Home > Blog > Doors for Houses Interior Manufacturer in China: Interior Glass Door, Arch Doors and Prehung Systems with FOB Pricing
Doors for Houses Interior Manufacturer in China: Interior Glass Door, Arch Doors and Prehung Systems with FOB Pricing
Interior doors for houses: a glazed aluminium interior glass door and a flush panel door on the same circulation corridor. Both leaves run on the same frame system, the same hinge geometry and the same prehung jamb detail.
Interior doors for houses are specified as a system, not as leafs. The leaf, the frame, the seal package and the hardware are four separate decisions, and three of them are fixed at the extrusion stage – before anyone has looked at a colour chart. This page sets out the numbers we work to when we build doors for houses interior packages: EN 1935 hinge grades against actual leaf mass, the delivered Rw you can expect once a 1 mm perimeter gap is added, what an arch head does to radius and glass cost, how a prehung set changes container loading, and the FOB bands for eight standard build-ups with a 20-item option list.
An interior door sits between two conditioned spaces. That single sentence separates it from an exterior door more completely than any test standard does, because it removes three of the four loads an exterior door has to carry: no wind, no driving rain, no thermal gradient worth calculating. What is left is dimensional co-ordination, acoustics, duty cycle, and – on a few specific locations – fire and smoke.
The five locations and what each one actually requires
Location in the house
Governing requirement
Typical spec
What gets missed
Bedroom / study / living room
Acoustics, duty cycle
Honeycomb or PU core, Rw 27-31, brush or drop seal
The 1 mm undercut needed for return air destroys the acoustic rating
Bathroom / WC
Privacy hardware, humidity
Laminated or PU core, privacy lock, 8-10 mm undercut
A hollow-core leaf drums and telegraphs; humidity swings on a timber-skinned leaf
Kitchen / utility
Impact, cleaning, humidity
PU or XPS core, wipe-clean powder or anodise
Kick-plate heights and the change in swing direction when a pocket door is substituted
Garage-to-house
Fire, smoke, thermal
EI2 30 leaf, smoke seal, Ud 1.2-1.6, self-closer
This is an exterior-grade door on an interior opening – most interior packages fail here
Apartment entrance off a common corridor
Fire, smoke, acoustics
EI2 30-60, Sa/S200 smoke seal, Rw 32-38
The rating applies to the assembled doorset with its frame, not to the leaf alone
Where the boundary between interior and exterior actually sits
The thermal and weather line runs through the building envelope, not through the door schedule. A door between a house and an attached garage looks like an interior door, is bought as an interior door, and is in fact a fire and smoke doorset on a thermal boundary. In most jurisdictions the garage-to-house door needs a fire rating and a self-closing device; in cold climates it also needs a U-value. That is a different product from the bedroom doors on the same order, and it is the single most common specification error we see on house packages.
Interior Glass Door: Glazing, Safety Marks and Frame Sightlines
An interior glass door is the one internal doorset where glass choice drives the whole build-up. Glass sets the leaf mass, the leaf mass sets the hinge grade and the number of hinges, and the glass type decides whether the door is legal in the first place. Six millimetres annealed float is not a safety glass and is not acceptable in a door in any of the markets we ship to.
Glass build-ups and what each one delivers
Build-up
kg/m2
Ug
Rw
Safety class
+USD/m2
6 mm float, annealed
6.0
5.8
31
not safety – not permitted
0
6 mm tempered (EN 12150)
6.0
5.8
31
EN 12600 2C2 / CPSC
9
6.4 mm laminated PVB (EN 14449)
6.4
5.7
33
EN 12600 1B1
22
8 mm tempered
8.0
5.7
33
EN 12600 2C2
14
8.8 mm laminated PVB
8.8
5.6
35
EN 12600 1B1
31
6.8 mm laminated, acoustic PVB
6.8
5.7
36
EN 12600 1B1
38
10.8 mm laminated acoustic PVB
10.8
5.6
38
EN 12600 1B1
56
6.4 mm frosted / acid etched lam.
6.4
5.7
33
EN 12600 1B1
29
The two rows that matter most in practice are 6.4 mm laminated and 6.8 mm acoustic laminated. Laminated glass carries EN 12600 class 1B1, which is what a door in a domestic circulation route needs, and it is 1 kg/m2 heavier than the tempered equivalent. The acoustic PVB interlayer takes Rw from 33 to 36 dB for about USD 16/m2 extra – on a 1.4 m2 glazed panel that is roughly USD 22 per leaf for a 3 dB gain, which is the cheapest decibel available anywhere in the schedule.
Glass area versus leaf mass: where the hinge grade changes
Build-up
kg/m2
0.6 m2 panel
1.0 m2
1.4 m2
1.8 m2
6 mm float, annealed
15.0
9.0 kg
15.0 kg
21.0 kg
27.0 kg
6 mm tempered (EN 12150)
15.0
9.0 kg
15.0 kg
21.0 kg
27.0 kg
6.4 mm laminated PVB (EN 14449)
16.0
9.6 kg
16.0 kg
22.4 kg
28.8 kg
8 mm tempered
20.0
12.0 kg
20.0 kg
28.0 kg
36.0 kg
8.8 mm laminated PVB
22.0
13.2 kg
22.0 kg
30.8 kg
39.6 kg
6.8 mm laminated, acoustic PVB
17.5
10.5 kg
17.5 kg
24.5 kg
31.5 kg
10.8 mm laminated acoustic PVB
27.0
16.2 kg
27.0 kg
37.8 kg
48.6 kg
6.4 mm frosted / acid etched lam.
16.0
9.6 kg
16.0 kg
22.4 kg
28.8 kg
The hinge step is at 80 kg. A 900 x 2100 leaf with a 1.4 m2 glazed panel in 8.8 mm laminated reaches 22 x 1.4 = 30.8 kg of glass; add roughly 14 kg of frame and the leaf is around 45 kg, comfortably inside EN 1935 grade 11. Push the same design to 1000 x 2400 with a 1.8 m2 panel and the leaf moves past 55 kg – still under 80 kg, but now the third hinge and the closer arm are doing real work. Above 80 kg you move to grade 13 and to a four-hinge layout.
Sightlines, and why the frame depth is an extrusion decision
Slim interior glazed frames run at 25-35 mm face width on the stile; standard interior frames are 45-55 mm. The difference is visible and it is set by the profile die, not by fabrication.
A 25 mm sightline needs a deeper profile to keep stiffness, because bending stiffness goes with depth cubed. Shallow-and-slim frames need a heavier wall thickness to compensate, which puts the mass back.
Beads: interior glazed doors use a snap-in bead with no exterior drainage. There is no weep path to design, so the rebate can be closed – which is also why the acoustic performance is better than an exterior glazed door of the same nominal build-up.
