When choosing secure doors for industrial or commercial buildings, strength and durability are very important, along with meeting fire regulations and accessibility needs. But which heavy duty door type offers the best protection against break-ins or vandalism?
While there are several sturdy commercial-grade options, steel security doors stand out as having almost unmatched structural strength. Under extreme impacts, battering, prying, drilling or cutting, the metallic molecular bonds in steel retain their shape even when most other building materials would fail.
Certification standards like LPS 1175, PAS 24 and STS 202 test steel doors to quantify their resilience against manual tools and physical force applied by intruders trying to get in.
For facility owners/managers making impenetrable perimeter security the top priority, understanding why steel doors outperform other commercial options provides valuable perspective.
Even very thick wooden doors made of strong wood like oak rank among the least secure choices. Wood tends to crack and then splinter under heavy impacts as the wood fibre matrix structure breaks once the initial bonds snap.
Even very sturdy wood doors eventually fail against prolonged physical attacks – unlike steel’s unmatched strength under stress.
uPVC (unplasticized polyvinyl chloride) doors provide decent thermal insulation for energy savings, but the malleable uPVC material lacks steel’s rigid security capabilities. uPVC doors fall much quicker than steel equivalents against attacks by power tools, blunt objects or simply repeated body slams.
A popular resilient alternative combines insulating foam between two protective steel skins, forming reinforced rigid barriers. Although quite robust against smash and grab assaults, composite doors still rank behind purposely engineered high-security steel doors in protection ratings and attack resistance testing.
Steel doors outperform all other heavy duty door types in independent security assessments and building standards. Their unmatched brute-force durability stems largely from the attributes of steel itself at a molecular level.
Interlocked steel molecules bonded under tremendous compression forces strongly resist penetration attempts. Steel’s atomic bonds maintain structural integrity much longer than other materials like wood, plastic or glass that shatter, crack warp under enough stress. This ruggedness makes steel the supreme choice for specialised ultra-secure applications.
Additionally, steel security door designs intentionally build on steel’s natural strengths to create formidable barriers. Robust steel bordering heavy-duty multi-point locks and reinforced frames compound steel door resilience for keeping threats at bay.
For industrial sites prioritising impenetrable perimeter defence, steel doors categorically reign as the strongest option.
Drawing from decades of experience engineering secure doors, Bradbury Group leads in designing bespoke steel solutions, fulfilling orders from single doors to large multi-door projects.
Our heavy duty steel door options include:
Our M2M+24 is an entry level security, high strength door that offers enhanced security performance. It has been tested to ensure it can withstand opportunist burglary attempts and comes with the Secured by Design Police Preferred Specification.
Our M2M2, M2M3 and M2M4 maximum strength steel doors are certified not just for basic burglary resistance, but to the more rigorous LPS 1175 SR2 to SR4 standards. These standards test their ability to withstand attacks from high impact power tools like rams, sledgehammers, and cutting equipment.
To learn more about securing your premises with the best of bespoke steel engineering, contact our team today. Discover firsthand how expert steel door construction can translate your vision into reality.
