The front door is reliable protection and addition to the exterior of any home.
Since metal doors have many advantages, they have become very popular among consumers and are in great demand.
Condensation on the front door is one of the main problems with metal door systems. It does not always occur, so many buyers of iron door systems want to know why entrance doors sweat and how to prevent such a problem.
Why does condensation form?
The problem of door fogging, as a rule, appears in the fall, and with the onset of frost, the owners see that their door is not just sweating, but is covered with a layer of frost on the door leaf.
The main reasons for the formation of moisture on the door include:
- increased humidity in the house;
- low thermal insulation of the door;
- cold bridges.
When the air humidity in the room exceeds 55%, condensation collects on the door, the temperature of which is slightly lower than the air temperature in the home. At the same time, air humidity is greatly influenced by ventilation devices and the temperature of heated air in the room.
Low thermal insulation in metal door may occur due to a poor seal between the door itself and the frame. Most often, there is insufficient air circulation for vapors to escape, but this is enough for condensation to settle on the door surface.
Peculiar “cold bridges” on the front door of a private house are:
- peephole;
- door knob;
- locking mechanism;
- stiffeners, etc.
Through the “bridges”, cold air enters the room and, in contact with warm air, provokes the appearance of condensation. Next, not only the metal door sweats, but also its slopes.
Danger of condensation
Moisture on the door can become not just a physical nuisance, but also a serious problem. Many, tired of struggling with the fact that their door is sweating, begin to wipe off the condensation every day.
High humidity very harmful to metal for the following reasons:
- if the door has a seal, then water penetrates into its pores and after a maximum of six months, fungal deposits appear and mold grows;
- the metal from which the slopes are made begins to deteriorate over time;
- moisture causes corrosion (despite the fact that many doors are initially treated with a special anti-corrosion compound);
- the door loses its attractive appearance due to peeling decorative covering on metal.
Manufacturers who value their reputation never skimp on hidden work: all metal parts are coated with a special compound that prevents corrosion on the metal.
In addition, responsible manufacturers use only high-quality certified fittings and locking devices to produce door systems.
Methods for eliminating condensation
To get rid of fogging on a metal door, it is necessary to ensure the flow of dry air from outside and the outflow of vapors from the room.
You can install a special “warm curtain” that will heat the door with warm air. In this way, the door surface temperature can be increased and the dew point can be shifted.
Unfortunately, insulation door leaf won't solve the problem. After all, the door sweats due to the large temperature difference between the air outside and the air in the room. In this case, experts recommend installing an unheated vestibule in front of the entrance.
Also, an excellent solution would be to equip a canopy that can protect the door from scorching sun rays and precipitation. It is recommended to open the metal entrance door leaf with powdered polymers and fill the hollow elements with foam to prevent the appearance of “cold bridges”.
Features of using metal entrance doors
When the cold comes, everything large quantity Owners of metal doors complain that their door sweats from the inside. Often, this situation arises due to violations of both building codes and operating rules.
The formation of condensation on the door in the autumn-winter period is inevitable. Cause are too different meanings temperatures inside and outside the room.
This is a physical phenomenon that cannot be avoided, but there are ways to significantly reduce it.
The right choice depending on the purpose, compliance with construction requirements and norms, operating rules, will help to significantly reduce the amount of moisture on inner surface door leaf in cold period of the year.
Metal entrance doors have many advantages that have made them popular all over the world. But sealed iron doors, despite their excellent performance, have some disadvantages.
Condensation on the entrance metal door- one of common problems problems that homeowners face. Iron doors sweat most often in the cold season. Frost or condensation becomes noticeable on door handles, peephole, cylinders, the hinged part of an iron door. As practice shows, moisture can form not only on metal elements entrance structure. Often condensation is noticeable on slopes next to the opening. The number of water droplets increases significantly if the metal door leaf does not fit tightly to the frame.
Reasons for the appearance of moisture on the canvas
There are several reasons for the occurrence of condensed moisture on an iron door.
High air humidity inside an apartment/house is the most important prerequisite for the appearance of condensation. Moreover, the more the air temperature differs between outside and inside the metal sheet, the higher the likelihood of the door fogging.
Some components of the metal entrance structure (stiffeners, crossbars, box parts), when interacting with cooled air flows from outside, instantly lose temperature throughout their entire thickness and, coming into contact with the warm air inside the room, sweat.
Condensation on an iron door also arises due to physical properties metal, especially due to its increased thermal conductivity.
What is the harm of condensed moisture on the front door?