Frosted, reeded and tinted options all sit on the 6.4 mm laminated base. Acid etch removes about 2-3% of visible light transmission; reeded glass adds USD 26/m2 and is the most common upgrade on bathroom and study doors.
Where the interior door is part of a larger glazed package – for example a hallway screen with a door in it – the same frame family as the sliding glass door systems is normally used so the sightlines match. Mixing a 25 mm interior door frame with a 50 mm sliding door frame on the same elevation is the most visible spec error in a house package.
Interior Doors with Frame: Prehung Versus Knock-Down
“Interior doors with frame” is the search phrase buyers use when they have already decided they do not want to build the frame on site. It is the right instinct. A frame assembled in a factory jig holds square within about 1 mm across the opening; a frame built on site out of three lengths and a spirit level does not, and every millimetre of out-of-square shows up as an uneven reveal and a latch that needs lifting.
The three ways a frame arrives
Delivery form
What arrives
Site labour per set
Freight efficiency
Typical buyer
KD (knock-down)
Cut lengths, brackets, screws. Site assembly.
45-70 min
Best – flat packed
Contractors with a joinery shop on site
Pre-assembled frame
Jambs + head jointed and squared, braced. Leaf hung on site.
20-30 min
Good – 3-part bundle
Most house builders
Prehung set
Leaf hung on frame, hardware fitted, factory-tested. Slides into the opening.
10-18 min
Poorest – bulky
Volume housing, hotel and apartment fit-out
The freight penalty on prehung is real and it is arithmetic, not opinion: see the container table in the logistics section. A prehung set occupies roughly 3.1 times the packed volume of a bare leaf, so on a 40HQ the same configuration drops from 582 units to 431 units before weight even enters the calculation.
Frame types and which opening each one suits
Frame type
Construction
Use
Constraint
Wrap-around (one-piece) jamb
Extruded profile with a fixed stop, wraps the reveal
New build, masonry or stud openings sized to suit
Needs the opening to be right; no tolerance take-up
Split jamb
Two telescoping halves, snaps together over the wall
Renovation, variable wall thickness 90-160 mm
Sightline grows with wall thickness; stop position is fixed
Lining + casing (architrave)
Structural lining, separate casing covers the gap
Where the wall face is not flat or the opening is out of square
Two-part install; casing mitres are the visible quality item
Pocket / cavity frame
Split stud kit, no jamb on the open side
Where swing clearance does not exist
No perimeter seal possible – acoustics cap out around 25 dB
Barn / top-hung track
Surface track above the opening, leaf hangs outside the wall
Feature openings, no pocket available
No frame, no seal, no acoustic or fire rating
Acoustic and fire ratings are properties of the doorset – leaf plus frame plus seals – not of the leaf. If you buy a prehung set, ask which frame the rating was tested with. A leaf tested in a hardwood frame will not hold the same number in an aluminium split jamb unless the manufacturer tested that combination.
What to write on the purchase order
Handing. Record it as viewed from the side the door opens towards. On a 60-set house order a single mis-handed set costs more to fix than the door.
Wall thickness range, not a single figure. Split jambs are manufactured in 10 mm steps; ordering “140 mm” against a wall that measures 132-148 mm guarantees gaps.
Whether the frame is to be fixed through the jamb into the stud, or into a sub-frame. Through-jamb fixing into masonry with a frame anchor is standard; into light-gauge steel stud you need a buck or a reinforced track.
Rebate detail for the seal: brush carrier, compression bulb, or magnetic. This is on the extrusion, so it cannot be added later.
Undercut. Return air needs 8-10 mm; an acoustic drop seal needs the floor to be flat to 2 mm over the leaf width to work at all.
Arch Doors Interior: Radius, Rise and Glass Bending Limits
An arch door is a rectangular leaf with a curved head. The curve is either cut into the opening as a segmental arch, or formed as a full semicircle. Both are geometrically simple and both get expensive at the same point: the glass.
Geometry: radius from width and rise
For a segmental arch of opening width W and rise R (the height of the crown above the springing line), the radius is r = (W2/4 + R2) / (2R), the included angle is theta = 2 asin((W/2)/r), and the arc length is r x theta. Every number in the table below comes from those three expressions.
Opening W (mm)
Rise R (mm)
Radius r (mm)
Included angle (deg)
Arc length (mm)
Facet error, 5 facets (mm)
9 facets
13 facets
21 facets
700
100
662
63.8
737
4.10
1.27
0.61
0.23
700
150
483
92.8
783
6.33
1.96
0.94
0.36
700
200
406
119.0
844
8.73
2.70
1.30
0.50
700
300
354
162.4
1004
14.13
4.38
2.10
0.81
800
100
850
56.1
833
4.08
1.26
0.60
0.23
800
150
608
82.2
873
6.25
1.93
0.93
0.36
800
200
500
106.3
927
8.57
2.65
1.27
0.49
800
300
417
147.5
1073
13.73
4.25
2.04
0.78
900
100
1062
50.1
929
4.06
1.25
0.60
0.23
900
150
750
73.7
965
6.20
1.92
0.92
0.35
900
200
606
95.8
1014
8.46
2.62
1.25
0.48
900
300
488
134.8
1147
13.42
4.16
1.99
0.76
1000
100
1300
45.2
1026
4.05
1.25
0.60
0.23
1000
150
908
66.8
1059
6.17
1.90
0.91
0.35
1000
200
725
87.2
1103
8.38
2.59
1.24
0.48
1000
300
567
123.9
1225
13.19
4.08
1.96
0.75
1200
100
1850
37.8
1222
4.04
1.25
0.60
0.23
1200
150
1275
56.1
1249
6.12
1.89
0.91
0.35
1200
200
1000
73.7
1287
8.27
2.56
1.22
0.47
1200
300
750
106.3
1391
12.86
3.98
1.91
0.73
Two things fall out of that table. First, radius falls fast as the rise increases: a 900 mm opening goes from r = 1063 mm at a 100 mm rise to r = 417 mm at a 280 mm rise. Second, the facet error – the gap between a straight glass segment and the true curve – is what the eye actually sees, and it is the number that decides how many pieces the curved head has to be cut into.
