A storm door is a type of door

Door

A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....

 that is installed in front of an exterior access door to protect it from bad weather

Weather

Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...

 and allow ventilation

Ventilation (architecture)

Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...

. Storm doors typically have interchangeable glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

 panels and window screen

Window screen

A window screen, insect screen or bug screen is a metal wire, fiberglass, or other synthetic fiber mesh, stretched in a frame of wood or metal, designed to cover the opening of an open window. Its primary purpose is to keep leaves, debris, insects, birds, and other animals from entering a building...

 panels to provide visibility and prevent flying insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s from entering the home.

Construction

Storm doors are typically made from wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 and plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

s such as vinyl

Vinyl

A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...

 (PVC

PVC

Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...

) and fiberglass

Fiberglass

Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...

. There are three basic types of storm doors: Full-View, Retractable Screen, and Ventilating.

Full-View storm doors typically include a full glass panel and an interchangeable full screen.

Retractable Screen storm doors feature a screen that is rolled up into the frame of the storm door when not in use.

Ventilating storm doors typically include a full or half screen that is always in position on the storm door.

Wood

Wood was the original material from which storm doors were made. While wooden screen doors can be visually the most appealing, the wood itself requires painting or some other form of coating to protect it from the weather. Wooden screen doors less than one inch thick are used primarily as screen doors with no glass installed. Using wood thicker than one inch allows the storm door frame to accommodate glass panels. The door also becomes more rigid and durable as the thickness increases.

Aluminum

The main advantage of aluminum over wood as a storm door material is aluminum’s corrosion

Corrosion

Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

 resistance. Aluminum storm doors do not need to be painted repeatedly to protect them from the elements. Aluminum storm doors are available in a variety of thicknesses. All of these thicknesses can accommodate interchangeable glass and screen panels.

The least expensive storm doors are the thinnest. As the storm door frame gets thicker, the door frame becomes more rigid. The strength and rigidity of the door is limited however, by the relatively brittle aluminum alloy corners that hold the frame together. If the door gets blown open during a storm, the corners can crack and the door will lose its strength. The corners however, can be replaced if parts can be found.

PVC and fibreglass

Materials such as PVC

Polyvinyl chloride

Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...

 and fibreglass offer the most corrosion resistance of all when used in a storm door. They can also be moulded in such a way as to realistically mimic wood grain to provide the appearance of a wooden storm door. PVC or “vinyl” storm doors often require internal steel frames to provide the necessary strength to the door. However, extruded PVC doors offer extraordinary strength.

PVC is a controversial material in that during its production, useful life and incineration, especially in accidental and uncontrolled circumstances, it may liberate persistent toxins (see PVC Health and Safety section).

Fibreglass storm door frames are extremely strong, but the material is more expensive. Both PVC and fibreglass storm doors incorporate chemicals to slow the effects of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. UV radiation tends to make plastics become brittle. Again thicker doors have an advantage.

New technology has made extruded PVC doors more durable. This product is not likely to yellow, peal, crack, contract, expand or warp. Since it is made of PVC, this product does not need any painting even if scratched.

PVC doors are welded at the corners, and it is impossible for them to fall apart, separate or go out of square. The welding makes them extremely hard and durable. Because of the welding, there are no screws that will create wear and tear and separation at the corners.

Types of Storm Doors

Storm doors come in three different styles.
1. Full view. A full view storm door means that there is a full length glass panel that has to be physically changed out if you want a screen in it. The unused panel of glass or screen is then stored for future use.
2. Ventilating. A ventilating style means that there are 2 glass panels and 1-2 screen panels in the door at the same time. The glass panel(s) move up or down in order to reveal the screen. This is convenient if you want to get cross ventilation in the house without the inconvenience of removing and storing a glass or screen panel.
3. Rollscreen. This is a relatively new hybrid of the full view and ventilating storm doors. The screen is connected to the top window of the storm door, and when not in use it automatically rolls up on a tensioned dowel in the top of the door. This gives you a full-view door when the screen is not in use, and a ventilating door when it is.

See also

• Screen door
  Screen door
  A screen door can refer to a hinged storm door or hinged screen door covering an exterior door; or a screened sliding door used with sliding glass doors. In any case, the screen door incorporates screen mesh to block flying insects from entering and pets and small children from exiting interior...
  
  
• Storm cellar
  Storm cellar
  A storm shelter or storm cellar is a type of underground bunker designed to protect the occupants from violent severe weather, particularly tornadoes...
  
  
• Storm drain
  Storm drain
  A storm drain, storm sewer , stormwater drain or drainage well system or simply a drain or drain system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from paved streets, parking lots, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems...
  
  
• Storm room
  Storm room
  In parts of the United States where homes do not have basements and construction of storm cellars are becoming rare, storm rooms are gaining popularity as a defense against tornadoes and other storms....
  
  
• Storm windows
  Storm windows
  Storm windows are windows which are mounted outside or inside of the main glass windows of a house. It may also refer to a small openable flap found in the side window on light aircraft....