to see some abuse, make this one of your main deciding factors when choosing the right doors for your home.

Deciding Factors for Choosing Patio Doors

As mentioned before, big glass patio doors let in a lot of sunlight, which is great for a home design that is complimented by natural light. But how much of that solar energy is passing through to become heat? This may be totally okay during the late autumn and winter, but is it going to turn your home into an oven when it starts to get hot outside? Fortunately, there are several styles of energy-efficient patio doors available for your consideration. These multi-pane doors have two or more layers of glass, enclosing a pocket of inert gas, such as krypton, that helps prevent the conduction of heat from one side of the door to the other. Proper installation of your patio doors will also help reduce your heating and cooling bill, by making sure no air leakage occurs.

Energy-efficient windows and doors, according to Energy Star, can reduce your heating and cooling costs by as much as 15 percent. The efficiency of your patio doors will have the most bearing on this if they have a southern exposure, which will allow them to catch sunlight nearly all day. North-facing doors will never be as big an issue in this department, nor will east or west-facing doors that only get direct sunlight during a limited period each day.

Your home’s overall design is a mark of pride for you and your family. The patio doors you choose should not only reflect that style but also serve you well in whatever capacity you decide. It would make no sense for you to install wide-swinging French doors on a tiny patio, where the radius of the doors has to sweep across the whole area. And if your back doors face the south, your energy bills may take a hit from the change in your home’s climate. Durability may or may not be a factor, depending on whether or not you have children or large pets.

Another factor you may need to bear in mind is ease of use. Big sliding glass patio doors can be heavy, maybe too heavy for a small child or senior citizen to operate safely. If you entertain a lot, and expect to be coming and going from the kitchen to the patio with your hands full of food, French doors with lever-style doorknobs might be a blessing. Accordion-style doors take some getting used to as well, for their reasons.
Someone in Your Corner in Toronto.

With the myriad styles, colors, materials, and configurations available for patio doors, your decision may not be an easy one to make, but chances are, you’ll find the perfect one for you and your Toronto home. When you are ready to select new patio doors, call the pros at Toronto Doors and Windows right away.

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Your Toronto area home is your castle, and you want it to be safe and secure. Your front entry doors need to be sturdy and secure as well as stylish and energy efficient. Nobody wants to take chances with the health and safety of their family, so you need to think carefully about what you need before you get a new front door. Remember, your peace of mind is on the line. How do you find the right front door for you? Well, here’s a tip.

Sturdy, Safe & Secure front doors

There are many things to think about before you get a new front door for your Toronto home. The most obvious question to ask yourself when shopping is, “How hard is it going to be for an attempted burglar to get through this door?” But remember, there is more to the security of your home than a sturdy door. A sturdy, well-built front door is a great start, whether it’s made from hardwood or steel but, for the most part, an intruder will try to find a less noticeable way in. Your windows need to be properly secured as well.

But we are talking about doors right now, so let’s consider the points that will make your front door the most secure it can be.

• Design – Does this door’s design add to or take away from its security?
• Construction – As mentioned before, is this door solid and well-built?
• Installation – Is your main entry area designed with security in mind?
• Access Denial – This is a fancy “industry” term for locks and deterrents.
• Safety Features – What does this door’s design do to add to your family’s safety?

For obvious reasons, a front door with a big, glass window is not as secure as one that is just a big chunk of metal. That’s not to say you shouldn’t have a window in your front door, but consider one that has small, separately framed windows that are high up. Another option would be small windows near the door that, even if broken, are too small to get through.

What a door is made from is just as important as how it is designed. Hardwood doors are sturdy and beautiful, but generally a lot more expensive than steel. Steel doors are not solid (they would weigh too much) but rather constructed from two layers of thin steel around a solid interior structure, with plenty of insulation. As a rule of thumb, steel doors qualify as the most secure.

How your main entry is laid out will affect the security of the entire area. Your front porch is most likely the last place an intruder will try to gain access to your home. A well-lit porch will do as much to deter a would-be thief as having a Rottweiler chained up out front, but there is no sense in making things easy. Avoid designing your front entry area in such a way that it will cause problems. Poorly lit, partially obscured with plants and high bushes, difficult to see from the road, or with lots of windows are examples of the kind of entryways that practically encourage intruders.

A properly secured front door makes for a safer home and family, so remember to look at strong locks. A double-cylinder deadbolt requires a key to unlock from either side, meaning that someone can’t simply break an adjoining window, reach inside, and unlock the door. A chain is always a good idea as well, and a peephole or “Judas” window lets you see who is at your door. Also consider a darker-colored door that will make the bright, brass hardware more obvious from a distance. If you can see the deadbolt from halfway up your front walk, so can criminals, and they’ll generally keep walking.
A Judas is a small door set at eye level, usually behind a metal grate, that works in the same fashion as a peephole, or a chain. It let’s you see and interact with the person on your front step without putting yourself at risk, or compromising the security of your home. Peepholes are available that offer an extra wide view and, from the viewing side, look almost like a miniature TV screen. These can also be a big help in making sure your family stays safe.