How many facets, and what the eye accepts
Opening W (mm)
Rise (0.22 W)
Radius (mm)
Arc length (mm)
Facets for 3.0 mm error
For 2.0 mm
For 1.0 mm
For 0.5 mm
700
154
475
787
8 pcs, 98 mm chord
10 pcs, 79 mm
13 pcs, 61 mm
19 pcs, 41 mm
800
176
543
900
8 pcs, 112 mm chord
10 pcs, 90 mm
14 pcs, 64 mm
20 pcs, 45 mm
900
198
610
1012
9 pcs, 112 mm chord
11 pcs, 92 mm
15 pcs, 67 mm
21 pcs, 48 mm
1000
220
678
1124
9 pcs, 125 mm chord
11 pcs, 102 mm
16 pcs, 70 mm
22 pcs, 51 mm
1200
264
814
1349
10 pcs, 135 mm chord
12 pcs, 112 mm
17 pcs, 79 mm
24 pcs, 56 mm
A 900 mm opening at a 198 mm rise reads as a gentle arch and needs 15 segments to hold the profile within 1 mm. At 21 segments the chord is 48 mm, which is what a fabricator would actually cut. Every one of those segments is a mitre, a bead cut and a silicone joint – which is why an arch head carries a fabrication surcharge of around USD 62 per opening on top of the door price.
Glass in a curved head: cold bend, hot bend, or facets
Segmental arch with faceted flat glass: cheapest and most common. Flat pieces, straight beads, visible facet error controlled to 1-2 mm. Works down to about r = 400 mm.
Cold-bent laminated glass: the laminate is forced into the frame and held. Practical limit is around r = 1200-1500 mm for 6.4 mm laminate, and the glass stays under permanent stress – which means long-term PVB creep and a risk of edge delamination at the corners.
Hot-bent tempered glass: the glass is made curved. Radius as tight as the mould allows, no residual stress, but it is 3-5 times the cost of flat stock, the lead time grows by 2-3 weeks, and every piece is a one-off – a breakage on site is a re-order, not a replacement.
Aluminium frame bending is the easy part: profiles roll-bend cleanly down to roughly 300 mm radius depending on the die. The frame is never the constraint on an arch door. The glass is.
Arch doors are the single most common cause of a blown interior door budget, because the geometry is decided by the architect and the cost lands on the door package. Get the radius onto the RFQ. “Arch” without a radius and a rise is not a request anyone can price.
The same curved-head logic applies to glazed double door sets and to large glazed sliding panels; if you are mixing arch doors with rectangular glazed doors on one floor, keep the bead profile and the glass build-up identical so the sightline and the colour of the glass edge match.
Solid Wood Interior Doors Prehung Versus an Aluminium System
Solid wood interior doors prehung are the incumbent product in North America, and the comparison against aluminium is usually framed as aesthetics. It is not an aesthetic question. It is a question of dimensional stability under humidity and of what happens to the prehung frame when the leaf moves.
Moisture movement, by the numbers
Property
Solid timber leaf
Aluminium leaf, PU core
Consequence on site
Hygroscopic movement across the grain
0.20-0.30% per 1% MC change
None – metal does not move
A 900 mm timber leaf at 8% to 14% MC grows 11-16 mm across the width
Equilibrium MC range, heated house
6-11% seasonally
Not applicable
Timber doors bind in the stile-to-stop clearance in winter, summer, or both
Warp / bow over 2400 mm height
2-6 mm is normal, 10 mm is a claim
<1 mm over the same height
Bow shows up first as a light gap at the latch stile
Weight, 900 x 2100 leaf
28-45 kg depending on species
17-26 kg depending on core
Heavier leaf means heavier hinges and a deeper frame rebate
Factory finish stability
Lacquer yellows, veneer checks at edges
Powder or anodise, 10-15 yr colour hold
Refinishing a timber door in situ is a site operation
Reaction to a wet trade
Swells, then does not recover fully
Unaffected
Plastering and screeding after door install is the classic cause
The numbers that matter are the first two rows. A 900 mm wide solid timber leaf moving from 8% to 14% moisture content grows 11-16 mm across the grain. The stile-to-stop clearance on a prehung set is 3-4 mm. That is the whole argument: the clearance is smaller than the seasonal movement, so a solid timber door in a house with a humid summer and a heated winter will bind, and the fix is planing the stile – which removes the clearance permanently and makes the next season worse.
What an aluminium interior door cannot do
It cannot be trimmed on site. A timber leaf can be planed 10 mm; an aluminium leaf cannot. Openings have to be surveyed before manufacture, not after.
It cannot be repaired cosmetically in place. A dented aluminium skin is a new leaf; a dented timber door is filler and paint.
It feels colder to the touch at the stile edge unless a timber or polymer thermal insert is used in the handle area. On bedroom and bathroom doors this is noticed.
It does not take a screw anywhere. Any site-added hardware – a hook, a stop, a sign – needs a backing plate or a pre-fitted insert in the core.
Cost per year, not cost per leaf
Item
Solid timber prehung
Aluminium, PU core, powder coat
Supply only, 900 x 2100, USD/set
180-420 (species dependent)
108-178
Factory finish included
Usually, 2 coats lacquer
Yes, Qualicoat Class 1 powder
Site adjustment labour
Planing, re-hanging, re-painting: 1-2 h/set on 10-25%
None
Refinish cycle
Every 6-9 years in a sunny hallway
15-20 years
Failure mode at year 10
Edge checking, latch-side binding, hinge screw pull-out
Hinge adjustment, occasional latch replacement
Indicative 20-year cost, USD/set
420-720
190-280
The 20-year number is the one to take to a client who is comparing quotes on supply price. Full exterior-grade cost comparisons are set out on the metal doors for houses page and the hardware standards are the same ones used on the front entry door build-ups.
Room-to-Room Acoustics: Rw and the Gap Rule
Interior door acoustics are decided by the seal, not by the leaf. The numbers below come from a straight area-weighted transmission calculation on a 900 x 2100 leaf (1.89 m2, 6.0 m perimeter) with a leaf rated at Rw 40 dB, against a continuous perimeter gap of increasing width.
What a perimeter gap costs
Gap (mm)
Gap area (m2)
Share of the opening (%)
Delivered Rw (dB)
Loss (dB)
0.00
0.0000
0.000
40.0
0.0
0.25
0.0015
0.079
30.5
9.5
0.50
0.0030
0.158
27.7
12.3
1.00
0.0060
0.316
24.9
15.1
2.00
0.0120
0.631
21.9
18.1
4.00
0.0240
1.254
19.0
21.0
8.00
0.0480
2.477
16.0
24.0
A 1 mm continuous gap is 0.316% of the opening area and it takes 15.1 dB off the door. This is not a rounding error, it is the whole result: sound finds the hole. A 40 dB leaf delivered with a 1 mm gap is a 25 dB door. A door that looks identical with a drop seal and a compression stop is a 30 dB door.
The ceiling you cannot buy past
Residual gap (mm)
Gap share (%)
Best possible delivered Rw (dB), even with a 60 dB leaf
0.1
0.032
35.0
0.2
0.063
32.0
0.3
0.095
30.2
0.5
0.158
28.0
1.0
0.316
25.0
Even a perfect 60 dB leaf delivers 30.5 dB if the residual gap is 0.3 mm and 35.3 dB if it is 0.1 mm. That is why the leaf rating on a data sheet is close to meaningless on its own, and why the seal package is the line item to spend money on.
