UK Oak Doors Jargon Buster: All About Doors

We’ve all been through the pressure of buying something important that we know little to nothing about. From car technicians who bamboozle us with jargon so complicated that it sounds like they’re talking another language, to the salesmen who dazzle us with well-rehearsed pitches; you want to get involved in the decision-making process but you just can’t get your head around what is actually being said.

Here at UK Oak Doors, we want you to be in the know! If you’re looking to buy new internal or external doors for you home, this jargon buster will give you the confidence and the knowledge required to decide whether you’d like a bevelled or a micro-bevelled edge, solid oak or oak veneer, and the number of ledges you require on your ledge and brace door.

Watch out salesmen, we’re coming for you and we’ve brought our jargon buster too!

Bead and Butt
This term is used to describe a decorative profile used where two boards join each other. Bead and butt is a great alternative internal cladding option that gives a traditional feel. Bead and butt profiles on doors help prevent them from warping.

Beading
Used to hold glass in place on windows and doors. Beading can be fixed using adhesive, pins, screws or nails to ensure stability.

Bevel
A bevelled edge refers to the edge of a structure where two pieces of material meet and a form an angle of anything other than a right angle.

Bevel and chamfer are terms that are used interchangeably and are both often used to soften the edge of a piece for the sake of safety, wear resistance or aesthetics.

Braces
This refers to the diagonal bracing across the back of a ledge and brace door.

Chamfered
A chamfered edge is similar to a bevelled edge in that way that is connects two surfaces. If the surfaces are at right angles then the chamfer will typically be symmetrical at 45 degrees.

Core
The very centre of the door. Often used to describe the material within engineered doors, used simply to fill space, provide rigidity and reduce druminess.

Cross-Section
By doing a cross-section of something, you are able to expose a shape, surface or materials within. Cross-sections are usually cut through at a right angle or to an axis.

Engineered
Also described as composite, an engineered product is constructed from multiple material types using a variety of modern techniques.

Finished
Exactly how it sounds! If a product is finished it requires no additional work before it can be used such as oiling, lacquering or painting.

Hidden Fixings
Refers to a layer concealing fixtures and fittings or the internal construction of a door.

Jamb
The door jamb is the vertical portion of the door frame onto which the door is secured.

Knots
A knot is a dark circular marking found on sawn timber. Knots form when a section of branch which was attached to the main trunk dies but remains attached to the tree. The tree continues to grow around the dead branch and once it’s felled and the branches are trimmed off, the dead branches appear as knots.

Ledges
The ledges are the horizontal panels that run across the back of a ledge and brace door. The ledges are typically attached to the door using screws to allow the wood to move.

Lining
Door linings are specifically for interior doors. Door lining packs contain three pieces; two uprights and one overhead piece which can be trimmed down to fit the existing doorway.

Lintel
The lintel is the top of the door frame; the load bearing building component.

Lipping
The solid piece of wood on the edge of a door which can be trimmed to ensure that the door fits snugly within the frame without catching. It is also the area where the door hinge is attached.

Lites
Pieces of glass that are cut and prepared and used to create the window of a door.

Lock Rail
This is the horizontal, central panel of the door that has the door handle and locking mechanism attached to it.

Lumber
The word lumber is used to describe wood in any stage from the time it is cut from a tree through to its transformation into a door, window, cladding or paper.

Micro Bevel
Bevel’s little sister. A micro-bevel is the slightest angled cut applied to the top edges of some solid oak floor boards or planks. When the pieces are fitted together, the micro-bevels form a small groove in between each of the planks which helps to give definition.

Mortice and Tenon
This is a type of joint used to join two pieces of wood together. A mortice is a cavity cut into timber to receive a tenon. A tenon is a projection on the end of a piece of timber that is specially designed for insertion into a mortice.

Mortice Lock
A mortice lock is one that requires a pocket (the mortice) to be cut into the door or the piece of furniture into which the lock is to be fitted.

Moveable Stoppers
These door stoppers are the pieces of wood that usually sit near the centre of the door linings that meet the door when it’s closed. Moveable stoppers allow you to adjust the depth to which the door shuts inside the doorway.

Muntin
This is the thin strip of wood or metal that you see separating or holding panes of glass in a window.

Planks
Pieces of timber that are flat, elongated and rectangular. They have parallel faces and are longer than they are wide.

Plugs
These are small pieces of wood that are used to conceal screws. The plug is simply inserted in the hole and pushed in so that it lays flush with the surface of the wood, completely hiding the screw from sight.

Profile
A strip of material with various profiles is used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. Also known as moulding or coving.

Rail
The rail refers to the piece of wood that captures a ‘floating’ panel within its sturdy frame. Usually the panel is not glued to the frame, but is left to ‘float’ within it so that seasonal movement of the wood panel does not distort the frame.

Rebate
Can also be referred to as a ‘rabbet’. The rebate is a recess or a groove cut into the edge of a piece of wood. When viewed as a cross-section, a rebate is two-sided and open to the edge or end of the surface into which it is cut.

Stile
The stile is a part of the vertical construction of the door itself. The inner style is the panel nearest to the axis where the door swings and is referred to as the ‘hinge stile’, whilst the outer stile is called the ‘lock stile’ as it is closest to where the lock sits.

Tongue and Groove
One of the most common methods of joining two boards together. Tongue and groove provides a strong joint as each piece has a slot (groove) cut all the way along one side and a thin, deep ridge (tongue) running along the opposite edge. The tongue projects a little less than the groove, allowing the two pieces to seamlessly slot together. When used on a door, tongue and groove construction ensures that it won’t buckle if slammed.

Unfinished
Exactly how it sounds! If a product is unfinished it requires additional work before it can be used such as oiling, lacquering or painting.

Veneer
Also referred to as covering or overlay. Veneers are a thin layer of wood used as a decorative surface.

V-Groove
Another decorative profile used to join two boards together.

Warping
This occurs when the wood has moved more than is naturally expected. The deviation from a flat profile is often a result of stress or shrinkage from moisture and the uneven drying of the lumber.

Weatherbar
The weatherbar, also referred to as a rain deflector, is designed to deflect water away from the bottom of the door.

Weatherboard
A series of horizontal boards nailed to the exterior of a house. The edges of each board overlap to keep out the rain.

We hope that our jargon buster will give you the confidence to make style and functional decisions about your internal and external doors. If you didn't see the definition of a word that you wanted to know, let us know in the comments and we'll get back to you! Likewise, if you have any alternative explanations, we'd love to hear from you!

Information is accurate at time of publishing, however, may be subject to change.