Man Doors

DESIGN STANDARDS
Written By Brynlee Butler

DOOR PANELS

FIBERGLASS

  • Typically Exterior Residential or small Commercial

  • Finishes as painted usually arrives to site as primed for paint in field.

  • Panel and glass options vary greatly by manufacturer

  • Usually Pre-hung doors

  • Fire rated door options

SOLIDWOOD

  • Typically Interior doors only (due to finishes)

  • Usually a flush panel door with a stained wood finish.

    • Selecting Wood Grain Looks for these doors

  • Standard glass options available.

  • Can be installed in HM Frames or Aluminum Storefront systems

  • Fire rated door options.

HOLLOW CORE

  • Typically Interior doors only

  • Finishes as painted usually arrives to site as primed for paint in field.

  • Panel designs vary greatly by manufacturer

  • Pre-Hung doors

  • Generally no fire rating options

METAL DOOR

  • Typically Exterior Residential Doors

  • Finishes as a finished metal product such as blackened steel or painted, if painted would come primed for paint.

  • Usually Pre-Hung

  • Needs to be thermally broken.

HOLLOW METAL PANEL

  • Most commonly Exterior or Interior doors on commercial projects.

    • Metal treatment for protecting from corrosion on exterior doors and wet location interior doors.

  • Standard glass options available.

  • Finishes as painted usually arrives to site as primed for paint in field.

  • Installed in HM Frames

  • Options for Thickness of metal the panel is made out of

ALUMINUM

  • Installed in storefront or curtainwall systems

    • Aluminum doors for aluminum frames so that dissimilar metals don’t react.

  • Finish typically matches the system that it is a part of.

  • Usually Full Glass or Full Glass with Integral Rail (for pushbars).

  • Thermally broken doors at exterior locations

  • Specialty fire rated aluminum storefront with doors and windows are available.

  • What are the standard glass options for door panels and which panel types can have glass?

    • How does this effect fire ratings and hardware setup?

DOOR FRAME TYPES

HOLLOW METAL

  • Knock down vs fully welded

  • Metal treatment for protecting from corrosion on exterior doors and wet location interior doors?

  • Finishes as painted usually arrives to site as primed for paint in field.

WOOD OR FIBERGLASS (Pre-hung doors)

  • Trim or Trimless details for pre-hung doors

  • Finishes can be wood finish or as painted. For painted arrives to site as primed for paint in field.

STOREFRONT OR CURTAINWALL

  • In this case the Mullions of the system act as the frame to which the door is installed.

DOOR OPERATIONS

  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the following standard door operations? Are there any we want to avoid using unless requested by the client?

    • Swing (including double) - would we use anything else in commercial?

    • Pivot

    • Bifold

    • Pocket - What is tricky about pocket doors with ADA requirements?

    • Slider (Int vs Ext) - most 6-0 glass sliding doors don’t meet ADA Opening width reqs

    • Fold to the side

    • Barn - What is tricky about barn doors with ADA requirements?

    • Opening - What is the difference between cased and uncased? how to document?

MAN DOOR SIZES

  • What are the typical door panel widths? how does this relate to double doors?

  • How do you determine door widths in IRC residential designs?

    • Bedrooms&other major rooms - No smaller than 2’-6” but upwards of 2’-10” is nice for moving larger furniture into a room.

    • Bathroom & walk in closets (any door to be walked through) - No smaller than 2’-4” but 2’-6” is nice if we have room.

    • Linen and other shallow closets - as small as 1’-6” is acceptable.

    • Laundry - No smaller than 2’-10” and all doors leading to that room from the outside to be the same

    • Garage to House and Other Exterior Doors - Generally no smaller than 2’-10” but ideally 3’-0”

    • Front Entry - Usually 3’-0” check code if going any smaller.

    • Generally consider the size of items that will need to go through a door when sizing it. IE. Furnace room doors.

    • Glass Sliding Doors - 6’-0” if possible otherwise reference code for min

  • Doors in IBC projects must meet code min widths in the IBC (see below) otherwise the above guidelines apply.

  • It is a good idea for Doors in Commercial spaces that are to be walked through 3’ wide so we will meet requirements no matter the hardware.

    • You technically can go smaller but you need to make sure you will meet all code requirements with hardware accounted for and it gets complicated

    • We often design with 2’10” doors inside of standard living units.

    • Sizing other doors in commercial spaces

  • Determining an appropriate door height

    • standard door panel heights

      • 6’-8” (common for lower end residential, best just not to use on commercial projects as it doesn’t work with a closer if required)

      • 7’-0”

      • 8’-0”

      • 9-0”

    • Interior doors - Residential vs Commercial

    • Exterior Doors - Residential vs Commercial

  • Factors to consider in sizing an oversized door for a project

    • Options for panel sizes and how they go together

    • Hardware for the door. Especially the hinges.

OTHER MAN DOOR CONSIDERATIONS

  • Door undercuts and what they have to do with mechanical design

  • Door thresholds, what the options are and what they have to do with floor finishes

  • If including any sort of door hardware schedule for a project we need to get with a door hardware rep and have them provide the schedule and spec for us.

Brynlee Butler
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