Leaf rating needed to hit a room-to-room target
Seal package
Residual gap (mm)
Target 25 dB
Target 28 dB
Target 30 dB
Target 32 dB
Target 35 dB
plain stop, no seal
1.0
not reachable
not reachable
not reachable
not reachable
not reachable
brush + drop seal
0.3
27
32
44
not reachable
not reachable
magnetic compression seal
0.1
26
29
32
36
not reachable
“Not reachable” means exactly that: with a plain stop and no seal, no leaf on the market reaches 25 dB at the opening, because the 1 mm gap caps delivery at 24.9 dB. Specifying Rw 40 on a bedroom door and then leaving a plain stop is spending money on glass you will never hear.
The practical sequence is: fix the seal package first, then buy the leaf rating needed to reach the target, not the other way round. A compression or magnetic seal plus a drop-down seal costs about USD 20-30 per set and is worth more than doubling the core. The same gap logic governs the acoustic glazing packages on the window side.
Fire and Smoke Ratings Where an Interior Door Is Part of a Protected Route
When an interior door needs a rating
Location
Common requirement
Test standard
What the certificate must name
Garage to house
FD 20 / FD 30, self-closing
EN 1634-1 or BS 476-22 / UL 10C
The doorset: leaf, frame, glazing, intumescent, closer
Apartment entrance off a common corridor
EI2 30 or EI2 60 in the EU, 20-90 min elsewhere
EN 1634-1 with EN 13501-2 classification
Field of application: sizes and hardware covered
Stairwell / protected lobby
FD 30 S (smoke) with a closer
EN 1634-1 plus EN 1634-3
Smoke leakage class Sa or S200 at ambient and 200 C
Plant room, riser, meter cupboard
FD 30-60, usually no smoke requirement
EN 1634-1
Whether the rating covers both faces
Bedroom in a house, no protected route
None in most jurisdictions
Not applicable
Do not pay for a rating that is not required
What the aluminium build-up has to do
Aluminium melts at around 660 C but loses usable strength well below that, so an aluminium fire door works by keeping the heat away from the frame – an insulated core plus intumescent strips that expand into the gap at roughly 150-200 C.
Rockwool at 110 kg/m3 is the standard core for an EI2 30 aluminium leaf. It costs about USD 42/m2 more than a hollow build-up and adds roughly 13 kg to a 900 x 2100 leaf.
Glazed fire doors need a rated glass – typically a gel-filled or intumescent-laminate unit classified to EI 30. It is 2-3 times the cost of a standard 6.4 mm laminate and it has a maximum panel area well below what a normal glazed door can carry.
The closer is part of the rating. A fire door without a self-closing device is not a fire door regardless of what the leaf achieved in the furnace.
Ratings are size-limited. A leaf tested at 900 x 2100 does not automatically cover 1000 x 2400. Ask for the field-of-application document, not the certificate cover page.
For the security-adjacent cases – a storeroom, a safe room, a service entrance off the house – the relevant framework is EN 1627 and the notes on the security door page apply. Note that RC classes cover the whole doorset including the cylinder and the hinge side, and that no interior hollow-core leaf reaches RC2.
Hardware: Hinges, Latches, Locks and Closers
Interior door hardware is selected on two numbers: leaf mass and duty cycle. Everything else – finish, lever shape, backset – is a catalogue choice. Getting the first two wrong produces a door that sags on the latch stile within two years.
Hinges against actual leaf mass
Core build-up
Leaf mass, 900 x 2100 (kg)
Hinges required
EN 1935 grade
Hollow (air cavity)
17.0
2
grade 11 (80 kg)
Aluminium honeycomb 8 mm cell
25.5
2
grade 11 (80 kg)
Kraft paper honeycomb
20.8
2
grade 11 (80 kg)
PU foam, 30 mm, 38 kg/m3
33.1
2
grade 11 (80 kg)
PU foam, 40 mm, 40 kg/m3
37.8
2
grade 11 (80 kg)
Rockwool, 40 mm, 110 kg/m3
42.5
3
grade 11 (80 kg)
XPS, 40 mm
35.9
2
grade 11 (80 kg)
MgO board + rockwool
49.1
3
grade 11 (80 kg)
EN 1935 grades the hinge by mass and cycle count: grade 11 covers 80 kg, grade 13 covers 120 kg, grade 14 covers 160 kg. The grade also carries a cycle number – 200,000 for grade 11 to 14 at the top tier. A hinge with the right mass grade but 50,000 cycles is a two-year part on a corridor door in a shared house.
Cycle count is the number nobody specifies. A family bathroom door runs about 15-20 cycles a day, roughly 6,000 a year, which any hinge survives. A door on a 48-unit apartment lobby runs more than 100,000 a year, which only a top-cycle hinge survives.
Three hinges on any leaf above 2100 mm height or 40 kg. Four above 2400 mm. The extra hinge is cheaper than the call-back.
Concealed 3D-adjustable hinges cost about USD 22 per set more than a visible butt hinge and let a site team correct 2 mm of sag in three axes without taking the leaf off. On prehung aluminium sets they are close to standard.
Latches, locks and where privacy hardware belongs
Function
Hardware
Standard
Typical upgrade cost (USD/set)
Pass door (no lock)
Tubular latch, 45-55 mm backset
EN 12209 latch class
0 – baseline
Magnetic latch
Magnet in the frame, no striker plate
No EN class; check cycle life
14
Bathroom / WC
Privacy lock with emergency release
EN 12209 grade 2-3
12
Bedroom
Lever lock, cylinder or keyed alike
EN 12209 / EN 1303 cylinder
18-32
Study / office
Lever lock, master-keyed
EN 1303, 6-pin, keyed to a schedule
38-64
Fire door
Self-closing device, no hold-open
EN 1154 (light duty) or EN 1155 electric
27-95
Acoustic door
Compression latch plus drop seal
EN 12209 with compression adjustment
31
On a whole-house package, keyed-alike cylinders on bedroom doors and privacy hardware on bathrooms is the standard combination. Master-keying is worth specifying at the factory: re-keying on site means new cylinders, and cylinders in an aluminium stile are not a five-minute job. A keying schedule on the PO costs nothing and saves a site visit.
Closers on interior doors
EN 1154 sizes a closer by door width and mass. Size 2 covers 750 mm and 40 kg; size 3 covers 950 mm and 60 kg. An interior hollow-core leaf is often lighter than the minimum the closer is rated for, which makes the closing force feel heavy and leads to slamming complaints.
