Chapter.

2

DOORS
ARCG 313 Architectural Construction III
A door is a movable barrier that separates internal and
external spaces.

It is usually attached to a frame on one side by hinges.
A door must provide;
Access
Protection
Security
Privacy

Doors fall into two general categories;
Exterior Doors --- Weather Resistance
Interior Doors --- Stop Sound, Smoke & Fire
DOORS TYPES & CHARACTERISTICS
A door, depending on its type, should meet certain standards.

WEATHER RESISTANCE
External doors need a minimum gap of 2 mm for free
movement. This gap should be sealed with suitable draught
and water excluders to make the doors weather-resistant,
constructed to high specifications.

SECURITY
The security of a door depends on the materials used, the
quality of the frame and the ironmongery.
Internal doors need to provide minimal security.
External doors need to be constructed to high specifications
and fitted with high-security locks.

DOORS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
FIRE RESISTANCE
Internal doors separate spaces and are usually made of
materials that prevent the rapid spread of fire. They also
need to be heavy enough to be self-closing.

SOUND INSULATION
Heavier doors provide better sound insulation.

PRIVACY
Solid doors are the most private. If some light is needed
while retaining privacy, then obscure glass should be
fitted.
DOORS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
OPERATION
Doors can swing or slide open and closed. Most doors
swing on hinges fixed to door frames. Spring-loaded
latches usually hold doors closed. You normally open
doors with knobs or levers.

DURABILITY
Doors are in constant use. Their construction should be
strong enough to withstand considerable activity.
A door should not fall off the edge fixed to a frame under
its own weight.
External doors should be able to resist climatic extremes,
which can cause the shape to warp.
DOORS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
DOORS TERMINOLOGIES
DOORS TERMINOLOGIES
The main parts of a standard door are breifly explained
below;

CILL
A horizontal member at the base of an external door that
separates the internal and external structure. It should
slope so that rainwater flows outside rather than inside.

WATERBAR
A metal bar fitted into the
cill of an external door to
prevent water flowing inside.
DOORS TERMINOLOGIES
FRAME
A solid timber or metal structure fixed to a wall. It is
constructed so that it forms a seal when the door closes
and supports the door's weight.

HEAD
The horizontal piece at the top
of the frame.

JAMB
The vertical part of the frame
that is fixed to the wall.
DOORS TERMINOLOGIES
LINING
The timber framework inserted into an opening in an
internal wall.

REBATE
A recess in the door frame that
seals the edges of a door.

STOP
A thin piece of timber fixed to the
head and jambs of the lining to
form a rebate.

DOORS TERMINOLOGIES
STILE
the outer vertical piece of the door frame. There are three
types of stile:
Hanging stile that the door hangs on;
Closing stile that holds the lock or latch;
Meeting stile where a pair of doors meets in the middle.

THRESHOLD
The surface of access point in the doorway where you
enter or exit. The cill is part of the threshold.

WEATHERBORAD
A horizontal piece fixed to the external bottom edge of a
door to push water away from the cill.
DOORS TERMINOLOGIES
A door frame is made of timbers of sufficient cross
section to support the weight of a door.

The majority of door frames are rebated to serve as a stop
for one way swing doors.

The door frame is secured in the wall or partition opening
to support external doors and heavier internal doors.

Choice of frame or lining is to an extent a matter of
appearance and convenience in fixing and the methods of
masking the junction between plaster finishes and frames
and linings.
DOORS FRAMES & LININGS
Wood door frames are used with wood, fiberglass, and
metal doors in non-fire rated applications.

Metal door frames however are used with metal doors or
fire-rated wood doors.


DOORS FRAMES & LININGS
DOORS FRAMES & LININGS
DOORS FRAMES & LININGS
Door linings are thin sections of wood or metal that are
fixed securely in a doorway or opening as a lining around
the reveal (thickness) of the wall or partition.

The linings are fixed in position in the door opening
before plastering so that the finished plaster level is flash
with the edges of the lining.

Door linings are generally used for internal doors in thin
partitions where the width of the lining is the same as the
thickness of the partition and wall plaster both sides.
DOORS FRAMES & LININGS
Door sets are
combinations of door
with door frames or
linings and hardware
such as hinges and
furniture prepared as
a package ready for
use on site.
DOORS FRAMES & LININGS
Doors may be classified in a number of ways, listed
below;

According to the door operation and styles
According to the door material
According to the door location




DOORS CLASSIFICATION
Single leaf hinged doors are the most commonly used
type as per their operation.

DOORS / OPERATION & STYLE
Flush doors and panel doors are more popular according
to the styles of doors.
DOORS / OPERATION & STYLE
WOODEN DOORS

At one time, nearly all doors were made of wood.

In simple buildings, primitive doors made of planks and
Z-bracing were once common.

In more finished buildings, stile-and-rail doors (panel
doors) give a more sophisticated appearance while
avoiding the worst problems of moisture expansion and
contraction to which plank doors are subject.

DOORS BY MATERIALS
The panels are not glued to the stiles and rails, but instead
"float" in unglued grooves that allow them to move.