Front doors Security Starts With You

For your family to really stay safe and secure, it’s always a good idea to talk to them about your home’s security, and what you can all do to avoid danger. We all tell our kids not to talk to strangers and the same basic concepts will help keep them safe at home too. Remind them that they shouldn’t open the front door for just anyone, even a policeman or other official, and to never tell people on the other side of the door that their parents aren’t home.

Kids are generally very trusting, and may not see the harm in opening the front door to people who are dressed like a law enforcement officer, parcel service employee, or even a pizza delivery guy. Home invaders have been known to use all these ploys to gain access to homes where “latchkey” kids are present. If you are expecting a parcel delivery, make sure your children know it and, in case the package arrives while they are home alone, teach them the right way to accept delivery. They can tell the delivery driver to leave the package on the step, so they can bring it in when the coast is clear – re-securing the front door immediately afterward, of course.

As you can see, a lot of different factors go into the safety and security of your Toronto home, from choosing a sturdy, secure front door, to educating your kids on the safest and smartest practices when they are home alone. You would never compromise your family’s safety, so take the extra time to make sure they can stay safe at home all the time. If you have questions about a more secure front door for your Toronto area home, call Toronto Doors and Windows today.

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French doors are stylish, beautiful, and can serve many different purposes in your Toronto home. They can be used as exterior doors for your patio or deck, or used inside to separate one room from another. Many details need to be considered before you decide to install French doors, and some may be less obvious than others. Here are a few things to think about.
There are a multitude of places throughout your Toronto home where French doors can be both beautiful and serviceable. For example, you may want to use a pair to separate your dining room from your living room or family room. This will come in handy for the holidays, when you need to extend your available dining space for all of your loved ones.

Places in your home where French doors might be a nice addition would include…

• Patio Doors
• Balcony Doors
• Dining Room Doors
• Bedroom Doors

Each possible use for French doors comes with the opportunity to add beauty and style to your home. The more obvious choices would be as patio doors or as a partition between rooms, as mentioned before. However, French doors onto the balcony from your master bedroom can add a whole new dimension of beauty and romance to your sleeping quarters. And it doesn’t matter if you have an interior or exterior balcony.
An upstairs deck can be accessed from a variety of places on the second floor, and each of those locations may be a good place for French doors. Besides separating your dining room and family room, French doors could just as easily separate your home office from your den, or children’s play room, and offer a good view of what your kids are up to.
French doors with curtains look very sophisticated as bedroom doors, and make it a lot easier to get the larger furnishings into and out of a room when necessary. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to wiggle a big, heavy couch through a standard width bedroom door, but let me assure you, it is nothing I would ever do for recreation.
Almost anywhere in and around your home is a potential spot for French doors, and there are other possibilities that haven’t even been mentioned. But deciding if French doors are a good idea for your Toronto home really comes down to a couple of important factors.

Do You Have What it Takes?

So what factors should ultimately affect your French door decision? That’s a good question, but let’s start with a simpler one. What makes a good French door?
French doors are constructed in basically the same way as any other, except sliding patio doors. They can be made of wood or a combination of wood and metal. They can have large areas of glass, either in small gridded windows or large panes. They can be designed to open individually or swing free at the same time with one turn of the knob. Their thermal properties will vary as greatly as their designs and construction, so some models will be better suited for use as exterior doors than others.

Safety and security should be a main deciding factor when choosing your French doors, because doors of this type can sometimes be more tempting for would-be home invaders. All those little panes of glass can look like an open invitation to break one small pane, reach inside and open the door, gaining access to your home. Make sure your home’s overall security profile is up to snuff before adding French doors to the equation.
Also consider the effect weather will have on both the doors and your home. The right French doors, with the correct thermal properties, can actually help to reduce your heating and cooling costs, so spending a few extra dollars now might save you money in the long run. Energy Star reports that the right exterior doors and windows on your home can reduce energy costs by as much as 15 percent, so that is definitely something to consider.
Safety needs to be addressed here as well. Do you have small children that don’t need to wander off unattended? Remember, French doors, especially with the decorative lever style handles, are much easier to open for a toddler than the standard, heavy sliding glass door. Slightly older children, especially the rambunctious boy types, will eventually figure out that it can be a lot of fun to swing from the doors, so they had best be sturdy.

