For most residential premises, the choice of interior doors does not present any problems; one can proceed solely from aesthetic preferences.
The bathroom is a room with specific operational loads, as a result of which special requirements are imposed on all elements of decoration, furniture and even interior doors.
First of all, this is due to the fact that there is always high air humidity in the bathroom and toilet, even with a high-quality ventilation system. In this regard, it is necessary to choose doors for the bathroom and toilet that can withstand moisture and steam for a long time without deformation, maintaining the original appearance and functionality. For example, sliding doors are unlikely to work.
The second important point is the increased requirements for noise and heat insulation of the door structure.
Choosing doors to the bathroom
Bathroom and toilet door material
The first criterion by which a consumer usually chooses interior doors is the material from which they are made. This largely determines the cost of the product.
Due to the fact that modern processing technologies are used in the manufacture of door leaves and frames, there are no absolute technical contraindications to installing doors made of any material, however, practicality and durability may vary. Therefore, before choosing doors to the bathroom and toilet, it is worth learning more about the advantages and disadvantages of products made from various materials.
Glass doors
From the point of view of moisture resistance, glass is the best option. It is not at risk of deformation from steam, destruction under the influence of water, high temperature or temperature changes.
Moreover, glass is an environmentally friendly material, it is hygienic, has good sound insulation and high thermal insulation properties.
Glass door panels for toilets and bathrooms are absolutely safe; they are made from high-strength tempered glass, so there is no fear of injury - it is almost impossible to accidentally break them at home.
Installing glass doors in the bathroom
The canvases can have different coatings - tinting with varying degrees of transparency, matte coating, relief pattern and even a mirror surface. Inserts made of wood, plastic, metal, mosaics, luxurious sandblasted patterns and designs are used as decor. All this should be consistent in a single bathroom design.
Glass models are original and sophisticated; they bring lightness and elegance to the interior. Thanks to their brevity and apparent weightlessness, the size of the space visually increases.
An additional advantage for bathrooms, which are usually not equipped with windows, is the fact that glass models, even with a frosted coating, retain more natural light than traditional blind panels.
Thanks to excellent consumer characteristics, ease of maintenance, the presence of all the properties necessary for bathrooms and a stylish appearance, glass doors are in great demand. The only drawback of such products is the rather high price.
Plastic doors
Plastic is great for wet areas. Doors made of this material do not rot or deform under the influence of hot steam and water.
In addition, they are hygienic, durable, practical and lightweight. Their sound and thermal insulation performance is at a decent level. These door structures are easy to clean, they are resistant to aggressive household chemicals and retain their original appearance for a long time.
With the help of special coatings, the surface of plastic door structures can imitate almost any material; their color palette is very wide.
Of course, in terms of aesthetics, PVC doors are significantly inferior to their exquisite glass and luxurious wooden counterparts, but their low cost, practicality and durability have made them a very popular option among most consumers.
For a bathroom with a budget affordable renovation, this is an ideal option.
Wooden doors
The material is very susceptible to the negative effects of moisture, and especially hot steam, and can quickly deform and become unusable if constantly exposed to a humid, warm environment.
At the same time, installing wooden doors in bathrooms is a classic option and cannot be called completely unreasonable. But you need to find out all the nuances and weigh the pros and cons of such a decision before choosing doors for the bathroom and toilet made of wood.
The main question of the feasibility of such a choice is the interior in which the doors will be installed, and the amount that is expected to be spent on them.
If there is no special design need for natural wood and the renovation budget is limited, you should refrain from using wooden door designs.
The fact is that the most resistant types of wood (usually beech or oak) and high-quality processing, which allows maximum protection of the material from harmful effects, are quite expensive; accordingly, such doors cannot cost the same as ordinary interior doors made of pine.
Installing wooden doors in the bathroom is an unusual solution
And if you buy a wooden product in the middle price range, there is a high probability that over time the door leaf will deform and shift, and the door will no longer close tightly.
Partially, the problem of wood's susceptibility to moisture is solved by coating it with special varnishes, but they need to be updated in a timely manner; in addition, caring for a wooden surface is complicated by the fact that dust and dirt eat into the pores of the wood and it is problematic to wash them.
There is an opinion that if the ventilation system works well, the steam will not harm the doors. This statement is true exclusively for spacious bathrooms, and in the vast majority of typical apartments they are so small that the hood simply does not have time to pick up all the steam before it hits the door leaf; in addition, water splashes mixed with soap will inevitably fall on it. Therefore, even with good operation of the hood and excellent ventilation, a wooden door should be chosen only by those who are ready to periodically carry out cosmetic repairs - cleaning, opening with a new layer of varnish, etc.
