| Term |
Definition |
| A |
|---|
| Active Door | The door people use every time they enter or leave the home or office. The other door is called the inactive door and opens when the flush bolts are released. |
| Arch Top Door | A door with an arched top rail and arched frame, similar to an eyebrow shape. |
| Astragal | Vertical molding attached to the edge of the inactive door on a double door. Its function is to receive the active door and form a weather seal. Flush bolts are secured within this astragal at the top and bottom. |
| B |
|---|
| Backset | The distance from the edge of the door to the center of the hole drilled for your entry set knob, lever or deadbolt. |
| Bore | A synonym for hole. (i.e. lock hole = lock bore). |
| Brick Mold | Exterior trim that covers the seam between the jamb and wall. |
| C |
|---|
| Caming | Metal parts of stained glass design. Options include: brass, patina, Zinc, and nickel. |
| Casing | A wooden trim around doors that covers the seam between the jamb and the wall. It has a strong impact on the overall style, appearance, and proportion of door opening as well as the overall style of your home's interior. On the practical side, it conceals the gap between the door frame (called a jamb) and the rough opening and helps to hold the frame in the opening. Casing can be relatively plain such as square-edge design or detailed. |
| Custom Door | A door that does not fall into a standard category or style, designed specifically for a client or home owner. Every door made by Vintage Doors is considered custom to a certain degree, since each door is designed and built-to-order to meet the specifications of a particular home or building. |
| D |
|---|
| Dead Bolt | A security lock that requires a key to open from the exterior side of the door. |
| Door Size | The exact width and height measurements of a door. |
| Door Stop | The part of a door frame that the door hits when it closes. |
| Dutch Door | Originating in the Netherlands during the early 1600s, this unique design features top and bottom halves that operate independently. The bottom can be closed for some privacy, while the top is left open for fresh air and neighborly chats. Or, when locked together, the two sections can work as a standard door. Dutch doors were first used on front entryways and were later placed at secondary doorways to the kitchen or scullery. These doors also provided ventilation to barns and stables. Dutch doors lend a country charm to rear entrances and outbuildings such as potting sheds. |
| F |
|---|
| Finished Opening | To determine the size of your door slab you can measure the current opening into which the door will go from existing wood frame to wood frame. |
| Flat Astragal | An astragal that is flatly applied to the inactive door. An astragal is used to seal the seam between a pair of doors. |
| Flush Bolt | Sliding bolt mortised into the edge of a door or astragal that typically engages into the jamb head and sill to secure the door. Commonly used on the inactive door of a pair. |
| French Door | A door with glass panels separated by wood Muntons (one light, five light, six light, eight light, ten light or fifteen light) |
| I |
|---|
| In Swing Door | A door that opens inside or towards the inside of a home, building or room. |
| J |
|---|
| Jamb | The vertical support on either side of a door. |
| Jamb Width | Distance between the outside house sheathing and the inside finished wall, not including trim. |
| K |
|---|
| Kiln-Drying | The wood is kiln dried for 2 weeks to a moisture content of 10-12% and has an additional week or so of "resting" to allow the wood to reabsorb moisture in the air. This process ensures that the wood regains its dimensional stability and will not warp or split. This critical stage of reabsorbing moisture allows the doors to withstand the rigors of climatic change. |
| M |
|---|
| Molding | Decorative wooden strips used for ornamentation around glass and/or panels. |
| Mortise | To make a pocket or relief, such as hinge mortise or lock mortise. |
| Mortise-and-Tenon | A woodworking method used to join two pieces of wood. A mortise (cavity, hole, notch or slot) is cut into one piece of wood. The tenon is created by shaping the end of the second piece of wood, so that it can slide into the mortise. After fitting the tenon into the mortise, the joint is made secure by drilling a hole though both the mortise and tenon and driving a wooden peg into the hole. |
| Muntin | A short vertical or horizontal bar used to separate panes of glass in a window or panels in a door. The muntin extends from a stile, rail, or bar to another bar. |
| O |
|---|
| Out Swing Door | A door that opens away from the inside of a home, building or room. |
| P |
|---|
| Panel | The area on a stile and rail door that is surrounded by the stiles and rails. (Ex. 6 panel door) |
| Pre-Hung | Doors or combinations of doors and sidelights put together with jambs, hinges, threshold, T-Astragal, and trim to make a total working door system (a unit). |
| R |
|---|
| Rail | A horizontal bar of wood that connects the vertical bars, called stiles, in a door. |
| Raised Panel | A door panel on which the edges have been contoured or shaped to provide an aesthetically appealing, three-dimensional effect. |
| Rough Opening | An unfinished opening where a window or door will be installed. Usage: Rough openings are lined by wood members; the top one is the "header" and the side ones are the "trimmers." |
| Round Top Door | A door that forms a complete half circle radius of both the door top and jambs. |
| S |
|---|
| Shop Drawing | A measured drawing that details the design specifications of a proposed door or entryway before construction begins. |
| Side-Lite | An assembly of stiles and rails, with or without a wood panel, containing a single row of glass panels or lites. They are installed parts anatomy on one or both sides of an exterior doorframe, especially a front entrance doorframe. Also used in older houses to frame interior doors. |
| Sill | The bottom member of an exterior door frame that sits on the floor. |
| Simulated Lite | Windows or doors that contain one piece of glass with internal spacer bars which provide the illusion of a true divided lite. Also known as SDL. |
| Slab | Door only. No frames, jambs or parts added to make the door operate. |
| Square-Top Door | A door with a flat top rail; i.e., not containing a radius. Also known op door or a flat-top door. |
| Stile | The outer vertical components used in the construction of a door. |
| T |
|---|
| T-Astragal | astragal that has a cross-sectional shape of the letter T. |
| Tempered Glass | Treated glass that is strengthened by reheating it to just below the melting point, and then suddenly cooling it. When shattered, it breaks into small pieces. Approximately five times stronger than standard annealed glass; it is required as safety glazing in patio doors, entrance doors, sidelites, and other hazardous locations. |
| Textured Glass | Any glass with a surface texture (frosted, etched, fluted, ground, etc.) used for privacy, light diffusion, or decorative effects. |
| Threshold | The part of the door unit which is attached to the floor under the door. |
| Transom | A decorative window directly above a door. |
| True Arch | A window or door whose top is curved in a radius equal to half the width of the product, for example, a true-arch window having a width of 3' would have a top rail outside radius of 1'6". |
| True Divided Lite | Windows and doors that contain individual panes of glass and are assembled in the sash using muntins. Also known as TDL. |
| U |
|---|
| Unit | All parts needed to hang the door and/or sidelights. The parts include Jambs, Hinges, Weather-stripping, Casing, Brick mold, Threshold; Flush Bolts and a T-Astragal on double doors and a sweep on an in swing unit. |
| W |
|---|
| Weather-stripping | A strip of material that covers the contact point between the door and the door jamb. It is designed to prevent water and air leakage. |