The Real Question

Now, to get back to our original question, what factors should ultimately decide whether or not to put French doors in your Toronto home? Most people would think price is the number one thing to consider, but with so many other factors to keep in mind, this may not be the case for you. You may be able to afford the most expensive French doors available on the market, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right doors for your home, or that you need to spend that much on them.
Keep in mind, first, what your French doors will be used for, where they will be situated, and how you expect them to function. Decide if they will add to the look and value of your home. Think about how they will affect your energy costs, and whether or not they pose any kind of risk to the security of your house, or the safety of small children. Look carefully at the styles that you have to choose from, and narrow the field by remembering what the French doors will be used for.
The bottom line is, only you can decide if French doors are a good fit for your Toronto home, and you really do have a lot of things to think about before making that decision. But if you decide French doors are right for you, call Toronto Doors and Windows today. We’ll be happy to help.

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An old saying basically states that to beat a crook, you have to think like one, but thankfully, not many of us are any good at trying to think like a burglar. A lot of different factors combine to make a safe, secure home in Toronto, and your home’s exterior doors are a key part of that equation. For the safest and most secure home, any part of your house’s exterior that isn’t a solid wall should be viewed with suspicion.

All exterior doors and windows fall squarely into this category, but less obvious things like pet doors and skylights should be taken into consideration as well. Anything or any place where a would-be home invader could gain access to the interior of your home should be reviewed to ensure it is as safe and secure as it can be. This, of course, will go hand in hand with a few simple home safety practices that even your kids should be familiar with.

The Safest Exterior Doors in the Greater Toronto Area

No home is 100 percent burglar-proof, but your real goal as a homeowner should be to make your home as uninviting as possible to a prospective thief. Every point of access around your home should have the best-constructed, most secure exterior doors possible.

• Main Entry – Go with a sturdy hardwood or steel door, with small windows, or none at all. Make sure it has strong locks, a chain, and a good peephole.
• Garage Door – If your garage door has an automatic opener, make sure the outdoor switch requires a key, or keypad, to activate.
• Outside Kitchen or Garage Doors – Access doors leading into the garage, kitchen or mud room need to be as sturdy and secure as your front door, but they don’t need to be pretty. And for access into your garage or mud room, energy efficiency is not as big a factor, so a less expensive door can be installed here.
• Patio Doors – These big sheets of glass are perhaps the biggest risk factor in your home’s security profile, but all modern glass doors are constructed from tempered glass, which is very hard to break. An alternative for your patio would be French doors with smaller, separate windows made from a tough synthetic, like Plexiglas or polycarbonate.
• Pet Doors – Most pet owners just have one, usually on a back door or kitchen door, and it is not unheard of for a home invader to gain access through one of these, but to a potential burglar, a large pet door can mean a large pet, so in some cases, this is more of a deterrent than a liability. Pet doors do secure from the inside, and you should keep yours that way when your pet isn’t using it or when you are away.

Other simple tricks to increase the security of your Toronto home include exterior lighting, security cameras, properly placed landscaping elements, and you may want to consider having a large dog. A well-lit home and yard will send a clear message to criminals that says, “Keep walking, buddy.” Surveillance cameras placed in conspicuous locations around entryways and blind spots send that same message. Incidentally, there are many “decoy” cameras available that look like real cameras, right down to a little winking red light, but don’t function, and are a lot cheaper than the real thing. Some nice, thorny bushes, like holly or roses, planted under all ground-floor windows will seriously affect a burglar’s desire to break in through this route. The safest, most secure Toronto home will be well-lit on the outside, with thick holly bushes under the windows, surveillance cameras placed in obvious locations, and a German Shepherd chained up in the yard. Your home will most likely fall somewhere in that gray area between this ‘super-safe’ home and one with open windows, no front porch light, and a sign in the front yard that says “FREE STUFF!”

Learn How to BE Safe and Secure

Your family’s habits can also affect how safe your home is. If your kids have to stay at home for a couple of hours after school, before you get in from work, make sure to educate them on how to stay safe during that critical time. If they are allowed to answer the telephone, make sure they know it’s NOT okay to tell people you aren’t there, and the same holds for visitors at the front door. Have them say you can’t come to the door (or phone) because you’re in the shower. Make sure they understand that you will keep them informed of any deliveries you are expecting, such as parcels or important documents, but probably not pizza deliveries. Many would-be home invaders have used these tactics to get the upper hand on “latchkey” kids.

Many people swear by the added peace of mind they get from an automatic, remotely monitored home security system, and, for the most part, these are a real benefit, but they have certain disadvantages as well. A system with a “panic button” can be useful in a potential home invasion scenario, but by the same token, every family member will have to know an access code to disarm the system when they arrive home from work, school, or other activities. These systems can also alert emergency services in the event of a fire, break-in, or even detection of dangerous carbon monoxide but, depending on the monitoring company, response time is questionable at best. Also, these monitoring services get paid monthly for their assistance, whether you need it or not. It’s generally cheaper to have a dog.
So many factors can affect your family’s safety and the security of your Toronto area home, but you know it’s smart to give this your extra attention. When you want to make sure your home is as safe as it can be, start with the windows and exterior doors, and call Toronto Doors and Windows for expert guidance.