Fire doors need a closer, and the closer is part of the certificate. A hold-open arm on a fire door needs an electromagnetic release tied to the alarm – EN 1155 – or it disables the rating.
Soft-close on a bedroom door is a convenience item and it interacts with the latch: a closer strong enough to latch against a compression seal will feel heavy on a hollow leaf. This is the most common source of “the door slams” call-backs.
Profile, Wall Thickness and Panel Core
Interior door profiles are lighter than exterior ones and that is correct – there is no wind load and no water to manage. But “lighter” has a floor, and the floor is set by handling, hinge pull-out and the flatness of the leaf after powder coating.
Alloy and temper
Alloy / temper
Rp0.2 (MPa)
Rm (MPa)
Elongation A50 (%)
Where it is used
6063-T5
130
185
8
Standard door stiles and rails; best surface finish
6063-T6
170
215
8
Where a higher hinge pull-out resistance is needed
Per EN 1999-1-1 with gamma-M1 = 1.10, the design strength of 6063-T5 is about 118 MPa and of 6063-T6 about 155 MPa. On an interior door the utilisation is single-digit percent – interior doors are stiffness- and handling-driven, not strength-driven. The reason to specify T6 over T5 is hinge screw pull-out and impact resistance at the stile, not bending strength.
Wall thickness and why it matters here
1.2-1.4 mm: the practical floor for an interior door profile. Below this the leaf visibly deforms when carried, and hinge screws pull through the stile under a slammed load.
1.4-1.8 mm: standard. Handles a 2100 mm leaf with a PU core without a mid-rail sag.
2.0-2.5 mm: used on full-height leaves above 2400 mm and on glazed leaves where the glass mass hangs off the stile.
Wall thickness is a die decision. It cannot be changed after extrusion, and changing it means a new die – typically 5-9 days and USD 800-2,500 depending on the profile.
Panel core options
Core
Thickness (mm)
kg/m2
Ud (W/m2K)
Leaf Rw (dB)
Fire
+USD/m2
Hollow (air cavity)
40
9.0
4.10
24
none
0
Aluminium honeycomb 8 mm cell
40
13.5
3.20
27
none
12
Kraft paper honeycomb
40
11.0
2.90
26
none
6
PU foam, 30 mm, 38 kg/m3
40
17.5
1.60
29
none
22
PU foam, 40 mm, 40 kg/m3
45
20.0
1.25
31
none
30
Rockwool, 40 mm, 110 kg/m3
45
22.5
1.35
33
EI2 30
42
XPS, 40 mm
45
19.0
1.40
30
none
26
MgO board + rockwool
45
26.0
1.45
35
EI2 30-60
58
For a bedroom or study door the core choice is between honeycomb and 30 mm PU. Honeycomb at USD 12/m2 gives 27 dB and 13.5 kg/m2; 30 mm PU at USD 22/m2 gives 29 dB and 17.5 kg/m2. The 10 USD per square metre difference is about USD 19 per leaf for 2 dB and a noticeably more solid feel when the door is knocked. On a 40-door house that is USD 760, which most clients spend.
What the core does to the leaf, per opening
Core
Leaf area (m2)
Leaf mass (kg)
Core add (USD/m2)
Core add per leaf (USD)
Hollow (air cavity)
1.89
17.0
0
0
Aluminium honeycomb 8 mm cell
1.89
25.5
12
23
Kraft paper honeycomb
1.89
20.8
6
11
PU foam, 30 mm, 38 kg/m3
1.89
33.1
22
42
PU foam, 40 mm, 40 kg/m3
1.89
37.8
30
57
Rockwool, 40 mm, 110 kg/m3
1.89
42.5
42
79
XPS, 40 mm
1.89
35.9
26
49
MgO board + rockwool
1.89
49.1
58
110
Leaf Sizes, Rough Openings and Clear Passage
Every size table below is computed from the same rule: rough opening width = leaf width + 2 x jamb depth + 2 x 5 mm fitting clearance; rough opening height = leaf height + head depth + 8 mm undercut + 5 mm clearance. Substitute your own jamb depth if it differs.
Rough openings for a 40 mm and a 32 mm frame
Nominal leaf
Leaf W x H (mm)
Jamb 40 mm: RO W x H (mm)
Jamb 32 mm: RO W x H (mm)
US 2-8 x 6-8
813 x 2032
903 x 2085
887 x 2077
US 3-0 x 6-8
914 x 2032
1004 x 2085
988 x 2077
UK 762 x 1981
762 x 1981
852 x 2034
836 x 2026
UK 838 x 1981
838 x 1981
928 x 2034
912 x 2026
EU 900 x 2100
900 x 2100
990 x 2153
974 x 2145
EU 1000 x 2110
1000 x 2110
1090 x 2163
1074 x 2155
AU 820 x 2040
820 x 2040
910 x 2093
894 x 2085
The US 2-8 x 6-8 case is the one that surprises people. A 813 mm leaf in a 40 mm aluminium frame needs a 903 mm rough opening, against the 864 mm (34 in) that a timber split jamb needs. The aluminium frame is deeper, so the opening has to be wider. If the framing is already built to the timber standard, the aluminium frame does not fit – and the fix is a 32 mm jamb profile, which reduces the RO to 887 mm, still 23 mm over.
Clear passage: what the frame takes out of the opening
Leaf width (mm)
Jamb depth 32 mm: clear (mm) / %
40 mm: clear / %
55 mm: clear / %
700
636 mm / 90.9%
620 mm / 88.6%
590 mm / 84.3%
762
698 mm / 91.6%
682 mm / 89.5%
652 mm / 85.6%
813
749 mm / 92.1%
733 mm / 90.2%
703 mm / 86.5%
838
774 mm / 92.4%
758 mm / 90.5%
728 mm / 86.9%
900
836 mm / 92.9%
820 mm / 91.1%
790 mm / 87.8%
1000
936 mm / 93.6%
920 mm / 92.0%
890 mm / 89.0%
A 900 mm leaf in a 55 mm frame leaves 790 mm of clear passage. Where an accessibility requirement applies – a care facility, an accessible dwelling unit, a wheelchair route – the 800 mm clear figure is the one to check, and it is met by widening the leaf to 950 mm or by moving to a 32 mm jamb, not by arguing about the leaf size.
Height trends and what they do to the spec
2100 mm is the standard leaf height in Europe and is now common elsewhere. Above 2400 mm the leaf needs a third hinge, a heavier wall thickness, and a mid-rail or the skin will oil-can.
Full-height 2400-2700 mm doors are the most common upgrade on contemporary houses. The surcharge is about USD 29 per leaf for the extrusion change plus a handling cost that shows up in freight.