Protecting doors from moisture is a task that requires an immediate solution. It is not profitable for practical homeowners to turn a blind eye to fogging of the canvas. This phenomenon will soon lead to metal corrosion. As a result, the door will not only lose its attractive appearance, but also their own operational properties. When iron doors sweat, the functioning of their elements is disrupted: hinges, locking devices. Moisture, accumulating inside the canvas, significantly reduces the heat and noise insulation of the entrance structure. The above phenomena naturally reduce the operating time of even an expensive metal door made of high-quality materials.
Door models with high-quality seals
How to protect doors from moisture
To prevent condensation from appearing on the metal sheet of the entrance structure, it is necessary to reduce the level of air humidity inside the house. To do this, work is being done ventilation system indoors (sometimes new fans should be installed). It is useful to ventilate the apartment more often to establish good air circulation in the rooms.
Condensation on a metal door will stop appearing when the vestibule door is installed on landing. The vestibule will protect the entrance structure from the direct influence of cold air currents.
Installing a vestibule is not possible in all cases. Another effective way to avoid fogging of the door - insulate the entrance block using polystyrene foam and subsequently decorate it with materials resistant to atmospheric influences. For this metal sheet coated with powder-based polymers or decorated on the outside with panels with weather-resistant properties. It is optimal to fill all hollow spaces with standard mounting foam. metal elements front door.
Condensation on a metal door frame will not appear if an entrance block designed for outdoor use is installed. The metal elements of the door leaf in such a door are characterized by increased thermal insulation qualities.
Naturally, it is better to purchase doors from reputable manufacturers who produce products in full compliance with the stages technological process. Input hardware High Quality are equipped with elements treated with anti-corrosion substances and equipped with reliable insulating materials. It makes sense to entrust the installation of doors to professionals who always pay attention to insulating cracks and gaps between the frame and the leaf. To prevent fogging of a structure facing the street, you can order insulation for both the door itself and the frame. Another measure to combat condensation is to purchase doors without a peephole built into the door leaf.
The front door tends to accumulate condensation on itself. Owners of private houses most often face this problem. Iron or metal products may fog up. Many owners have no idea why they sweat Entrance door, and how to deal with this trouble. Therefore, before you buy entrance doors, read our article.
Owners of city apartments do not encounter this. Frost or water droplets are never observed at the inlet. But, if you install the same structure in a country house, “sweating” immediately appears. Many people still don’t understand why the metal entrance door in a private house sweats.
The door in a private house “sweats”
This only happens in winter or during the cold off-season. When it’s frosty outside, there’s a chill coming from the entrance, and the air temperature inside the room is higher. There is a kind of “struggle” between heat and cold, the obstacle to which is the door. on her inside Drops of liquid are visible. And, if the tightness is not sufficient, the liquid will transform into a layer of frost.
This depends not only on the tightness, but also on the quality of the product. When making iron structures, you need to think about this. If the product is made to order, or you buy a ready-made product, always pay attention to quality. Ask the seller if the product is suitable for use in the harsh climate where you plan to install it.
For frosty conditions, an appropriate product is required. Many manufacturers are guided only by the fact that their structures will be installed only in city apartments with entrances.
How to explain the formation of condensation
So why does the metal entrance door sweat? Conscientious manufacturers always provide insulation and the absence of gaps (cracks) between the frame and the base. But this does not yet guarantee the absence of condensation. This is explained as follows: iron products are excellent heat conductors, and during construction, cold bridges always remain in the gaps, in door frame and in the rib.
Distance between inner and external cladding filled with insulation materials. But no matter how hard the craftsmen try, there are still many parts in the design that conduct cold temperatures. Therefore, it is not possible to completely isolate the entrance. Frost will always get to the inside along the bridges. The inner lining will sweat. Since the air surrounding the entrance is not able to retain moisture. It settles on the plane as droplets of dew.
The door frames may become covered with a layer of snow. If the cold penetrates very strongly through the cracks. You need to make sure that the base of the canvas is adjacent to the body. The temperature inside the room near the entrance should not be allowed to drop below zero. In this case, frost formation can be avoided.
What to do?
If the front door is sweating, what should you do? How to fix the situation? In order not to encounter the problem of condensation, even when designing a private house, you need to think through some details:
- If condensation accumulates due to the difference temperature regime in front of and behind the entrance, then take care to equip a cool vestibule at the entrance. This will create a gradual transition from frosty air to warm air.
- Mount a small canopy or canopy over the entrance. Thanks to this, there will be no exposure to the rays of the sun and precipitation on the canvas from the outside.
- Experienced craftsmen advise covering the metal sheet with polymer powders. They have a weather-resistant treatment. Helps avoid the “struggle” of different temperatures.
- It is better to decorate the outside of the front door with panels that are impregnated with weather-resistant solutions. This will also serve as decoration.
- All cavities in metal parts It is better to fill it with foam for installation. This way, cold bridges will not form.
