3 Factors That Affect Hospital Door Durability

Designing for healthcare, especially when it comes time to specify doors, comes with its own set of challenges. Institutional doors for healthcare facilities must stand up to intense wear and tear while also contributing to a hygienic environment, safeguarding patient privacy, and keeping noise levels down.

Healthcare facility clients may be budget-minded, but they will not want to sacrifice durability. The action moves fast in most healthcare facilities, especially hospitals. People rush from place to place, moving equipment and patients, sometimes in emergency situations. Doors must facilitate their important work, not hamper it. To ensure the doors you specify are durable to handle the client’s future use, consider the following factors.

hospital hallway with wooden doors

1. Impact Edges for Healthcare Facility Doors

One of the keys to making a door highly durable is adding impact edges. With this simple feature, a wood door can withstand impact from stretchers or wheelchairs or gurneys, as well as frequent hard closings, without metal edges.

Masonite Architectural’s impact edge doors come in a wide range of solid colors and woodgrains, to maintain a uniform look. The vertical edges are completely smooth, so they don’t collect dirt and can be easily wiped down. They adhere to superior industry standards.

2. Impact Laminates and Surfaces for Healthcare Facility Doors

A high-impact laminate provides another protective feature, further guarding against daily abuse. It also adds a layer of toughness to the entire door while maintaining visual consistency.

To create the laminate, sheets of resin are bonded at high heat and pressure. The sheets are bonded to the door core, whether particleboard, composite lumber, or speciality cores designed for fire rating or radiation. The .05”-thick laminate faces with five-ply bonded construction and positive pressure fire rating up to 90 minutes.

3. Door Placement in a Healthcare Facility

How you place doors in a healthcare facility can affect the level of wear and tear they endure.

Doors can be strategically placed to allow for a large enough door for the opening to swing into a relatively small space. You must allow for accessibility by wheelchairs and gurneys and enough clearance for showers and toilets. When you can minimize the risk of doors being impacted by objects, you can increase their lifespan and functionality.

Other Considerations for Healthcare Doors

In addition to durability, there are several important factors of door performance to consider for commercial doors in healthcare facilities. An STC-rated door can reduce noise, improving patient privacy and enhancing their recovery.

Frosted glass can be incorporated into doors or used in sidelites and transoms to permit light while enhancing privacy.

Another important factor is safety. Clean-edge doors minimize bacterial growth and allow easy cleaning for infection prevention and control. Lead-lined doors meet safety requirements for rooms where x-ray machines and other imaging equipment reside.

Extensive veneer options introduce the warmth of natural aesthetic elements, which can improve patient comfort, mood and recovery.

Masonite manufactures highly functional doors with healthcare facilities in mind. Choose wood doors for patient rooms, offices, storage areas, imaging rooms, surgical units, and more all from one source. For inspiration, take a look at how a major hospital in Montreal benefited from Masonite Architectural doors.

Where to Specify Stile & Rail Doors in a School

When specifying doors for a school or education facility, your first thoughts likely relate to safety and durability. While both factors are crucial to a successful education project, don’t overlook the chance to make choices based on aesthetics, too. Performance factors for school doors need not limit your creative vision or refined taste. Stile and rail doors combine both form and function, and make a statement in key areas of a school.

Read on for some inspiration about where to specify stile and rail doors in a school or education facility.

5 Places Where Stile and Rail Doors Can Make a Statement

Public schools often work from publicly approved budgets with little room for leeway, but private schools sometimes offer more opportunity for high-end features. Higher education buildings also tend to offer more allowance for some luxury touches.Regardless of the type of institution where your architectural school doors will be installed, think about spaces used primarily by adults. Spaces where meetings might be held with potential donors, for example, call for a more dignified appearance. Try specifying stile and rail doors for the following spaces:

Masonite Architectural stile and rail doors at university entrance.

1. Executive offices

When executives invite anyone—a parent, a donor, a colleague from another institution—into their office, the doors make a strong first impression. Embellish with sidelites, archtops, metal inlays, or other features to make these particular doors unique.

