Residential Construction Residential Doors *Source: (1) Carpentry & Building Construction Feirer & Freirer

Types of Doors Doors can be categorized according to the following; Location: either interior or exterior Material from which they are made: (wood, fiberglass, steel…) Operation: such as hinged door, sliding door, folding door… End use: new construction or replacement Purpose: closet door, garage door, fire door.. Construction: solid core, foam, hollow core… Style: raised panel, flat panel, arched top… Installation method: pre-hung, hung on site. Any door can be described using a combination of these terms. For example a door could be described as a pre-hung, exterior, hinged, wooden door.

Flat-Panel Doors Sometimes referred to as a flush door or slab door. The entire surface is flat. Slab doors are made with plywood, hardboard, metal, or some other suitable facing applied over a light framework and core. The cores are either solid or hollow. The solid core doors consists of strips of wood, particleboard, rigid foam, or other core material. Used often for exterior doors. The hollow core door consists of a light framework of wood or corrugated cardboard faced with thin plywood or hardboard… birch, oak, & mahogany are popular surface veneers for these doors.

Raised-Panel Doors Raised-Panel Door Raised panel wood doors have panels that are thicker at the center than the edges. They consist of stiles or vertical side members and rails or horizontal cross pieces. The stiles and rails are generally made from solid wood with the panels made of solid wood or plywood.

Door Frames Parts of a Door Frame All doors are mounted in frames which are attached to the wall in a rough opening similar to a window. The door frame consists of two side jambs and a head jamb. Molding is usually nailed to the door frame on the inside of the house after the frame is installed. Door jambs are installed so that their outer edges will be flush with the finished wall surface.

Hardware Hinges The loose-pin butt mortise hinge is one of the most often used hignes for hanging residential doors. It consists of two metal leaves that pivot on a removable metal pin. The door can be removed from the jamb by simply removing the hinge pins and lifting the door out. On exterior doors hinges are mounted so the pins cannot be removed from the outside to prevent intruders from doing so.

Hardware Gains or Mortise The leaves of the hinge fit into gains cut into the edge of the door and the jamb. A gain is a mortise (notch) that has a depth equal to the thickness of a single leaf. The size of a hinge is given as the length of the leaf in inches.

Locksets Sample Locksets Passage doors are fitted with different types of opening hardware. The assembly of knobs, latch, and locking mechanism is called a lockset. Locksets are available in three basic types: entry, privacy, and passage. Locks can be bored, (they fit into large holes drilled into the door) or mortised, (they fit into a large notch cut into the edge of the door stile).

Entry, Privacy, & Passage Locksets Entry Locksets are used on exterior doors and contain a locking mechanism and key. They may be bored or mortised. Privacy Locksets are light duty and used mostly on doors leading to bedrooms and bathrooms. They can be locked from the inside by turning or depressing a button on the knob. There is usually a small slot or hole in the non- locking knob to unlock the set. All privacy locksets are bored types. Passage Locksets are sometimes called latchsets. They are similar in design to privacy locksets but do not include a locking mechanism.

Direction of Swing When ordering and installing a door, it is important to know the direction in which the door should swing. A door that opens in the wrong direction may interfere with wall switches, cabinetry, and traffic patterns. The direction in which a door swings is called its hand. Doors are either left hand or right hand.

Residential Construction Residential Doors *Source: (1) Carpentry & Building Construction Feirer & Freirer