Door Terminology (A-H)

Active Door/Primary Door: This is the main door in a set of double doors. With our products, both doors in a set of double doors are able to open, but the primary door always has to open first. The Secondary Door is held in place with Flush Bolts. 

ADA Threshold/Flat Threshold: This is a threshold that complies with the American’s with Disabilities Act. It is flat so a wheelchair has an easier time rolling over it. All doors for commercial projects are required to come with an ADA threshold. They are also required on pivot doors and outswing doors. If someone needs an ADA threshold, it is automatically a custom order.

Adjustable Threshold: This is the standard threshold which comes with all of our doors. It has a strip that can be adjusted up or down with several screws in order to customize the seal for different types of weather or humidity. This typically has to be adjusted seasonally.

Aluminum Cladding: A thick metal panel with a powder coating finish applied to the exterior side of a door to protect it from sunlight, impact damage, and extreme weather conditions. This makes a door virtually maintenance free and gives it a vault-like feel. A door with aluminum cladding must be equipped with concealed hinges and a multipoint locking mechanism to support the additional weight of the metal. Aluminum cladding is especially beneficial in hot, sunny climates.

Astragal: This is a component that covers the gap between a pair of double doors. On our doors, there is one part on the exterior side which is attached to the primary door, and one part on the interior side of the secondary door. They overlap and have weather stripping to prevent wind and water from coming in.

Backset: This is usually in reference to hardware. This is the distance from the center of the lock bore to the lock edge of the door. Standard backset for tubular locks is 2-3/8″, standard for mortise lock is 2-1/2″.

Beveled Glass: This is a decorative feature added to some glass. Each pane of beveled glass is triple glazed and individually sealed, which means beveled glass is always True Divided. Only clear or Satinato (frosted) glass can be beveled. True Divided Glass requires thicker mullions (2-3/8″) to protect the seal.

Bore: A hole cut into a door that allows for the installation of a lock. There are several types of locks which all require different bores and lock preparations, tubular, mortise, smart lock, and multipoint.

Brick Opening/Masonry Opening: This is a doorway built from any type of stone. Sometimes we need the dimensions of the brick opening when selecting the proper unit size for a project. It is the same size as the door unit WITH the brickmould because this always need to fit within the dimensions of masonry opening. A brick opening is not a suitable substitute for a unit size.

Brickmould: This is decorative trim which is applied to the exterior side of the door to cover the gap between the building and the frame. The door unit should always be slightly smaller than the rough opening, and this gap is typically messy with insulation and shims after installation. The brickmould covers this up and it’s stained the same color as the door for a neat finish. Brickmould has nothing to do with brick, any building material will probably require brickmould unless the builder has another plan design feature in mind to cover this gap. The interior side of the door will need casing to cover this gap, we don’t provide casing.

Caming/Leading: A metal strip used to hold pieces of smaller decorative glass in place to create a pattern. It’s also called leading in reference to stained glass.

Casing: Decorative trim attached to the interior edge of a window or door frame. It covers the gap where the door frame meets the wall. We don’t typically provide casing, the one exception is our modern interior doors which come with matching casing.

Concealed/Hidden/Invisible Hinge: A hinge that is not visible when the door is closed. It is mortised into the door slab and frame and is stronger than a typical hinge. It creates a cleaner look and is very popular on modern doors. Our in-stock doors can’t come with concealed hinges, they are only available on custom doors. 

Deadbolt: The locking portion of exterior hardware. This is usually a large piece of metal that extends into the jamb of the door and keeps it shut even when the latch is retracted. The bolt can be retracted from the exterior side with a key or smart locking device. Mortise lockset hardware locks from both the deadbolt and the latch, but other locking mechanisms have latches that don’t lock.

Design Drawing: An architectural line image of a custom door that allows the customer to see what they are getting before they place their order. It is created by an in-house designer and is much less detailed than our Factory Drawings. Design Drawings are intended to finalize the visual aspects of an order, and might look slightly different from the final factory drawing.

Direct-Set: Used to describe a Sidelight or Transom which don’t have stile and rail construction, the glass is only held in place by the frame. It creates a cleaner, sleeker, more modern look and is often paired with flush, aluminum clad, and pivot doors.

Double Door: A single unit with two doors. With our double doors, both doors are always functional. The primary door must be opened first and the secondary door is held in place with flush bolts. Our double doors come with astragals to cover the gap between the doors and prevent wind and water from coming in. When both doors are open, there is no bar in the middle.

Double Rabbet Frame: A rabbet is a step carved into a material. A double rabbeted frame has two rabbets which creates a better seal for weatherproofing. Our pivot doors are all double rabbeted.

Double-Acting Door: Door which can swing both inward and outward. They are common on commercial kitchens. We don’t sell any double-acting doors.

Dutch Door: A single door that allows the top panel and bottom panel to open independently. The leaves are held together with a bolt.

Estimate: An approximate range of the price and lead time required for an order. We submit preliminary estimates through email, which are broad ranges provided before we have all the details to help the customer determine if our products will work for their budget and schedule. Official estimates are created in QuickBooks once all of the cost-related details have been determined. Estimates are subject to change until the order becomes a Sales Order. 

Face Bore: A hole that is drilled into the front of the door as part of the lock preparation. 

Factory Drawing: An architectural line drawing created before a door goes into production. This is rendered by the manufacturer and has all the true dimensions and technical specifications. A customer must review and sign this drawing before their order can go into production. the lead time doesn’t start until this document has been signed.

Floor Clearance: A measure of the space between the floor and the bottom of the door. This is typically only specified on interior doors. Sometimes customers need to adjust the clearance to allow for high-pile rugs or provide ventilation.

Flush Bolt: A bolt installed in double doors to hold the secondary door in place.

Flush Construction: A smooth door with no visible stiles or rails. This is common for projects which are aiming for a sleek, modern look. Flush doors are typically more prone to warping because of their construction, but our Euro Technology provides stability which avoids these concerns.

Frame: The structure that the door attaches to which creates the doorway. The frame is always designed to be perfectly compatible with the slab. The frame of one manufacturer won’t fit the door from another. If you measure a “standard” size door, you’ll find it’s never exactly 36″ x 80″. that’s because the manufacturer modified it to create a better seal with their frame.

French Door: This is not an official term, but it is generally used to describe a set of full-glass, double doors.

Handing/Swing: Describes the direction the door opens and the placement of the handle. The best way to determine this is to look at a door from the EXTERIOR side and see which side the HINGES are on. The door will naturally swing towards the hinges. If the hinges are on the LEFT, it’s a LEFT HAND door, if they are on the RIGHT, it’s a RIGHT HAND door. If the door swings INTO the structure, it’s an INSWING door, if it swings OUT, it’s an OUTSWING door. Commercial buildings are almost always OUTSWING and residential buildings are almost always INSWING. Outswing doors are always custom and must come with an ADA threshold. Pivot and concealed hinge doors are not available in outswing.

Hinges: The plates and pins used to attach the door panel to the frame allowing the door to swing open.

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