At the same time, in an expensive, noble interior of a classical style, such doors are irreplaceable. But in this case, a significant budget must be allocated for their acquisition.
In addition, at the design stage you should consider ensuring that the entrance to the bathroom is located as far as possible from sources of water and steam.
Chipboard and MDF
Door structures for bathrooms and toilets made of chipboard and MDF, covered with a special laminate, are in demand among consumers. Such models have proven themselves to be excellent in wet rooms, their designs are varied, and the price is affordable.
There are several nuances to choosing such products. First of all, models covered with veneer are suitable for bathrooms only if the technology of cross-shaped gluing of fibers was used during its application, otherwise natural veneer will not withstand constant contact with warm, humid air.
When choosing models that use laminate as a covering, it is important to pay attention to the fact that it is made of PVC and not paper.
We install doors made of chipboard and MDF: the best option for the bathroom
What should a bathroom door be like?
When carrying out major renovations in an apartment, the interior doors must be replaced. If doors for the bedroom and kitchen can be selected depending on preferences, then the door for the bathroom or room with high humidity must be selected carefully.
Bath doors must have certain performance characteristics, these are:
- High strength
- Resistance to high temperatures and humidity
- Long service life
All doors in the apartment must be made in the same style as the overall interior. Today, the choice of doors amazes the imagination of consumers - these are classic wood, glass, aluminum, laminated or plastic. You can also choose doors made from solid wood, which is environmentally friendly and highly durable.
Types of doors
In spacious bathrooms with a good ventilation system, hot steam and splashing water may not affect the bathroom door and in this case you can choose a door made of veneer with a special coating. When purchasing doors, be sure to ask the seller about the availability of a quality certificate for the door itself and the coating.
You can install a natural wooden door from inexpensive types of wood, which are also durable and beautiful. Very often, laminated doors are used for bathrooms, which are made from moisture-resistant and not subject to deformation materials. Such doors perfectly imitate expensive, natural materials, but the price is more than affordable for the average consumer.
With the right choice, the bathroom door will last a long time and will not require additional costs for repairs and replacement of elements. Glass doors, which have excellent water resistance and excellent sound insulation properties, have recently become especially popular. In the manufacture of glass doors, tempered glass is used, the thickness of which is about 10 mm. Glass doors can be frosted, or have transparent inserts or a beautiful floral or symbolic ornament.
To save money, you can also consider plastic doors, which are affordable, moisture-resistant and durable. Today on the construction market you can see plastic doors of any color and design.
Door mechanism
Classic bathroom doors have a hinged opening mechanism, but recently, sliding doors have increasingly begun to be used, which are suitable for small apartments, where open doors can make it inconvenient to move around the apartment.
Sliding doors can be recessed or external and are most often made of PVC or fiberboard.
Ventilation doors
Good ventilation in the bathroom will eliminate moisture vapor and condensation on tiles and mirrors. However, in order for the bathroom to be dry, it is necessary to provide access to a dry air flow. The bathtub door should be installed in such a way that there is about two centimeters of space between the floor and the bottom of the door for air circulation.
If this rule is not followed, the door may dry out or become deformed. It is also recommended to open the bathroom door from time to time to allow fresh air to ventilate and dry the walls.
Style and tone
The door to the bathroom can be very diverse, either solid or glazed, one thing is important - it should not stand out from the general background of the hallway. If, for example, your bathtub is designed in a marine style, then the door may have a porthole. When choosing a door to a bathtub, many people think about how to make sure that the door to the bathtub is made in the same style and color as other hallway doors and at the same time harmonizes with the decoration in the bathtub. In this case, you can show your imagination and order an individual door, which on the outside will match the rest of the doors, and on the inside will complement the style of the bathroom.
Whatever door you choose, the most important thing is that it is of high quality and made from natural and environmentally friendly materials. Such materials are glass and natural wood. When purchasing a door made of other materials, be sure to request a quality certificate.
Recommendations for choosing a bathroom door
- When installing doors in a bathroom or toilet adjacent to a kitchen or other living room, the simultaneous placement of two swing doors can interfere with the opening and closing of each other, and also lead to frequent collisions, which can cause chips, scratches and dents on both doors. The optimal solution in this case is to install coupe models in the bathroom.
- The door to the toilet and bathroom must be equipped with a special ventilation hole or have a sufficiently large gap between the door leaf and the floor.
- Handles and locking mechanisms are subject to greater loads than locks and handles of all other interior doors, so increased demands must be placed on them.
Door design
The basic rule that should be followed when choosing a door to a bathroom or toilet is the same design style as the rest of the interior doors opening onto a common corridor; only the material and finish may differ.