To visualize how to properly arrange the entrance to a private house, you can see step by step photos from the masters.
The distances between the walls and the frame must also be filled with foam. And the box, which is a profiled pipe, must be drilled in the marked places. Foam is pumped inside through the holes. It acts as insulation and does not let cold air in and warm air out.
There are times when all installation rules are followed, but the surface still sweats or freezes. What to do with it? This problem occurs due to the lining on the inside. If the canvas is covered with a material that does not allow warm air to pass through.
Results
So, there are several reasons for fogging of entrance doors in a private house. The main one is a low-quality product. Therefore, when purchasing, keep an eye on this. Otherwise, the front door installed in the house will not last long. Because “sweating” renders the product unusable. But, if you have looked through this nuance, then follow the recommendations presented. And the problem will be solved!
From the article you will learn:
Quite often in residential buildings you can see a picture like a foggy metal door. This is especially true for entrance doors that close Living spaces from the street. A foggy canvas not only does not look aesthetically pleasing, but also threatens to cause big troubles for the entrance structure in the future if the source of the problem is not eliminated in a timely manner.
Having understood the reasons for this phenomenon, it will be possible to determine a list of necessary measures aimed at eliminating the consequences of moisture settling on the door leaf.
The main reason for fogging of an iron door
The process of door fogging is the formation of condensation, the reason is a pronounced temperature difference between the air flows and the iron sheet, which contributes to the change state of aggregation water. When water hits a hot iron piece, it evaporates. With the formation of condensation on the door, the situation is similar, only in the opposite direction - the water does not evaporate, but freezes. When condensation forms, water collected from air masses collects on the door.
Thus, a sweaty door is a consequence of the accumulation of water released from the air, since the surface of the metal door leaf is much colder than the air.
The reason for this situation lies in defects or its complete absence. When the metal door to the street is not insulated at all, the problem is solved by filling the inside with insulation.
When the door is already insulated, but condensation still appears, it means the quality of the measures taken leaves much to be desired. Enough solve the problem of high-quality installation of insulation so that the door stops accumulating condensation. In other cases, sweating can be observed in the area where the lock part is located, as well as at the joints of the door and door frame. Perhaps the box itself is susceptible to fogging.
How to prevent condensation
In order to correctly select the sequence of actions to resolve the problem, you need to accurately determine the source that causes the condensation to appear. Thus, the solution to the problem, to begin with, lies in the search exact location where there is air passage and cooling.
- The reason lies in the lack of insulation or insufficient heat insulation of the connecting points, where the canvas is adjacent to the box. Air masses penetrating through the cracks in these places contribute to strong cooling of the metal, causing the release of water from the air and condensation on the metal surface. There is only one way out in the fight against this phenomenon - laying a seal around the entire perimeter of the door. The seal is made of rubber, with an adhesive base on one side. Since the sealing material is supposed to be self-fixed, it will be quite easy to install. You will need to open the door, stick the sealing tape around the entire perimeter, then proceed to apply the tape to the frame structure. As a result of such actions, the problem is easily eliminated, and the door is reliably protected from the penetration of cold from the street and the formation of condensation.
- If the problem lies in the keyhole and the cold penetrating through it, the fight will be difficult. The only one reliable way– complete filling of the hole with sealed material, however this method not suitable if the door is frequently used and active opening and closing of the lock is required. The only one possible way out– equip the keyhole with a special cover, which moves away only when the key is inserted into the lock. Thus, there is no complete solution to this problem, but the presence of an overlay will significantly reduce the extent of the problem.
- The junction of the box and the opening is poorly sealed. If the problem persists after treating the canvas and box with sealing tape, it means the installation seam is not sealed well enough. This omission should be blamed on the workers who installed the doors. When there is no frost, there are no problems with water condensation. The problem becomes more obvious as the cold gets worse. There are two solutions to this problem: re-sealing the seam with foam or making slopes with insulation. If you perform both options, successful removal of condensate is almost guaranteed. It is recommended to assemble the slopes and perform them thoroughly using polyurethane and foam sealant.
With the help of such actions, any zealous owner will not only get rid of the unpleasant phenomenon on the doors, but will also block the access of cold air inside the room, keeping the house warm and freeing the corridors from drafts.
Another option that will reliably protect against the appearance of ice and water condensation on the metal is the manufacture of a heated box.
Several ways to prevent fogging
To be absolutely sure that the sweating of the entrance metal door will not happen again, and also, in order to get rid of any drafts, you can take additional measures prevention:
- If there door slopes from the street side, they need to be insulated. If there are no slopes, it is recommended to make them. It would be optimal to make slopes from polystyrene foam within general works for insulating a house, if the procedure is carried out separately, first of all insulate the front door, leaving the remaining insulation work until a more appropriate time. It is recommended to seal the outside of the seam between the door opening and the frame and foam the door block.
