Glossary of Fire Door Terms

When looking at or reading about doors, you are likely to come across some new terminology. Here is a list of the words and phrases often used when describing wooden doors. If there is something you need to know about which isn’t in this list, please contact us.

ARCHITRAVE: A decorative moulding that surrounds the door, and bridges the gap between the edge of the frame and the wall.

APERTURE: An opening in a door where glass would be fitted.

BEADING: The mouldings that surround a panel in a solid door, or a pane of glass in a door.

BESPOKE DOORS: Doors that are tailor-made to meet individual requirements. Bespoke made doors can not be cancelled once payment has been made. Choosing an alternative to the stock doors from the brochure allows clients to request special sizes and alternative designs to match their specific needs.

CERTIFIRE: An independent, audited process to ensure that Fire Doors are manufactured to specific standards.

CORE CONSTRUCTION: The internal composition of a door.

DOOR PAIRS: Two symmetrical matching doors installed adjacent to each other and modelled to form a pair of doors, creating double the size of opening of an individual door.

FD30 FIRE DOORS: Doors that have been tested by an accredited test house to ensure that they are able to resist the passage of fire for more than 30 minutes. Likewise, FD60 fire doors will last at least 60 minutes.

FINISH: The surface of the door. Doors can be supplied finished, (usually with a clear lacquer), or unfinished/natural (where you are able to apply your own finish).

FLAT PANEL:This is a panel on a door which is not raised, bevelled or profiled.

FRAME: The timber components (e.g. linings & casings) that are fitted within a wall opening to which a door is fixed.

FSC®: The Forest Stewardship Council is an independent organisation that promotes the responsible management of forests worldwide. The FSC standard is recognised globally.

GROOVES: These are lines cut into the face of the door that create a pattern or design.

HANDING: Predominantly referring to door pairs, it describes which door in the pair opens first. E.g. RHA (right hand away) or LHA (left hand away).

INLAY: A decorative strip, design or pattern which is embedded into the front of the door. Typically the inlay is made of a complementary material or alternative colour to the door, like a veneer or coloured plastic, and it is flush with the door’s surface.

INSERT: Similar to an inlay but usually slightly thicker and it may not be flush with the door’s face (front of the door).

LIGHT: This refers to an individual pane of glass within a fire door e.g. a ‘2 light’ door has two panes of glass.

LININGS/CASINGS: Another name for an internal door frame.

LIPPINGS: These create the door edge and can be reduced slightly in size to fit a specific door opening, without exposing the inner core of the door. Solid lippings (as long as they are large enough) allow the edges of doors to be modelled to form rebated pairs.

PAINTED FINISH: The door has been painted to achieve a high quality finish. This can be a colour or even grained timber effect.

PLY PAINT GRADE: Doors that are ready to be painted 

PRE-FINISHED: A pre-finished door is one that is ready painted or varnished.

PRIMED: Doors that have been prepared with an undercoat ready for a top coat finish.

REBATING: This makes doors into a pair, by machining a groove into the edges of two doors, creating a partial overlap where the doors meet.

SEMI-SOLID CORE: The centre of the door is part solid and part cellular components.

SHAKER STYLE: This type of door has a simple, flat, recessed centre panel and usually no detailing. Most often the shaker style doors have right angled edges, although occasionally you will find those that have a slight bevelled finish.

SOLID CORE: A heavy and solid centre to a door, it is normally made from wood-based timber components.

STANDARD CORE: Standard core doors have a cellular structure inside the door. This means that the door is lighter in weight than solid or semi-solid core doors and is well suited to domestic use.

STILE: This refers to the side of the door. Specific terms are hanging stile (hinge side), leading stile (side that opens into a room) and meeting stile (door pairs).

SUSTAINABLE SOURCES: To use materials from sustainable sources means that for every resource used/harvested from the land, a replacement will be created. In the context of JB Kind doors, it means that our supply partners ensure that trees are planted to replace those harvested and that only plantation timber specifically grown for use as raw material is used.

TIMBER GRAINING: This is a pattern of fibres that you can see when you cut wood open.

UNFINISHED: The door is supplied prepared ready for a top coat finish. E.g. varnish or paint.

VENEER: A thin slice of timber used as a decorative material on the visible face of the door.

  • STANDARD FIRE DOOR DELIVERY

    5 - 7 Working Days

  • FIRE DOOR DELIVERY

    £65 +£10 per extra Fire Door

  • BESPOKE FIRE DOORS

    Standard Delivery 10 to 14 Working Days

  • DOUBLE FIRE DOORS DELIVERY

    £75 +£15 per extra Fire Door