2. Conference rooms

As a location where school officials may host guests, in addition to conducting their own day-to-day business, conference rooms require a certain sophistication. A wood stile and rail door can welcome everyone to the start of a great meeting. Use double doors for a more stately look and to ease traffic flow.

3. Libraries

Ideally, the demeanor in a library is more studious and less rowdy than, say, a gymnasium. A library may pull double-duty as a space for receptions, book signings, and lectures, too. These are occasions where guests from outside the school community may visit, and school officials will want to put their best foot forward.

4. Arts venues

If a school is fortunate enough to have a theatre or art gallery, they will want it to look its best. Architectural doors leading into these spaces and connecting them with offices or corridors should look the part. A neutral paint color or custom stain can allow a wood door here to look elegant without stealing the show from the artwork.

5. Dormitories

For boarding schools, dormitory areas may play a role in the design. While doors to individual rooms and corridors need to stand up to heavy use and reduce sound transfer, you may want one or two high-end doors in central areas. These can make a strong impression for tours and parent visits.

Stile and Rail Doors Also Offer Performance Features

Stile and rail wood doors do more than look great. With their superior craftsmanship, they can last a long time. You can also find them with performance features like fire ratings, and STC ratings for acoustics. Combine your ideal colors, veneers, wood species and additional features to perfectly complement the rest of your education design project.

Even if you specify only a few stylish stile and rail doors for a given project, you can rest assured that Masonite can supply all of the different types of architectural wood doors you might need. After all, going to fewer suppliers for materials can reduce friction and costs. Remember Masonite Architectural for your next education project, and source all of your wood doors from one manufacturer you can trust.

Stile and Rail Doors Buyer’s Guide

Stile and rail doors provide sturdy construction and timeless beauty for a wide range of commercial design and construction projects. When choosing them for your next project, there are many details to know and options to consider. As a leader in architectural stile and rail doors, Masonite Architectural is here to answer your questions.

What is a Stile and Rail Door?

Stile and rail doors are constructed from horizontal rails and vertical stiles, with panels secured in between. Together, they give the illusion of a single carved piece of wood. Unlike a flat panel or flush wood door, making a stile and rail door requires more precise and complex construction techniques. This makes them a more premium option, but also a smart long term investment in quality craftsmanship.

How is a Stile and Rail Door Made?

One stile and rail door requires a dozen or more pieces. The pieces are made from linear strand lumber, strips of wood glued together. In addition to the eponymous stiles and rails, there are panels, mullions and, in some cases, glass and muntins.

The panels “float” between the stiles and rails to avoid warping or cracking as a result of humidity or other environmental factors. The other pieces are attached to one another using dowel pins and glue. The factory must cut each piece to fit with the others precisely.

What Makes Stile and Rail Doors Different from Flush Doors?

A flush wood door consists of a single piece of wood, either hollow or solid, making them relatively simple to manufacture. In addition to their more complex construction process, stile and rail doors offer many more design options. The number, size and shape of the panels can be adjusted for any style. Numerous configurations of panels, lites, and louvers are possible. Their solid construction makes them sturdier and more resistant to sound transfer. In general, most people find them more attractive.

What Customizations are Available for Stile and Rail Doors?

It is possible to specify unique architectural stile and rail door designs for your commercial projects. Options for the panels themselves include flat panel, mitered rim, or louvered. It’s also possible to add lites, archtops, and a wide range of hardware.

Can Stile and Rail Doors Be Fire-Rated?

You can specify stile and rail doors with many fire-rated performance features to meet commercial building codes. Choose from fire-rated cores composed of non-combustible materials and hardwood composite fire stiles. The resulting door construction can be fire-rated for 45, 60 or 90 minutes. Combination doors, meanwhile, can have 20-minute fire ratings while still offering a range of styles.

What Kinds of Commercial Projects are Stile and Rail Doors Good For?

