The "Dirty T" may not sound like the most attractive place to live, but that unfortunate moniker belies what makes Tucson so special. Nestled in the Sonoran Desert, the city is a beacon for sunlight, experiencing up to 350 sunny days every year, so it's no surprise that it attracts prospective homeowners from far and wide.
Perhaps you're one of those homeowners, and now, you're looking for a way to add value to your sun-drenched property. Your budget may allow for a little extravagance, especially given that Tucson's cost of living is 6% below the national average, so why not use a little of that money to make your home a sparkling beauty that's in keeping with the culture, art, and climate for which Tucson is renowned?
PINKYS can help you choose beautiful wrought iron doors that draw inspiration from our California roots.
What Makes Wrought Iron Doors So Special?
Let's play a little word association game.
If we were to say the word "iron" to you, what are the first words that spring to mind? Tough? Strength? Power? These are all great words (and they're perfect descriptors for a metal that has found hundreds of uses over the centuries), but strength and toughness are far from the only things that iron brings to the table. Elegance – specifically the intricate designs created by metal manufacturers who fashion the iron into something special for your house – is another word we can use to describe this metal. So here are four reasons why iron is so special in the context of home design.
Better Security
It's best to start by getting the obvious out of the way - when it comes to home safety and security, there are plenty of reasons why you want a door that's as tough as iron.
As beautiful a city as Tucson may be, it experiences crime just like any city in America. According to Neighborhood Scout, the Arizona city experiences 21,742 property-related crimes (covering everything from vandalism to breaking and entering) every single year. For context, that means that 40.02 out of 1,000 Tucson residents will be victims of property crimes this year alone.
Of course, those numbers take business properties into account, meaning that the 21,742 crimes aren't solely focused on homes. But it's also clear that you still need to create as safe a home as possible. And that may include whatever iron additions are available to you, to avoid becoming another Tucson resident who falls victim to property crime.
An iron door offers the security you need, unlike wood which can leave you open to criminals.
And unlike cast iron, wrought iron contains slag, which is the term used for the runoff that's produced during the iron smelting process. That slag makes wrought iron more malleable, meaning it's easier to shape into the attractive designs you see adorning many iron doors. But that malleability also plays a role in security, as wrought iron will bend further and be more flexible than its cast iron equivalent, making it far less likely to break under heavy pressure from a potential intruder.
Customized Curb Appeal
First impressions matter when you're selling your home.
If you think of homebuyers as your customers, you know you need to impress those customers on their first visit if you're going to stand a chance of selling them your product (i.e., your home). The stats show that buyers are hoping your home will wow them from the first look.
According to research from Strutt and Parker, 76% of homebuyers say that first impressions are everything when they visit a property. That first impression starts with the home's frontage, with the garden you've designed and how it meshes with your front door to demonstrate what's so special about the building. Ensuring you provide the right first impression is critical if you're selling your home online, too, with the same Strutt and Parker survey showing that 66% of people call first impressions "vital" when they're looking at homes via the web.
Of course, maintaining an attractive frontage isn’t just for when you want to sell your home. For many, a wrought iron door is simply an attractive (and secure) decorative piece that makes them feel content whenever they look at their home from the curb.
No Warping or Rotting
As attractive as a wooden door installation may be (especially if you want to achieve a rustic look), you have a problem to handle - the constant ongoing maintenance.
Opinions vary on how long a wooden door will last before it starts to rot or warp, with some sources saying up to 50 years, while others suggest you'll get about 20 or 30 years of use out of the door. But no matter what source you check, they'll all tell you that you need to go to great pains to maximize a wood door's lifespan. Regular painting and finishing can protect the wood against the effects of repeated exposure to the elements. Without that, the wood gets exposed to the point where it starts to rot or warp, compromising its strength and putting your house (and the valuables it contains) at risk.
With wrought iron doors installed, you don't have to worry so much about sticking to a maintenance schedule to keep the door in one piece. With proper rustproofing (which you get with iron doors from PINKYS), the material can stand up to a lifetime of regular use, meaning you're not going to have to replace your iron door every few decades.
Welcome Light Into Your Home
When you think of iron doors, you may imagine a solid slab of drab metal bringing down the look of your home's frontage. But at PINKYS, form is just as important as function, which is why many of our iron doors feature windows designed to permit light into your space.
Windows in iron doors complete and complement your home's frontage, allowing streams of light to pour into rooms. That light does more than just make the items in the room – furniture, artwork, etc.– more visible, as it can also create the illusion that the space is grander (i.e., larger) than it really is.
The Different Styles of Wrought Iron Doors
At PINKYS, we serve our clients by offering a variety of styles of wrought iron doors for homes, as well as steel doors for those who prefer a different metal. Here are seven types of wrought iron doors you can choose from with PINKYS.
