Door Construction
Volume Discount Available. Call for details: (877) 747-5223.Door Construction and Components
- Panel Doors
- Plank and Batten Doors
- Ledged and Braced Doors
- Impact-Resistant Doors
- Frame and Filled Doors
- Flush Doors
- Moulded Doors
- Swing Direction
- Doorway Components
- Related Hardware
Panel doors, also called stile and rail doors, are built with frame and panel construction:
Stiles – Vertical boards that run the full height of a door and compose its right and left edges. The hinges are mounted to the fixed side (known as the “hanging stile”), and the handle, lock, bolt, and/or latch are mounted on the swinging side (known as the “latch stile”).
Rails – Horizontal boards at the top, bottom, and optionally in the middle of a door that join the two stiles and split the door into two or more rows of panels. The “top rail” and “bottom rail” are named for their positions. The bottom rail is also known as “kick rail”. A middle rail at the height of the bolt is known as the “lock rail”, other middle rails are commonly known as “cross rails”.
Mullions – Smaller optional vertical boards that run between two rails, and split the door into two or more columns of panels, the term is used sometimes for verticals in doors, but more often (UK and Australia) it refers to verticals in windows.
Muntin – Optional vertical members that divide the door into smaller panels.
Panels – Large, wider boards used to fill the space between the stiles, rails, and mullions. The panels typically fit into grooves in the other pieces, and help to keep the door rigid. Panels may be flat, or in raised panel designs.
Light or Lite – a piece of glass used in place of a panel, essentially giving the door a window.
Plank and batten doors are an older design consisting primarily of vertical slats:
Planks – Vertical boards that extend the full height of the door, and are placed side by side filling the door’s width.
Battens – Smaller slats that extend horizontally across the door which the planks are affixed to. The battens hold the planks together. Sometimes a long diagonal slat or two are also implemented to prevent the door from skewing. On some doors, especially antique ones, the battens are replaced with iron bars that are often built into the hinges as extensions of the door-side plates.
This type consists of vertical tongue and grooved boards held together with battens and diagonal braces.
Impact Resistant doors have rounded stile edges to dissipate energy and minimize edge chipping, scratching and denting. The formed edges are often made of an engineered material such as Acrovyn. Impact-resistant doors excel in high traffic areas such as hospitals, schools, and hotels.
This type consists of a solid timber frame, filled on one face, face with Tongue and Grooved boards. Quite often used externally with the boards on the weather face.
Many modern doors, including most interior doors, are flush doors:
Stiles and rails – As above, but usually smaller. They form the outside edges of the door.
Core material: Material within the door used simply to fill space, provide rigidity and reduce druminess.
Hollow-core – Often consists of a lattice or honeycomb made of corrugated cardboard, or thin wooden slats. Can also be built with staggered wooden blocks. Hollow-core flush doors are commonly used as interior doors.
Lock block – A solid block of wood mounted within a hollow-core flush door near the bolt to provide a solid and stable location for mounting the door’s hardware.
Stave-core – Consists of wooden slats stacked upon one another in a manner similar to a plank & batten door (though the slats are usually thinner) or the wooden-block hollow-core (except that the space is entirely filled).
Solid-core – Can consist of low-density particle board or foam used to completely fill the space within the door. Solid-core flush doors (especially foam-core ones) are commonly used as exterior doors because they provide more insulation and strength.
Skin – The front and back faces of the door are then covered with wood veneer, thin plywood, sheet metal, fiberglass, or vinyl. The wooden materials are usually layered with the grain alternating direction between layers to prevent warping. Fiberglass and metal-faced doors are sometimes given a layer of cellulose so that they may be stained to look like real wood.
Stiles and rails – As above, but usually smaller. They form the outside edges of the door.
Core material: Material within the door used simply to fill space, provide rigidity and reduce druminess.
Hollow-core – Often consists of a lattice or honeycomb made of corrugated cardboard, or thin wooden slats. Can also be built with staggered wooden blocks. Hollow-core flush doors are commonly used as interior doors.
Lock block – A solid block of wood mounted within a hollow-core flush door near the bolt to provide a solid and stable location for mounting the door’s hardware.