Stile and rail doors fit into all kinds of design styles and a wide range of project types. For example, they add a sophisticated touch to office projects or a classic look to historic hotels and restaurants.

One to three flat panels with no embellishment can provide a midcentury look. Or, you can customize them to any contemporary style or company brand standards. With so many options, including different budget ranges, a stile and rail door can work for virtually any commercial design project.

What Kinds of Finishes Can You Get on a Stile and Rail Door?

Stile and rail doors come in many different wood species, veneers, stains and paint colors to complement millwork, window frame, or other design elements. Factory applied paint and stain result in the most uniform, durable finish. Masonite Architectural offers more than a dozen stain colors and numerous standard paint colors, with the ability to custom match paint to any Pantone color.

Can You Get a Stile and Rail Door with Lites?

Lites in different glass types and finish options can tailor a stile and rail wood door to any design style or need. For areas where a client desires more natural light or a more decorative look, even one or two doors with lites can enhance the beauty of a project. Side lites and transoms can be added, too, for an even more striking result.

What Stile and Rail Doors Does Masonite Architectural Offer?

Masonite Architectural can craft a stile and rail wood door for virtually any opening. The only limit is your creativity. Options vary slightly between the Aspiro and Cendura door lines. Aspiro stile and rail doors are Masonite’s most premium architectural doors and come with a lifetime warranty. Cendura doors make a great choice for meeting a budget while still achieving a timeless look and durability.

Please order a stile and rail stain sample kit or contact your rep for more information.

Projects Where Fire Rated Doors are Most Important

Specifying the right fire rating for doors could be one of the most important code requirements in a commercial building project. Correctly built and installed fire doors potentially save lives and mitigate liability in the event that a tragedy occurs.

While building codes require fire-rated doors in specific areas, you can always go above and beyond in places where safety is a high priority. Here, we review some of the most important aspects of fire ratings for doors and discuss some places where they’re especially important, whether required by code or not.

Helpful Tips When Specifying Fire-Rated Doors

The International Building Code (IBC), International Fire Code (IFC), and other codes and standards reference National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives. NFPA 105 also contains some details. To locate fire rating requirements in the IBC, refer to Chapter 7. It covers the fire resistance requirements for various types of firewalls, fire barriers, fire partitions, smoke partitions and smoke barriers—including doors.

Fire-rated doors offer a degree of protection against both fire and smoke. Doors and frames bear construction labels indicating their fire rating. Remember, if the door and the frame bear different ratings, the lower of the two functions as the rating for the whole assembly.

On a related note, temperature-rise doors are required in some areas to limit heat transfer. However, these requirements have slackened as more buildings use sprinkler systems.

Ninety-minute fire doors are required in two-hour rated wall openings to stairwells, elevator rooms or egress through a building. Ninety-minute doors are also used in exterior openings where there is a potential for severe fire exposure from outside.

Twenty-minute fire doors are used in one-hour rated walls to separate corridors where smoke and draft control are a possible issue.

Fire rated doors must be self-closing or connected with the fire alarm system so that they automatically close in the event of a fire. Hardware on fire door assemblies has to have an active latch bolt to lessen the risk of pressure from a fire pushing open the door.

exit door next to staircase

Door hardware must comply with NFPA 80. This allows non-labeled kick plates to be field-installed on fire doors as long as the top of the kick plate is not more than 16 inches above the bottom of the door.

The IBC requires the positive pressure test for fire-rated doors. The test is designed to simulate the conditions of a real fire. This is different from the neutral pressure test, and the difference matters when it comes to wood doors.

Fire-Rated Wood Doors

Your commercial building clients might come to you with the misconception that commercial wood doors cannot meet their needs when it comes to fire protection. In fact, you have numerous options for fire-rated wood doors, including stile and rail doors and 20-minute fire-rated doors with glass. We can even manufacture French doors with a 20-minute fire rating.

Flat panel wood fire or stile and rail wood doors can be rated up to 90 minutes. A metal core slows the progression of a fire. Masonite Architectural offers doors you can customize by size and fire-rating, designed for neutral or positive pressure.