A full-height hollow-core leaf is the worst combination in the catalogue: maximum area, minimum stiffness. If the design calls for full height, specify PU or honeycomb at minimum.
The window-side equivalents and the survey discipline they require are covered on the house windows page; the same rule applies – survey the opening, then manufacture, never the other way round.
Manufacturing Sequence and Lead Time
The twelve steps, and where the time goes
#
Step
Days
Share of lead time
Note
1
Profile extrusion (6063-T5 / T6 billet)
3-5
14-20%
Stock profiles skip this entirely
2
Ageing / artificial ageing to temper
1
4%
Often runs in parallel with cutting
3
CNC cutting and machining of stiles and rails
1-2
6-8%
Hinge and lock preps are done here
4
Corner crimping or welding of the leaf frame
1
4%
Crimped corners need a corner cleat and adhesive
5
Core insertion and panel lamination
1-2
6-8%
PU is poured in place; rockwool is laid in
6
Pre-treatment: degrease, etch, conversion coat
0.5
2%
The step that decides coating life
7
Powder coating or anodising
1
4%
See the coating parameter table below
8
Glazing, beading and sealing
1
4%
Laminated glass is held in a closed interior rebate
9
Hardware fitting and pre-hanging
1-2
6-8%
Prehung sets are hung and cycle-tested here
10
Buyer drawing approval
5-9
17-30%
The only step the buyer controls
11
Inspection and packing
1
4%
Dry-build photographs are taken here
12
Container loading and export documentation
2-4
8-14%
Varies with port and sailing
Step 10 is the only line in that table the buyer controls and it is the largest single share of the lead time. Every day spent on drawing approval is a day added to delivery. Approving a shop drawing within 48 hours rather than a week typically takes 5 days off a 30-day order.
Coating parameters we work to
Parameter
Powder coating (Qualicoat Class 1)
Anodising (Qualanod AA20)
Why it matters
Pre-treatment
Alkaline degrease, de-smut, chromium-free or chrome conversion
Etch in NaOH, de-smut, anodic pre-treatment
Adhesion failures start here, not in the oven
Bath control
Conductivity and pH logged per shift
Free caustic and dissolved Al monitored
Out-of-control baths give filiform corrosion in 3-5 years
Film thickness
60-80 um, measured on the flat
AA20 = 20 um oxide, AA25 = 25 um
Below 60 um pinholes; above 120 um the coating chips at the mitres
Recessed corners run thin – gun voltage and distance set for the deepest recess
Not applicable – anodising is immersion
The reason a door corner fails first
Colour check
Delta E <= 1.5 against the master panel, CIE Lab
Colour matched by alloy and bath
Two batches at Delta E 3 is visible once the doors are on one corridor
Why interior doors do not use a thermal break
Exterior doors and windows carry a polyamide PA66 GF25 strip 14-34 mm wide to break the thermal path between the inner and outer faces. Interior doors do not, because there is no temperature difference to break: both faces of the leaf see conditioned air. The one exception is the garage-to-house door, which does sit on a thermal boundary, and there the 20-24 mm strip is worth specifying – it moves Ud from roughly 3.5 to 1.8 and it is a different extrusion.
Where a project mixes interior and exterior doors on one order, the interior leaves can share the same outer contour as the aluminium window and door system while using a non-thermal inner profile – which keeps the sightlines consistent without paying for a strip that does nothing.
FOB Pricing, Options and Procurement Data
Prices below are FOB Foshan or Shenzhen, per set, for a 900 x 2100 single leaf with a standard powder-coated frame, jambs, hinges and a passage latch. Glass, arch heads, fire ratings and all other upgrades are on the option list underneath.
FOB bands by configuration and quantity
Configuration
30-59 sets
60-149 sets
150-399 sets
400+ sets
I1 hollow panel, powder coat
USD 78
USD 62
USD 51
USD 44
I2 honeycomb panel, powder coat
USD 96
USD 78
USD 64
USD 55
I3 PU 40 mm panel, powder coat
USD 132
USD 108
USD 89
USD 76
I4 rockwool EI2 30, intumescent
USD 178
USD 146
USD 121
USD 104
I5 glazed 6.4 lam., slim frame
USD 148
USD 121
USD 100
USD 86
I6 glazed 8.8 lam. acoustic
USD 196
USD 160
USD 132
USD 113
I7 segmental arch, glazed
USD 238
USD 195
USD 161
USD 138
I8 full arch (hot-bent glass)
USD 352
USD 289
USD 238
USD 205
The step from I3 to I4 – a PU panel to a rockwool EI2 30 leaf – is about USD 46 per set at the 60-149 band and it is not a volume-discountable cost: the intumescent kit and the fire-labelled leaf are per-item expenses, not material costs that scale. The same is true of the arch head fabrication charge. Plan for those two lines to stay flat as quantity grows.
Option list
Option
Add (USD/set)
Option
Add (USD/set)
Concealed / hidden hinges (3D adjustable)
22
Magnetic tubular latch (replaces striker plate)
14
Drop-down acoustic seal
9
Smoke seal (EN 1634-3 Sa)
11
Intumescent kit + fire-labelled leaf
46
Frosted / acid-etched laminate
12
Reeded / fluted glass
26
Tinted grey or bronze interlayer
9
RAL custom colour (non-stock)
8
Woodgrain sublimation (Qualideco)
24
Anodising AA20 instead of powder
21
Antibacterial powder coat
13
Satin stainless lever on rose
18
Bathroom privacy lock / indicator
12
Soft-close overhead closer (light duty)
27
Pocket / cavity sliding kit
68
Barn-door top-hung track kit
54
Prehung: jambs + casing + factory hung
38
Arch head fabrication + CNC template
62
Full-height (2400-2700 mm) surcharge
29
Commercial terms
Item
Standard term
Note
MOQ
30 sets per configuration
Below 30 sets the extrusion changeover dominates the price
Sample
1 set, full price plus air freight
Credited against the first order above 150 sets
Lead time
25-35 days after drawing approval
Add 10-14 days for anodising or fire-rated leaves
Payment
30% deposit, 70% against B/L copy
L/C at sight accepted above USD 30,000
Packing
EPE sleeve, corner board, 5-ply carton, 6 leaves per carton
Prehung sets: one set per carton, wood crate available at USD 9/set
Warranty
10 years on the coating, 5 years on hardware
Excludes fire-rated glazing, which carries the glass maker warranty
Spares
2% hinges and latches shipped free
Recommended for any order above 200 sets
Packing, Container Loading and Landed Cost
Interior doors are light and bulky, which makes them a volume-limited cargo – with two exceptions where weight takes over. The table is computed for a 40HQ at 68 m3 usable volume and a 25,000 kg payload, six leaves per carton, 900 x 2100 x 45 mm nominal.
