Wooden front door canopies

To make absolutely sure your door canopy fits with the aesthetics of your home (and your porch in particular), you may decide to install one made with shingles. These timber canopies are made with a sheet of roofing felt onto which the shingles are laid. The roofing felt's purpose is to create a smooth surface which provides ample support for the relatively heavy shingles. You can choose from various colours and shapes for the shingles to make sure they fit with the rest of your home.

Shingles are highly resistant to rain, snow and hail and are highly durable compared to some other materials. They're also low-maintenance, as rainwater clears any grime that may collect on the shingles. Over the years, moss may start to grow, however. This can decrease their structural integrity and change your door canopy's look. More importantly, the support rafters of a timber canopy may be damaged from long-term moss growth. You should get rid of any moss infestation right away.

If you're looking for a more modern design, combining timber with curved or straight glass panes is a great option. You're basically combining one of the most traditional building materials available with a sleek modern material for a completely unique look. At windows24.com, you'll find the following types of glazing elements for porch and door canopies:

• Acrylic (similar to fibreglass)
• Multi-layer (polycarbonate)
• Laminated safety glazing 

Both acrylic and multi-layer polycarbonate glazing elements are made of transparent plastics, while laminated safety glazing consists of multiple layers of real glass bonded together by a transparent plastic film. This film is highly tear-resistant, which means that if the panes are ever shattered, the shards will stick to the film. This type of glazing element is often used for windows to make them more secure against burglars. Since the film prevents injuries from stray glass shards, it's also used for door canopies.

The main advantage of a glazed door canopy on your porch (in contrast to one covered with shingles) is that the smooth surface makes it much harder for grime or moss to accumulate. Thus, glazing elements require less maintenance, though acrylic and polycarbonate materials can be scratched more quickly – which is definitely not the case for shingles.

These door canopies feature a straightforward projection. They're pitched to ensure water can run off efficiently. This style is timelessly minimalistic, offering a lot of room for customisation. Naturally, the projection is what catches your eye, creating a very different look compared to other canopy shapes.

You can also choose to have a console canopy that's not pitched as strongly. If this is the case, you should invest in a gutter system to drain the rainwater more efficiently from your entrance area.

Gable canopies mirror the shape of most roofs, with two pitched sides, like a small portico. Not only does this make the canopy fit with most houses and doors, but it also helps water or snow to run off.

Since most houses feature roofs in the same shape, gable canopies can look very traditional. A gable canopy made of wooden supports and shingles may just be the most traditional option we have at windows24.com. Naturally, this setup fits perfectly with timber doors and windows.

Hip door canopies are one of the more popular options you can choose at windows24.com, as the three pitched sides are both efficient when it comes to protection against the sun and the rain not to mention interesting to look at.

These door canopies are perfect for houses with hip roofs, as they mirror their shape. Of course, you can also mount them over your doorway if you have a gable roof, creating an interesting geometric eye-catcher.

A timber door canopy over the entrance to your house or porch provides a great look and reliable protection against bad weather. But another advantage of timber is that the material 'breathes' throughout the year. In other words, the material adapts to the environment, temperature and humidity. So aside from simply being an aesthetic choice, the material of the support structure also influences other factors. For example, metal supports may heat up during the summer months, unlike their counterparts made of softwood.

So, picking timber as a building material isn't just the more traditional choice; it may also have practical effects. Don't worry – you still have the option of a glazed door or porch canopy with wooden brackets if you prefer a more modern look.

windows24.com sells door canopies as convenient kits, including everything you need to install them (except for tools). You can ask a professional builder to install your door canopy kit, this may be more costly, but it's safer, too. Wooden door canopies with glazing elements or shingles can be quite heavy, making it harder to install them if you don't have a helper or two. Luckily, wooden supports are a bit lighter than metal ones, making them easier to mount. The kit includes a manual that'll walk you through the entire process step-by-step.

When installing your front door canopy, keep the following things in mind to ensure it'll reliably protect your door:

• Install a functioning gutter system
• Always mount the support structure securely on the wall
• Keep the insulation of the wall in mind when drilling  

No matter what type of door or porch canopy you mount above your door, you need to ensure rainwater can run off easily. If left on the door canopy, this water may damage the surface by providing nourishment for mosses or by running into the material and freezing in the winter, which may create cracks. In the warmer months, stagnant water may even cause the supports to rot, creating a safety hazard over time.

To prevent this, you need to mount the canopy over your door correctly so that water can simply run off.