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Many people don’t give much thought to the entrance doors to their Toronto home, other than to open and close them when they enter or leave. Whether the entrance to your home is understated or grand, there are a few little landscaping tips that will help increase the overall visual effect and add to your home’s “curb appeal.”

A Word on Entrance Doors

The one common element in a nice-looking entry area is the entry door itself. There are literally hundreds of different entry doors to choose from, varying in design, size, configuration, composition, and even color. When choosing the right entrance door for your home, you will need to take all of these factors into consideration, and then factor in the price. The style of the door is going to play a major part in the overall look you are trying to achieve.
If you took a rustic, rough-hewn door for a southwestern pueblo-style house, and put it on a classic, two-story colonial, the colonial would suddenly look like an over-glorified barn. Now, this might be an extreme example of a mismatched door, but it illustrates the point: start with the right door. When the look of the house is complete, you can begin to augment the aesthetics of the exterior with some landscaping. Here are some elements that are versatile and easy to come by.

• Trees – Decorative trees are available in a wide range of species, styles, and sizes, and can break up vertical and horizontal lines to add texture to the look of your front lawn.
• Bushes – Again, these are available in a range of styles, and can be pruned and kept at a specific size and shape. Being for the most part, smaller than trees, they are generally used by landscaping contractors to break up the horizontal plane of an area.
• Decorative Grasses – These longer grasses often have ornate fronds of leaves or seed clusters at the top, and can range in height from less than a foot to nearly eight feet tall. They are great for softening harsh vertical lines or obscuring less desirable aspects of your lawn, like your central air conditioner’s outside condenser unit.
• Flowers – Depending on the climate zone you live in, certain perennial flowers make an excellent ground covering for beds near the walls and porch of your home, and range in height from low spreading ground covers to tall, ornate bushes. Choose flowers based on your desired results.
• Ground Covering – These include some grasses, moss, and flowering plants that like to creep and spread, like Spanish moss or Love grass. These also vary in height, but generally stay close to the ground, giving color and texture to an otherwise flat, boring landscape.

Breaking the Plane

One simple rule that applies to almost every front entrance door landscaping job is to break up the horizontal plane. A perfectly flat, unadorned lawn may be pretty, and easy to take care of, but it is doing nothing to make your home look better. By breaking up the monotony of the flat horizontal plane, your eyes have more to do, and the perspective of the property is enhanced as well, making it somehow look like a larger space. Landscapers call them “dimensional elements,” and use them frequently for this exact purpose. You don’t have to be a licensed landscaping professional to buy plants and put them where you think they will look good. Here are some examples of landscaping plants and their uses.

Holly bushes are hearty, durable shrubs that can be pruned and shaped to fit any size or shape requirement you might have. Their prickly leaves and sturdy limbs provide excellent home protection when they are planted under ground-floor windows. Any prowler, burglar, or other would-be home invader won’t be interested in finding an unsecured window with all that thorny goodness right under the window.

Topiaries are generally decorative bushes in free-standing planters that have been groomed and shaped to give them a much more artistic look. These little dimensional elements will pack an economical punch when landscaping, plus, since they are generally in free-standing planters, they can be moved to change the look or to preserve them from bad weather. Spanish moss actually covers several species of hanging moss, at least one of which should be available in your climate zone. Since these mosses hang, they can add a whole new dimension and texture to your design.

Shade trees as the name implies, grow tall and leafy, offering large areas of shade to your lawn and the front of your home. When started as saplings, it may be several years before you see the benefits from this landscaping investment. Both deciduous trees and conifers are in this category, as the species available for your area will differ, but remember, conifers like pine trees, will leave a bed of needles under them. You decide if this is a desirable effect or not.

As you can see, there are a lot of choices available to you when you decide to landscape, and many of these can be applied to the decoration that will enhance your front entrance doors. If you have a raised porch, consider breaking up the ‘edge-line’ of the platform with either decorative grasses or shaped hedges. Corners can be enhanced with topiaries in large, squat planters, and the steps can be bordered with shorter decorative grasses and low flower bushes to create the dimensional effect we discussed before.

Remember, every front entrance door will compliment the style of your home, be it subtle or stately. The landscaping choices you make should fall in line with the overall look, and not distract from the beauty of your home, but rather enhance it. These basic tips should get you pointed in the right direction with your landscaping choices, but bear in mind, the first element in the desired look is the entrance door itself. If you have questions about entrance doors for your Toronto home, call Toronto Doors and Windows. We’ll be happy to help.

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