40HQ loading by build-up
Build-up
Mass per unit (kg)
Carton volume (m3)
Per unit (m3)
Units by volume
Units by weight
Actual units
Limit
Hollow / honeycomb panel leaf
19.0
0.695
0.116
582
1315
582
volume
PU 40 mm panel leaf
42.0
0.695
0.116
582
595
582
volume
Rockwool EI2 30 leaf
47.0
0.695
0.116
582
531
531
payload
Glazed leaf, 6.4 lam.
38.0
0.695
0.116
582
657
582
volume
Glazed leaf, 8.8 lam.
52.0
0.695
0.116
582
480
480
payload
Prehung set (leaf + jambs + casing)
58.0
0.695
0.116
582
431
431
payload
Two findings. First, the standard panel and glazed leaves are volume-limited at 582 units and use only about 45% of the payload – so an interior door container almost always has weight to spare and should be consolidated with heavier items. Second, a rockwool EI2 30 leaf, an 8.8 mm acoustic laminated leaf and any prehung set flip to payload-limited, dropping to 480, 480 and 431 units. That flip is invisible in a quote and it changes the freight cost per door by 20-26%.
Landed cost sensitivity
FOB (USD/set)
Landed @ 0% duty
Installed @ 0%
Landed @ 6%
Installed @ 6%
Landed @ 12%
Installed @ 12%
Landed @ 25%
Installed @ 25%
USD 95
USD 135
USD 230
USD 142
USD 237
USD 150
USD 245
USD 165
USD 260
USD 145
USD 185
USD 280
USD 195
USD 290
USD 206
USD 301
USD 228
USD 323
USD 210
USD 250
USD 345
USD 264
USD 359
USD 278
USD 373
USD 309
USD 404
USD 290
USD 330
USD 425
USD 349
USD 444
USD 368
USD 463
USD 409
USD 504
USD 380
USD 420
USD 515
USD 444
USD 539
USD 469
USD 564
USD 522
USD 616
Freight is USD 26 per set across all rows and it is stable. Duty is not: moving from 0% to 25% adds USD 49-95 per set depending on the FOB band, which is between 27% and 46% of the FOB value. Confirm the HS classification before you quote a project – interior aluminium doorsets are normally classified with the door, but a prehung set with a timber casing or a fire-rated leaf can be classified differently, and some destinations apply additional measures to aluminium articles. Get it in writing.
For the volume game on mixed orders, we normally consolidate interior doors with the heavier glazed packages from the sliding patio door line or with casement window frames to fill the payload the doors leave unused.
Installation Sequence, Commissioning and Failure Modes
Eight steps, in order
Check the opening against the shop drawing before unpacking. Measure the width at three heights and the height at both jambs. If the opening is out by more than 10 mm, stop – the frame will not be corrected by packing.
Dry-set the frame with packers at every fixing point. Shim, do not bend. A frame forced square by its fixings will relax and take the leaf with it.
Fix through the jamb at the hinge positions first, then the head, then the strike side. Use frame anchors into masonry; into light-gauge steel stud, fit a reinforced track or a timber buck.
Plumb the hinge jamb to 1 mm over the full height and re-check after every fixing. This single check prevents most of the call-backs in the list below.
Hang the leaf and check the reveal: 3-4 mm even on the head and both stiles. Adjust on a 3D hinge if fitted; if not, adjust the frame, not the leaf.
Fit the strike plate to the latch, not to the drawing. Mark it from the latch position with the leaf in the closed position.
Run the door 20 times from fully open and fully closed, listening for latch scrape and hinge noise. Set the closer, if fitted, so the door closes from 90 degrees in 4-6 seconds and latches on the last 100 mm without slamming.
Set the drop seal last, with the floor finished. A drop seal set before the floor screed is a drop seal that will be re-set or will never seal.
Commissioning checks worth recording
Check
Target
Method
Reveal evenness
3-4 mm, +/- 1 mm on head and stiles
Feeler gauge at four points
Hinge jamb plumb
1 mm over 2100 mm
Spirit level or laser
Latch engagement
Full throw without lifting the lever
Operate from both sides
Closing force
< 25 N at the lever for a non-fire door
Spring balance at the handle
Closer timing
4-6 s from 90 degrees, no slam
Stopwatch, two passes
Drop seal contact
Continuous contact on a flat floor
Paper pull test at three points
Light test
No light visible around the leaf at night
Torch from the far side
Cycle check
20 full cycles without adjustment
Manual run-through
Six failure modes, and where they are decided
Failure
Symptom
Root cause
Decided at
Latch stile sag
Lever has to be lifted to close
Two hinges on a leaf above 40 kg, or a grade 11 hinge on a 60 kg leaf
Order stage
Door binds seasonally
Sticks in one season, gaps in the other
Timber leaf movement exceeding the 3-4 mm clearance
Material selection
Acoustic target missed
Rw 32 specified, 25 delivered
Plain stop, no drop seal, plain undercut
Order stage
Slam on closing
Door bangs shut
Closer sized for a heavier leaf than the one fitted
Hardware selection
Coating chips at the mitre
Edge damage in year 2-3
Film over 120 um, or under-cured powder on a crimped corner
Factory process
Out-of-square reveal
Visible taper along the head
Frame forced square by fixings rather than packed
Installation
Four of the six are decided before the container is packed. That is the argument for spending time on the schedule rather than on the site.
Project Data
Case 1 – 62-unit apartment block, Rotterdam, Netherlands
A developer replacing the internal doorsets across a 62-unit residential block: 248 bedroom and living-room doors, 62 bathroom doors, 62 entrance doors off the common corridor with an EI2 30 requirement, and 62 garage-to-house doors on the ground-floor units.
Item
Data
Scope
434 doorsets, 4 configurations, 900 x 2100 and 830 x 2115
Build-up
I2 honeycomb for internal, I4 rockwool EI2 30 for corridor and garage entrance
Acoustic target
Rw 30 dB room-to-room on bedroom doors
Specified seal
Brush carrier in the frame plus drop-down seal – specified before the leaf rating, which is why the target was met
Container plan
2 x 40HQ; internal doors consolidated with 380 m2 of glazed balcony door frames to use the spare payload
FOB
USD 128 average across the four configurations
Landed, Rotterdam, 6% duty
USD 168 per set
Installed
USD 263 per set
Local equivalent quote
USD 371 per set
Saving
-29.1%, USD 46,872 across the package
12-month outcome
2 service calls, both latch adjustment. No hinge failures. Acoustic spot check on 6 units: 29.4-31.1 dB delivered, against a 30 dB target.