Pivot Door
Add a unique flair to your home with pivot doors, which eschew traditional side-mounted hinges to instead operate from a central pivot point located at the top or bottom of the door. Pivot doors give you more options in terms of the material used, in addition to being larger than standard doors.
Pocket Door
Do you have a little reading nook that you'd like to separate from a larger space? Perhaps you have a small bathroom, and you find that a standard in-swing door makes it difficult to maneuver around the room. In both cases, a pocket door, which slides open instead of swinging, is a great option when space is at a premium.
Dutch Iron Door
Split horizontally in half, a Dutch iron door allows you to swing the bottom or top half of the door open as you see fit. Dutch iron doors combine security, practicality, and a sense of luxury. We're particular fans of these doors because their split style lets air flow more easily between rooms, in addition to offering a barrier to keep explorative kids and pets from escaping the home.
Thermally Broken Iron Door
When the mercury drops and it starts to get cold outside (which is admittedly a rarity in Tucson), you want a door that helps keep your house warm. Thermally broken iron doors are made using two layers of metal, with a gap in between that's filled with non-insulative polyurethane. That material blocks hot air from escaping into the great outdoors when the weather is cold, in addition to keeping warm air out (and cool air in) during hot Tuscan days.
Sliding Door
Built with preserving as much of your space as possible in mind, sliding doors make for perfect entry doors when you enter into a narrow passageway. Instead of having to accommodate a door that needs room to open and close, you get the freedom to place any items of furniture you want near the area without worrying about the door slamming into it every time it opens.
Barn Door
Used in the business world for years, in industries as varied as agriculture, retail, and aviation, barn doors have made their way into the home. With their rigid support systems (meaning barn doors can be heavier than your standard iron doors), barn doors slide open on an overhead track, saving space for your much-loved furniture and artwork.
French Door
Welcome a small slice of Renaissance-era France into your home with luxury French doors. Ideal for filling a large wall (meaning you can create a beautiful wall-to-glass effect), these doors have a grid-like pattern that welcomes natural sunlight into your home. Aesthetically, these doors add a sense of grandeur, drama, and elegance to a space, though it's their functionality that makes them popular as both patio and entry doors.
Complement Your New Door with Design Features That Emphasize Your Home's Style
If your new wrought iron entry door is the centerpiece of your home's frontage, these four design features (both interior and exterior) can complement the luxurious look you want to create.
Install a Wrought Iron Fence or Iron Gates
Complete the look of your home's frontage (and emphasize your iron-based style) when you combine your iron door with iron gates or a fence.
Imagine a visitor arriving at your home and being greeted by the sight of a stunning iron gate (perhaps adorned with an emblem or luxurious latticework). They enter the gates and proceed up the driveway, flanked by beautiful iron fences along the way, only to reach a stunning iron door from PINKYS.
If you're looking for instant curb appeal, that three-punch combo of an iron door, gate, and fence is sure to floor your visitors.
Build a Custom Wrought Iron Pool Fence
As picturesque as your outdoor pool may be, there's no denying that it can be a threat to any children or pets you have in your home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) outlines that fact with statistics, as it highlights that 4,000 fatal (and unintentional) drownings occur in the United States annually. Combine that with the 8,000 non-fatal drownings that happen each year and it's clear that your pool could become a problem if it isn't properly safeguarded.
A wrought iron pool fence creates the sturdy barrier you need to keep your kids out of the pool when they're unsupervised. And as a bonus, the material used for the fence perfectly complements your iron door.
Purchase Pretty Sidelights
When night descends on your Tucson home, the sleek black lines of your iron or steel doors might fade into the background. But sidelights can illuminate them and make them the center of attention again. Additionally, a light installation that focuses on the door can create a halo effect that can help it shine like a wrought iron star in the night.
Open Up Interior Spaces with Attractive Furniture
Several of the iron doors that PINKYS offer are designed to save interior space by sliding open instead of swinging into the room. Barn doors, sliding doors, and even pivot doors perform this space-saving task brilliantly, giving you the room you need to install artwork and furniture in spaces previously off-limits because of a swinging door.
Contact PINKYS for a Free Design Consultation
If we can borrow an old idiom, it's time to strike while the (wrought) iron is hot and choose a stunning iron door that will provide you with the luxury and security you need for your home. PINKYS's range of designs extends from simple and stylish single-panel entry doors to huge French doors that can span the length and width of an expansive entryway when installed.
Our doors are built to order (based on your specifications), and we're ready to schedule a consultation. Contact our business to discover how our variety of iron doors can help you create your own little slice of paradise in your Tucson home.
