Detailed technical information about doors.

     Are you planning to buy new doors and don’t have enough information to clarify what kind of doors and door frames you actually need?

     The most important piece of information is whether the door is right-hand or left-hand. Right-hand doors have the hinges on the right-hand side (when viewed from the side where the hinges can be seen). With left-hand doors it is the other way round.

     If you need double doors, we determine right/left by the opening leaf that has the handle (for example, a passive left leaf and an active right leaf).

     Next, we need to determine the width of the structural opening. Our joinery makes all made-to-measure doors, so we measure every single door personally and make the door as precisely as possible. Door width only affects the price of the door. In general, the prices of doors at a width of 60 cm are shown in the door visualizer, and for every additional 10 cm of width we charge €3 to €4 for material. Common door widths are 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110 cm. For a door 800 mm wide, we need a structural opening about 860 mm wide. We must always measure the width of the opening in several places (it can happen that the opening is wider in some places than in others). We go by the smallest value.

The height of the structural opening is just as important. It is measured once the floor has been laid, or, if you know how high the floor will be, the measurement can be taken earlier. The ideal height of the structural opening is 200 cm, but no more than 225 cm.

     The third value that matters when determining what doors we need is the thickness of the structural opening. It is a good idea to measure it in several places (for example at the bottom, in the middle and at the top). If we measure 20.5 cm at the bottom, 20.8 cm in the middle and 20.6 cm at the top, we will have to adjust the thickness of the door frame to a sensible average. The door frame can adjust by approximately 1 cm.

     You also need to be careful about the type of hinges. We have flush doors available, with concealed hinges.
You can recognise them by the fact that they have no rebate all the way round. Put simply, they sit entirely inside the door frame. Rebated doors sit in the frame only partially: part of the door leaf rests against the frame from the outside. In this case the hinges are surface-mounted.

     To order interior doors correctly, it is very important to measure all three dimensions of the structural opening properly, or call us and we will measure your doors for free. For the width we always need 6-8 cm more than the door leaf (90 cm leaf – opening 96 – 98 cm, 70 cm leaf – opening 76 – 78 cm). It is a good idea to measure the height from the existing floor (or to subtract the height of the future floor). We always install door frames with doors only after the building work is finished (painting, laying floors, plastering). The walls must be sufficiently dry, and the temperature during installation should not be lower than 15°C. Once the door frame has been installed, the floor can no longer be levelled. Door frames are always installed last, after painting and tiling work is complete.

Door maintenance is very simple. It is enough to lubricate the hinges occasionally with a suitable lubricant or oil and to tighten any loose screws. Clean the surface of the door only with a damp cotton cloth, not a wet one. Add a small amount of detergent (non-abrasive) to the water. Always wipe the surface dry. Avoid using organic solvents, which would damage the surface of the door.

     When transporting doors we must take care that they are not damaged. Avoid rough handling and uneven placement. Transport and store them in a horizontal position. We must take particular care to avoid damaging the corners, as they are quite sensitive to rough handling. When choosing interior doors, take care to measure thoroughly. Only then will your new doors serve you trouble-free for many years. It is best to know already at the building design stage what type of doors we want to fit, not just the structural width. This will spare us additional problems.

Categories of doors