- Second entrance wooden door installed additionally will completely prevent any cold from entering, creating an additional layer separating the street from the house. In this way, complete separation of air masses from the street occurs and warm air Houses. Neither drafts nor condensation will appear in the area where the metal door is located.
There is one more unique way to get rid of fogging, the issue is solved by using a special paint that promotes energy saving. This material is also called liquid insulation , and is most often used to protect pipelines. A layer of such paint will prevent air from entering the cold metal surface. As a result, water will have nowhere to accumulate, which means the metal door will stop sweating.
Condensation on the entrance metal door is one of the main problems of owners country houses. Let’s try to figure it out together why the door sweats and how to avoid this problem.
If a metal door is installed in a city apartment, its residents may not even be aware of the existence of such a problem as condensation on it.
But as soon as you install the same door as a street door in a private house, it begins to behave completely differently: in frosty weather, coldness blows from it, and droplets of water appear on the inner surface, which, if the airtightness is insufficient, turn into frost.
If, when ordering, you paid attention only to its anti-burglary qualities, but did not think about the features of its operation in the harsh conditions of our climate, then you should not be surprised why it sweats.
Why is this happening
Serious manufacturers always take care of their insulation and the absence of gaps between the canvas and the box. But these measures do not yet guarantee that condensation will not form on the door.
The fact is that metal has a very high thermal conductivity, which is almost three hundred times higher than the thermal conductivity of wood.
And even if you fill the cavity between the outer and internal lining insulation, there are still many parts in the structure that will conduct the cold - the so-called cold bridges. These include:
- Box
- Frame stiffeners
- Lock
It is precisely because the cold freely makes its way to the inside along these bridges that she sweats.
The air around it cools and cannot retain the moisture it contains. It falls to the surface in the form of dew drops.
Moreover, moisture can condense on both metal surfaces, and on the slopes around the opening. Especially if the canvas does not fit tightly enough to the box.
In this case, the temperature on the inner surface may drop below 0 degrees, and frost will form on it.
How to solve a problem
In order not to puzzle over why the door is sweating after installation and what to do about it, it is advisable to provide for some nuances during the design of the house.
- As you know, condensation forms on it due to the large difference in temperatures outside and inside the room. This means that this factor must be eliminated by installing an unheated vestibule at the entrance.
- Installing a canopy or canopy over the door will also help in some way to avoid such problems, since the outer surface of the canvas will not be exposed to direct sunlight or precipitation.
- It is desirable that the metal sheet be coated with special powder polymers with weather-resistant treatment.
- It will not be superfluous to finish the canvas on the outside decorative panels, impregnated with a special weather-resistant composition.
- To avoid the appearance of cold bridges, all hollow metal structural elements can be filled with polyurethane foam.
An unheated vestibule is made when a metal one is placed first at the entrance from the street, and then wood, plastic and any other is installed at the entrance to the residential area.
In this case, condensation does not form, since the temperature difference between the outside and inside the vestibule is not great. In addition, the second door cuts off humid air from the house from the metal one.
Attention! If you decide to put steel door directly at the entrance to the house, and the vestibule is equipped with an ordinary door that is not responsible for burglary resistance, then the temperature in the vestibule must be such that it exceeds the dew point. To do this, it is enough to install a fan heater there, which will warm the air and make it circulate.
In both cases, they must be airtight - equipped with a seal around the entire perimeter.
Installing a vestibule is the most effective, but not the only way to get rid of condensation.
If the house has already been built and there is no possibility of making a vestibule, you can insulate the entrance metal door with foam plastic from the outside, and then decorate it with weather-resistant decorative materials.
The space between the box and the walls must be filled with polyurethane foam. And if the box is a profiled hollow pipe, then holes are drilled in it in several places, through which the polyurethane foam, which is an excellent insulation material.
Why does the door sweat if all the above conditions are met? The reason for this may be its lining on the side of the living area of the surface with a material that prevents the penetration of warm air to the inner surface of the door and its heating.
And if the panel turns out to be vapor-permeable, and there is at least a small gap between the steel surface and the insulation, then the front door sweats inside, under the cladding, but you don’t see it. As a result, it can quickly fail.
So that during operation you do not have questions to the manufacturers about why condensate forms in cold weather, experts recommend taking into account the following points when placing an order:
- Separately discuss and order insulation of not only the door itself, but also the frame.
- Refuse to install a peephole in the door facing the street.
- Do not install locks with vertical bolts in such a door or do not connect vertical drive rods in cold weather.