Stave-core – Consists of wooden slats stacked upon one another in a manner similar to a plank & batten door (though the slats are usually thinner) or the wooden-block hollow-core (except that the space is entirely filled).
Solid-core – Can consist of low-density particle board or foam used to completely fill the space within the door. Solid-core flush doors (especially foam-core ones) are commonly used as exterior doors because they provide more insulation and strength.
Skin – The front and back faces of the door are covered with HDF / MDF skins.
Door swings For most of the world, door swings, or handing, are determined while standing on the outside or less secure side of the door while facing the door (i.e., standing on the side you use the key on, going from outside to inside, or from public to private).
It is especially important to get the hand and swing right on exterior doors, as the transom is usually sloped and sealed to resist water entry, and to properly drain. In some custom millwork (or with some master carpenters), the manufacture or installer will bevel the leading edge (the first edge to meet the jamb as the door is closing) so that the door fits tight without binding. Specifying an incorrect hand and/or swing will cause the door to bind, not close properly, or leak (for exterior doors). Fixing this specification error will be expensive and/or time consuming. See note below for Australia where a different orientation is used.
In North America, many doors now come with factory-installed hinges, pre-hung on the jamb and sills.
To determine hand, stand on the outside (or less secure) side of the door. While facing the door, if the hinge is on the right side of the door, the door is “Right handed”; or if the hinge is on the left, it is “Left handed”.
If the door swings toward you, it is “Reverse swing”; or if the door swings away from you, it is “Normal swing”.
In other words:
Left hand hinge (LHH): Standing outside (or on the less secure side, or on the public side of the door), the hinges are on the left and the door opens in (away from you).
Right hand hinge (RHH): Standing outside (or on the less secure side), the hinges are on the right and the door opens in (away from you).
Left hand reverse (LHR): Standing outside the house (or on the less secure side), the hinges are on the left, knob of right, on opening the door it swings towards you (i.e. the door swings open towards the outside, or “outswing”)
Right hand reverse (RHR): Standing outside the house (i.e. on the less secure side), the hinges are on the right, knob of left, opening the door by pulling the door towards you (i.e. open swings to the outside, or “outswing”)
In public buildings, exterior doors should open to the outside in order to comply with any fire codes that may be in force in that jurisdiction. If the door opens inward and there is a fire, there can be a crush of people who run for the door and they will not be able to open it.
Dimensions
A standard US residential door size is 36″ x 80″ (0.91 m x 2.03 m).
Exterior and passage (room to room) doors: Standard door sizes in the US are from 2′-6″ to 3′-0″ wide, increasing in 2″ increments. Most residential interior doors are 2′-6″ wide except when designed to allow wheelchair access, then 3′-0″. Residential doors are often 6′-8′ high, as are many small stores, offices, and other light commercial buildings. Larger commercial, public buildings and grand homes often use doors of greater height. Older buildings often have smaller doors.
Closets: small spaces such as closets, dressing rooms, half-baths, storage rooms, cellars, etc. often are accessed through doors smaller than passage doors in one or both dimensions but similar in design.
Garages: Garage doors are generally 7′-0″ or 8′-0″ wide for a single-car opening.
When framed in wood for snug fitting of a door, the doorway consists of two vertical jambs on either side, a lintel or head jamb at the top, and perhaps a threshold at the bottom. When a door has more than one movable section, one of the sections may be called a leaf. See door furniture for a discussion of attachments to doors such as door handles and doorknobs.
Lintel – A horizontal beam above a door that supports the wall above it. (Also known as a header)
Jambs – The vertical posts that form the sides of a door frame, where the hinges are mounted, and with which the bolt interacts.
Sill – A horizontal beam below the door that supports the frame
Doorstop – a thin slat built inside the frame to prevent a door from swinging through when closed, which might break the hinges.
Architrave – The decorative molding that outlines a door frame. (called an Archivolt if the door is arched). Called door casing or brickmold in North America.
Door hardware refers to any of the items that are attached to a door or a drawer to enhance its functionality or appearance. This includes items such as hinges, handles, door stops, etc.
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