The negative impact of water is manifested not only for the door leaf itself, but also for decorative elements, so they all must be resistant to moisture; from this point of view, complex finishing on the side of the bathroom itself is impractical. At the same time, manufacturers, knowing this nuance, often produce models decorated only on the outside.
Plastic doors to the bathroom
You can consider the option of installing plastic doors. They are resistant to moisture, very light and do not require any special care. Plastic bathroom doors can be considered an excellent choice.
The only drawback may be that plastic doors are usually produced in white and, if this color is not suitable for your interior, then it is better to take a closer look at doors made of other materials.
How plastic doors to the bathroom and toilet look in the interior is shown in the photo below:
Installation Features
The technology for installing doors to the bathroom and toilet has a number of important differences from the installation of conventional interior doors.
- According to safety regulations, the height of the threshold should be about five mm. This will protect living rooms from flooding in the event of a washing machine leak, pipe break, or other plumbing accident.
- Due to the presence of a high threshold, the doors for the bathroom and toilet will have to be installed 10 mm higher in comparison with other interior doors, so the opening may not correspond to a standard two-meter factory door. Either you will need to increase the opening, or order the door according to individual sizes.
Cutting a door yourself is not only not always technically possible (as, for example, in the case of a glass sheet), but it is also extremely undesirable, even if technically it can be done - after cutting, the veneer will begin to peel off over time and the product will lose its original appearance and may be deformed under the influence moisture.
- It is necessary to leave a ventilation gap of 1 cm between the door leaf and the threshold. If you purchased a door specifically designed for the bathroom, a hole has already been made in it for the ventilation grille, and in this case this requirement can be neglected.
- The door frame must be installed before finishing the walls, and the door leaf should be installed after the bathroom renovation is completed.
- If swing doors are installed, they must be installed in such a way that they open outwards. This will allow you to make the most of the entire bathroom space. If the door opens inward, the surrounding space will need to be left empty.
We approach the choice of bathroom fittings responsibly
Design Features
When choosing which door is best to install in the bathroom, many people, out of habit, opt for solid door-type models. This is the most popular solution and is most often associated with habit or lower cost. However, the following types would be appropriate for this room:
- harmonic;
- book;
- coupe – “pencil case” option;
- rotary.
The main thing in the design is to ensure protection of external premises from dampness, high temperature and sound insulation: the sound of water can be very loud and disturb the rest of the household.
What doors are better to choose for a bathroom, besides standard ones? Rotary ones are most similar to the usual hinges, but instead of the usual hinges they have rotor mechanisms that are installed in the floor and upper part of the door frame. For them, it is better to use a thin material, such as tempered glass.
Which doors are better - PVC or veneer?
The choice of interior doors is a serious problem during renovation. In showrooms, one’s eyes are wide open from the variety of offers and the range in prices. We decided to focus on the two most common models. Which doors are better - PVC or veneer?
An accordion and a book would be appropriate in rooms where the doorway is wider than usual - when folded, such doors take up little space for passage. You also need constant care for the guide and hinge systems - without timely cleaning and lubrication, the structure will creak and perform poorly.
Sliding doors are an exotic option that is suitable for spacious bathrooms, as they do not allow for sealing. To better protect external premises from moisture, it is better to use an option where the door goes into a pencil case built into the wall.
A sensitive issue is the use of glass. On the one hand, excess transparency is unacceptable, on the other hand, even by turning on the light it is easier to understand whether there is someone in the room, not to mention the high decorative possibilities. Therefore, in door designs they use either stained glass, frosted glass, or with applied relief.
Choosing doors for the bathroom and toilet
- The design of the doors must match the style of the interior and be combined with the design of other interior doors, even if you are planning a budget bathroom renovation.
- The main criteria when choosing the optimal door material should be durability, practicality, design and price of the product.
- An important point is the choice of opening type; it is necessary to evaluate which model will be more convenient: sliding or hinged.
- Before you start choosing a specific model, you need to measure the opening and wall thickness to find out whether standard size doors will fit or whether they will need to be made to order.
- Once all the requirements for the doors have been established, the material from which they should be made has been selected, all that remains is to find a reliable manufacturer and choose the optimal model.
The choice of doors for the bathroom and their installation is an important stage of renovation. It is necessary to know not only the general features of this type of premises, but also the individual parameters of the room, such as size, ventilation, distance of the entrance from sources of water and steam.
Before buying a bathroom door, we measure the opening.
If you take into account all aspects before choosing doors for the bathroom and toilet, you will be able to choose the ideal product that will last for many years.
In addition, it is necessary to balance the budget with the preferred material, and if you choose between, for example, a cheap wooden option and mid-price chipboard, you should choose chipboard.
