A door is the one building element people touch every day. It also sets the first impression of a house from outside, which means the decision sits awkwardly between engineering and aesthetics.
This guide covers the uPVC door types available, what each is good at, and how to match one to the architecture you are working with.
Start with what the door has to do
Before style, three practical questions settle most of the decision.
Where does it lead? A main entrance, a balcony, a utility area and a bedroom door are four different problems. Security matters at an entrance and barely at all on an internal door. Weather sealing matters on anything facing outside.
How much space is there? A swinging door needs clear arc on one side. In a compact flat or on a narrow balcony that space may simply not exist, which settles the question before style enters into it.
How wide is the opening? Beyond a certain width, a single hinged leaf becomes heavy and unwieldy. Wide openings need sliding, bi-fold, or a paired arrangement.
The door types available
Sliding doors
Panels running on tracks, sliding past one another. Nothing swings, so no floor space is consumed on either side.
The default for balcony and terrace access in apartments, and increasingly for garden access in houses. Available across the sliding series, with deeper sections for larger openings — a full-height balcony door is a very different structural proposition from a bedroom window.
Best for: balconies, terraces, garden access, anywhere floor space is constrained.
Casement doors
Hinged, swinging open like a conventional door, closing against a compressed perimeter gasket.
The sealing advantage is the same as for casement windows — better air-tightness, better acoustic performance, better resistance to driven rain. For an external door on an exposed elevation, that is worth having.
Eumax manufactures a dedicated 60mm casement door series, which is a heavier section than the equivalent window profile because a door carries more weight and takes more use.
Best for: main entrances, external doors on exposed elevations, anywhere sealing matters and swing space exists.
Bi-fold doors
Multiple panels hinged to each other, folding concertina-fashion and stacking to one side.
The advantage over sliding is that a bi-fold can open almost the entire width, where a sliding door always leaves at least one panel in place. For an opening between a living room and a terrace, that difference is the reason to choose it.
They need somewhere for the stack to sit, and more hardware than any other door type — which means hardware quality matters more.
Best for: wide openings where a full clear span is wanted, living-to-terrace transitions.
French doors
A pair of hinged doors, both leaves largely glazed, opening from the centre. The appeal is symmetry and light — a French door reads as a glazed opening rather than as a door in a wall.
Eumax produces these from the 60mm casement door profile, which is the same section used for single openable doors. That matters practically: French doors inherit the casement sealing advantage, closing against a compressed perimeter gasket rather than a brush strip.
They need swing space for two leaves, which is the main constraint. Where that space exists — a living room opening onto a garden or a wide terrace — they give a clear opening close to the full width, without the track hardware a sliding door carries.
Best for: garden and terrace openings in independent houses, formal room-to-room transitions, anywhere symmetry is wanted at the opening.
Designer doors
Panelled doors where the leaf itself carries a designed profile — mouldings, panel divisions, decorative glazing.
Used where the door is a visual statement rather than purely functional, most often at a main entrance. Available in the laminated finishes, which is usually the point: a woodgrain designer door reads as timber without any of the timber maintenance.
Best for: main entrances, villa frontages, anywhere the door is meant to be noticed.
Matching door to architecture
Contemporary and minimal
Slim sightlines, large glazed areas, restrained detailing. Sliding and bi-fold doors suit this directly — they read as glass with minimal framing.
Finishes tend toward Metallic Grey, grey or white. Avoid heavily moulded panel designs, which fight the architecture.
Traditional and classical
Balanced proportions, defined panels, symmetry. Designer doors with panel divisions work well here, particularly in woodgrain laminates that reference timber without imitating it clumsily.
Casement doors suit this style better than sliding, because a hinged door reads as traditional in a way a track-mounted one does not.
Villa and independent houses
Usually a mix. A designer casement door at the main entrance, sliding doors to the garden and terraces, and casement doors on secondary external openings.
Consistency of finish across all of them matters more than consistency of type. A house where every external door shares one laminate finish reads as designed, even where the types differ.
Apartments
Space usually dictates the answer. Sliding for the balcony, casement or a standard leaf at the entrance where the corridor allows the swing.
Finish
White remains the baseline and is the most thermally forgiving choice.
The laminated series is where most door decisions actually land, because a door is where a finish is seen closest and most often. Woodgrain, Metallic Grey and Black are all produced by bonding a decorative film to the profile under heat and pressure before fabrication — so the finish is part of the profile rather than a coating on it, and it does not need recoating.
For a door in direct afternoon sun, be aware that darker finishes absorb more heat. In most Indian conditions this is a comfort consideration rather than a structural one, but it is worth weighing for a large west-facing glazed door.
Security
For an external door, three things matter more than the material.
Multi-point locking. Engages at several points up the height of the door rather than at the handle alone. On an entrance door this should not be optional.
Reinforcement. Steel through the frame and leaf. A door takes more force than a window and needs the section behind the lock to resist it.
Glazing. Where a door is substantially glazed, laminated glass is the sensible specification. It holds together when broken rather than creating an opening.
Practical points that get overlooked
- Threshold detail. Where the door meets the floor is where water gets in. Worth asking how it is detailed, particularly on a balcony door that will take driven rain.
- Handle height and type — a small thing used every day.
- Which way it opens. Inward, outward, and which side is hinged. Easy to get wrong on a drawing and expensive to change afterwards.
- Insect screening. If a door will stand open, decide about screens before installation rather than retrofitting.
Get the type right for the opening and the finish consistent across the house, and the door will look considered rather than chosen. That is most of what good door specification amounts to.
Frequently asked questions
Which uPVC door type is best for a balcony?
A sliding door in most cases, because nothing swings and no balcony floor space is consumed. Where the opening is wide and a full clear span is wanted, a bi-fold door opens almost the entire width, though it needs somewhere for the stacked panels to sit.
What security features should an external uPVC door have?
Multi-point locking that engages at several points up the height of the door rather than at the handle alone, steel reinforcement through the frame and leaf, and laminated glass where the door is substantially glazed. Laminated glass holds together when broken rather than creating an opening.
Do uPVC doors come in wood finishes?
Yes. The laminated series includes woodgrain finishes in oak, walnut, teak and mahogany tones, bonded to the profile under heat and pressure before fabrication. The finish is part of the profile rather than a coating, so it does not need recoating — which is the main reason to choose it over timber.
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