These doors may be made of solid wood or of wood
composite materials with veneered faces and edges.

DOORS BY MATERIALS
Now a days, stile-and-rail doors have
continued to be popular in higher-quality
buildings.

However, flush doors have captured the
market, mainly because they are easier to
manufacture and less costly.
Flush doors have no projections or recesses on either surface
of the door.

These doors are usually made of large sheets of plywood or
hardboard and may have glazed panels to allow in some light.

The inner part of the door is called core. The external boards
or sheets of plywood are fixed to it.

The core can be made from;

a softwood framework of pieces joined together horizontally and
vertically.
a cellular center of cardboard strips glued together in a lattice
pattern.
a solid center of timber strips glued together.
DOORS BY MATERIALS
Cellular core flush doors are made with a cellular, fiber board
or paper core in a light softwood frame with lock and hinge
blocks, covered with plywood or hardboard facings glued to
the frame and core both sides.


They do not withstand
rough usage and provide
poor acoustic privacy,
security and fire
resistance, and are
cheap.

These lightweight doors
are for light duty e.g.
internal domestic doors.
DOORS BY MATERIALS
Skeleton core flush doors are made with a core of small
section timbers.
The main members of this structural core are the stiles and
rails, with intermediate rails as a base for the facing of
plywood or hardboard
The framing core
members are joined with
glue and tongue and
groove joints.

The skeleton occupies
30-40 % of the core of
the door. This door is a
light duty suitable for
internal domestic doors
DOORS BY MATERIALS
Solid core flush doors are made with a core of timber,
chipboard, flax-board or compressed fiber-board strips,
plywood may face both sides glued to the solid core. It may be
edged with vertical lipping to provide a neat finish.
These doors have better
shape and surface stability
and acoustic resistance than
the cellular or skeleton core
flush doors.

These doors are more
expensive.
DOORS BY MATERIALS
DOORS BY MATERIALS
Paneled doors are suitable for both internal and external
use. They are made from solid timber frames with solid
or glazed panels.

Parts of a paneled door include;
Top, Bottom & Intermediate rails: pieces that divide the
door into panels horizontally.
Muntins: are the central vertical pieces.
Panels: the filling between the framing pieces. They can be
of thin, solid timber, plywood or obscure glass.
DOORS BY MATERIALS
STEEL DOORS

Flush doors with faces of painted sheet steel are the most
common type of door in nonresidential buildings.

For economy, interior steel doors in many situations have
hollow cores.

Solid-core doors are required for exterior use and in
situations that demand increased fire resistance, more
rugged construction, or better acoustical privacy between
rooms.


DOORS BY MATERIALS
DOORS BY MATERIALS
EXTERIOR DOORS

There are numerous types of exterior doors: solid
entrance doors, entrance doors that contain glass, store
front doors that are mostly or entirely made of glass,
storm doors, screen doors, vehicular doors for residential
garages an Industrial use, revolving doors, and cellar
doors, to name just a few.
DOORS BY LOCATION
For exterior use in small buildings, and for both exterior
and interior use in institutional and commercial buildings,
flush doors are constructed with a solid core of wood
blocks or wood composite material.

DOORS BY LOCATION
INTERIOR DOORS

Interior doors in residences often have a hollow core.

Flush doors with wood faces are also available with a
solid mineral core that qualifies them as fire doors.

A relatively recent development is a door made of wood
fiber composite material that is pressed into the shape of a
stile-and-rail door. Usually, the faces of the door may be
given an artificial wood grain texture or faced with real
wood veneer.
DOORS BY LOCATION
ENTRANCE DOORS

Entrance doors must be well constructed and tightly weather
stripped if they are not to leak air and water.

Properly installed and finished wood panel or solid-core doors
are excellent for exterior residential use.

Pressed sheet metal doors, usually embossed to resemble wood
stile-and-rail doors, are popular alternatives to wood exterior
residential doors. Their cores are filled with insulating plastic
foam, making their thermal performance superior to that of
wood doors.

They do not suffer from moisture expansion and contraction,
as wood doors do.
DOORS BY LOCATION
They are often furnished pre-hung, meaning that they are
already mounted on hinges in a surrounding frame,
complete with weather stripping, ready to install by
merely nailing the frame into the wall.

The major disadvantage of metal and plastic exterior
doors is that they do not have the satisfying appearance,
feel, or sound of a wood door.

Residential entrance doors almost always swing inward
and are mounted on the interior side of the door frame.
DOORS BY LOCATION
FIRE DOORS
DOORS BY LOCATION
Fire doors have a
noncombustible mineral
core and are rated
according to the period of
time for which they are
able to resist specified
time and temperature
conditions.

The required fire
resistance rating for fire
doors is often less than
that required for the walls
in which they are located.
Glass used in fire doors must it self be fire rated so that it
will not break and fall out of the opening for a specified
length of time when exposed to the heat of fire.

The maximum size of glass may also be restricted,
depending on the fire classification of the door and the
properties of the particular type of glass used.
DOORS BY LOCATION
Basic door ironmongery consists of hinges, locks and
latches.
DOORS --- IRONMONGRY