Case 2 – Detached house with arch openings, Toronto, Canada
A single-family house where the architect specified arched interior openings on the ground floor circulation route: 6 doors, 3 of them glazed, on a 0% duty FTA path but with a 5% GST and a 12-month heating season that swings indoor humidity from 25% to 45%.
Item
Data
Scope
6 arch doors (900 mm opening, 198 mm rise, r = 610 mm), 3 glazed in 6.4 mm frosted laminate, plus 11 rectangular doors
Faceting
15 segments per head to hold the profile within 1.0 mm
Glass decision
Faceted flat laminate rather than hot-bent – saved USD 214 per opening and 3 weeks of lead time
Core
PU 40 mm throughout; the humidity swing ruled out a timber-skinned leaf
Arch surcharge
USD 62 per opening fabrication plus USD 68 for the CNC template
FOB
USD 231 average for the arch doors, USD 118 for the rectangular doors
Landed, Toronto, 0% duty + 5% GST
USD 268 / USD 141 per set
Installed
USD 402 / USD 236 per set
Local millwork quote, same geometry
USD 691 / USD 388 per set
Saving
-41.8% on the arch doors, -39.2% on the rectangular doors; USD 3,652 total
18-month outcome
No seasonal binding. The client had been quoted a solid timber arch door at 2.4x the aluminium price and had been warned by the architect about stile movement.
Material Comparison
Aluminium versus the alternatives, ten criteria
Criterion
Aluminium, PU core
Solid timber
Hollow MDF / moulded
uPVC
Dimensional stability
No hygroscopic movement
11-16 mm across 900 mm over 6% MC
4-8 mm, and does not recover
Creeps under sustained load above 35 C
Mass, 900 x 2100
17-26 kg
28-45 kg
16-22 kg
22-30 kg
Delivered Rw, sealed
29-36 dB
28-34 dB
24-28 dB
28-32 dB
Fire rating available
EI2 30-60 with rockwool core
FD 30-60 with intumescent
FD 30 with a rated core
Rarely rated
Finish life
15-20 years
6-9 years between refinishes
Paint every 5-8 years
Colour fade from year 8
Site trimming
Not possible
Up to 10 mm per stile
Up to 6 mm
Not practical
Full-height capability
To 2700 mm with 2.0 mm wall
To 2400 mm before bow risk
Bows above 2100 mm
Needs steel reinforcement
Moisture resistance
Unaffected
Swells, does not recover
Swells and stays swollen
Unaffected
Cost, FOB USD/set
108-178
180-420
55-110
95-150
Best application
Full-height, humid, or full-house packages
Heritage, feature, where trimming on site is needed
Budget rental and spec housing
Wet rooms, low budget
When not to specify aluminium interior doors
Openings that have not been surveyed and may move. Aluminium cannot be trimmed; timber can.
Heritage or conservation work where a painted timber section is a requirement.
One-off replacements into existing frames – the frame is half the system and reusing a third-party frame rarely works.
Very tight budgets on small quantities: below about 30 sets the extrusion changeover makes aluminium uncompetitive against a stock moulded door.
Where the client will want to hang things on the door. Aluminium skins need pre-fitted inserts.
RFQ Checklist
Technical items – eight that change the price
Leaf size, height and quantity, with handing for every set.
Opening width and height, surveyed, plus wall thickness range.
Core: hollow, honeycomb, PU thickness, rockwool – and the fire rating if one applies.
Glass: build-up, safety class, frosting or tint, and the panel area.
Acoustic target at the opening (not the leaf) and the seal package you intend to use.
Frame type: wrap-around, split, lining and casing, pocket, or barn track.
Hardware: hinge grade and finish, latch or lock function, keying schedule, closer if required.
Arch geometry: radius and rise, or the drawing. “Arch” alone cannot be priced.
Commercial items – eight that change the schedule
Quantity per configuration, and whether repeats are expected.
Destination port and whether consolidation with other products is possible.
Incoterm (FOB, CIF, DDP) and the HS classification you intend to declare.
Target delivery date and whether it is a hard date.
Finish: stock RAL, custom RAL, woodgrain, or anodising.
Packing requirement: carton, crate, prehung, or flat-pack.
Spare parts percentage and whether a 2% hardware allowance is acceptable.
Whether a sample set is required before production, and by when.
Weighted sound reduction index, dB, per EN ISO 717-1. Measured on a test specimen; the delivered figure depends on the seals.
Ud
Thermal transmittance of a door, W/m2K, calculated per EN ISO 10077-1 or measured per EN ISO 12567-1.
EI2 30
Fire classification per EN 13501-2: integrity (E) and insulation (I2) maintained for 30 minutes.
Sa / S200
Smoke leakage classification per EN 1634-3; S200 means leakage measured at 200 C.
EN 1935 grade 11 / 13 / 14
Hinge classification. The grade covers door mass (80 / 120 / 160 kg) and a cycle count.
Prehung
A doorset delivered with the leaf already hung on its frame and the hardware fitted and tested.
KD (knock-down)
Delivered as cut lengths and brackets for assembly on site.
Split jamb
A two-part frame that telescopes to suit variable wall thickness, typically 90-160 mm.
Drop seal
An automatic seal in the bottom of the leaf that drops onto the floor as the door closes.
Facet error
The gap between a straight glass segment and the true curve of an arch head; r (1 – cos(theta/2N)) for N facets.
PA66 GF25
Polyamide 66 with 25% glass fibre – the material thermal break strips are made from.
Qualicoat Class 1 / Class 2
Powder coating quality labels; Class 1 is the interior and general exterior grade, Class 2 the enhanced architectural grade.
Qualanod AA20 / AA25
Anodising quality labels for 20 and 25 micron oxide thickness.
Faraday cage effect
The tendency of powder coating to deposit thinly inside recesses, which is why door corners fail first.
Handing
The side the door opens towards, always recorded from a defined viewing side.
Standards, coating and ordering terms
The terms below are the ones that most often cause a specification to be misread between a drawing office in one country and a factory in another. When an enquiry uses a shorthand label, ask which standard and which edition it refers to before the order is placed.
Rw and Ud are laboratory figures. Both are obtained on a specimen that was built and sealed for the test; the value delivered on site depends on the seals, the threshold and the gaps left by the installer.
EI2 30 and Sa / S200 are separate classifications. A doorset can hold integrity without holding a smoke leakage class, and most interior specifications need both.
EN 1935 grades bundle mass and cycles. A grade 13 hinge on a community entrance door is usually limited by cycle count rather than by the 120 kg it can carry.
Prehung and KD are packing decisions as much as product decisions: prehung costs more per unit but moves the hanging and hardware fitting into the factory, where it is checked.
Coating labels are batch quality labels, not service life predictions. Class 2 and AA25 tell you the specification that was applied, not how long it will last in a given building.