We walk through doors multiple times a day, but most people don’t know there are specific words that describe each part of the door. That vocabulary is a nice thing to know when you’re ordering a door, or simply walking through one.
Rails. The rails are the horizontal pieces on a panel door. As you can see in the image, there are top rails, mid rails, and bottom rails.
Stiles. The stiles are the vertical pieces on each side of a panel door. They’re differentiated by their location – next to the lock or the hinge.
Panels. First of all, sometimes the whole door itself is called a panel. That can be confusing. Panels, however, are technically the part of the door that is surrounded by the rails and stiles and mullion.
Mullion. In a panel door, the mullion is like a stile – a vertical piece of the door. In sidelighted doors, or double doors, the word mullion also refers to the vertical piece that separates the door from a window. Some mullions are removable.
Header. This is the piece of the door frame that is over the door.
Jambs. The two jambs are the vertical pieces of the door frame. As you can guess, the hinge jamb is where the hinges are fastened. The strike jamb is where the lock mechanism ‘strikes’.
We build – and sell – a lot of doors at Southside, and we hear a lot of questions. We hope this helps answer some of your questions before you get here. Either way, our professional quality service team is happy to help you get what you need for all of your door needs.
