Building & Door Glossary

28 terms

• Astragal

  The vertical strip that covers the gap where a pair of double doors meet in the middle. One door latches into it.

• Ball catch

  A small spring-loaded ball at the top of a door that clicks into a matching plate in the jamb. Common on double doors and closets — no handle needed to hold the door shut.

• Barn door

  A slab that hangs from a track mounted on the wall above the opening. Slides across the wall face — doesn't need a pocket. Popular for pantries, offices, and bathrooms.

• Brickmold

  Exterior casing — the thicker profiled trim that goes around the outside of an exterior door frame. It covers the gap between the frame and the siding or brick.

• Casing

  The decorative trim that covers the gap between the door jamb and the wall — the flat or profiled boards you see framing the doorway on the room side.

• Door stop

  The thin strip nailed to the jamb that the door closes against — it stops the door from swinging past shut.

• Finger-joint

  · Finger jointed· Finger-jointed

  Short pieces of wood glued end to end into a full-length board. Cheaper and straighter than one solid piece, but the joints show — so it's only used where it'll be painted.

• Fire-rated

  A door built and tested to hold back fire for a set number of minutes (usually 20). Code requires one between an attached garage and the house.

• Flush bolt

  A slide bolt let into the edge of one leaf of a pair of double doors. You throw it into the jamb (or into the floor) to lock the inactive door in place so the other door has something to latch against.

• Handing

  · Door hand· Hand

  Which side the hinges are on and which way the door swings — Left Hand, Right Hand, Left Hand Reverse, or Right Hand Reverse. Get this wrong and the door opens the wrong way.

• Hollow core

  An interior door with a light cardboard-like honeycomb inside. Cheaper, lighter, sounds hollow when you knock. Standard for bedrooms and closets.

• Jamb

  The wood frame that lines the sides and top of a door opening. The door hangs from one side of the jamb; the latch catches on the other side.

• Knotty alder

  A soft hardwood with visible knots. Popular for a rustic stained look.

• Low-E

  "Low-emissivity" glass — a nearly invisible coating that reflects heat. Keeps the house cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

• Mini-blind insert

  · Mini-blind

  A door-glass insert with mini blinds sealed between two panes of glass. The blinds never get dusty and kids can't tangle them.

• Mull post

  · Mullion post

  A vertical post that joins two units side by side — for example, joining a door to a matching side window (side-lite). It's what the two frames attach to.

• Pocket door

  A door that slides sideways into a hollow section of the wall instead of swinging open. Needs a wider rough opening than a normal door to make room for the pocket.

• Pre-hung unit

  · Pre-hung· Prehung

  A complete ready-to-install package: the door, already hinged inside its wooden frame (the jamb), with the weatherstrip and sill attached on exterior units. You drop it into the framed opening, shim it plumb, and nail it in.

• Primed

  Comes with a coat of white undercoat already on it. It is NOT painted — you still put your finish color on top.

• Rough opening

  · RO

  The framed hole in the wall — stud to stud, subfloor to header — that a door unit drops into. Larger than the door itself so the frame fits and you can shim it plumb.

• SDL

  · Simulated divided lite· Simulated divided lites

  Simulated Divided Lites — thin wood or vinyl bars glued to the face of a single sheet of glass to look like individual window panes. Easier to clean than true divided lites.

• Side-lite

  · Sidelight· Side light

  A narrow window built into the frame right next to an exterior door — one on each side, or just one side.

• Sill

  · Threshold

  The bottom piece of an exterior door frame — the metal or composite strip you step over. It seals out weather at the bottom of the door.

• Sill extender

  A strip that adds height to a sill when the finished floor is lower than expected, so the door still seals to it.

• Slab

  Just the door itself — no frame, no hinges, no handle. What you'd hang inside an opening someone else has already built.

• Solid core

  An interior door with a dense filler inside. Heavier, sounds solid when you knock, blocks more sound. Good for bathrooms, offices, and anywhere you want privacy.

• Stain-grade

  · Stain grade

  Meant to be stained, not painted. The wood grain or texture is left visible.

• Weatherstrip

  The soft rubber or foam gasket around the inside edge of an exterior door frame. It seals the gap between the door and the frame when the door is shut.