Spaces With Elevated Fire Risk

When you think about places where a fire is more likely to start, you likely think first of kitchen, such as in restaurants or hotels. Facilities like schools, daycares, nursing homes, hospitals, and even office buildings often include kitchens—sometimes more than one. Other spots where fire is more likely include spaces where large electrical equipment is housed, like laundry rooms, garages and utility rooms. However, a fire can start just about anywhere.

Another way to approach locations for fire-rated doors is to focus on the building occupants. Consider, in particular, spaces that serve more vulnerable populations, like:

  • Children
  • People with disabilities
  • People who are sick
  • Elderly people

This covers a lot of possibilities, including educational and healthcare facilities, and especially any location where these populations spend the night.

Many of these lend themselves to fire-rated doors with glass, which allow for safety but also light transfer and a more welcoming feeling.

Masonite’s Award-Winning Fire-Rated Doors

At Masonite, we’ve always taken a proactive approach to safety. We’re proud that Underwriters Laboratories—a third party research and testing company—recognized us, in 2019, as a leader in wood fire-rated door safety. They honored us with their inaugural Dedication to Safety award—ours was the only wood door recognized!

Christopher Hasbrook, vice president and general manager of the Building and Life Safety Technologies Division at UL, said “We appreciate Masonite’s continued commitment to UL certification and recognize their efforts to tackle today’s safety challenges.”When you’re looking for fire-rated wood doors for your next project, consider specifying Masonite Architectural to meet a wide range of needs for beauty and performance.

Fire-rated interior hotel doors from Masonite Architectural.

To find the right door for your commercial project, use our DOORSELECTOR™ Tool or contact us for more information!

Why Impact Edges Help Wood Doors Last Longer

Architectural wood doors look great in a wide range of project styles. Their timeless beauty outlasts trends again and again. However, for the doors themselves to last just as long, they need to withstand a lot of use. The more heavily trafficked the area where you specify them, the more impact they can take. For example, a hotel room door might be hit by luggage carts often.

The edges are where doors tend to take the most damage. To help commercial architectural doors look their best for years to come, specify impact resistant edges. Application-specific vertical edges add to the door’s durability without sacrificing beauty.

Where Impact Edge Doors Work Best

High-impact door edges make a smart addition to a range of commercial design projects. For example, in a healthcare setting, doors should be able to withstand impact from stretchers or wheelchairs, along with frequent opening and closing.

In an education environment, children and large crowds may be less than careful with how they treat doors. In hotels, doors should be on brand but also durable enough to contend with luggage and room service carts. In office buildings, corridor doors and stairway doors take heavy use. These are just a few scenarios where architectural doors face frequent wear and potential damage.

Without protection, the edges of wood doors, especially at the corners experience cracking and breakage of the veneer. The damage is not only unsightly but can ultimately affect the ability of the door to function correctly. In extreme cases they can even present a safety hazard, for example, if someone gets their clothing caught on a ragged edge.

Impact Edge Doors Upgrade a Space

You don’t have to design a brand new space to benefit from beautiful, durable impact resistant doors. Replacing doors is a great way to upgrade a space during a renovation, rebranding, or ADA retrofitting. The difference after replacing all of the doors in a building with a fresh, new style or color is dramatic. Some companies also seek to enhance the durability of doors out of security concerns.

A makeover of a hotel or office building, for example, allows the opportunity to specify new architectural doors that serve a wide range of purposes. Achieve a new look while increasing durability and longevity.

Masonite Impact Edge Doors

Masonite Architectural has a commitment to products that stand the test of time. To that end, our Aspiro series doors are available with high pressure decorative laminate or impact edges. Masonite impact edge doors eliminate the need for metal edges or kick plates, so you get to maintain the high-end aesthetic of wood.

Clients also appreciate that the door’s vertical edges are completely smooth, so they don’t collect dirt. This makes them more hygienic and easy to clean, both important features especially for interior doors for healthcare and education projects. You can specify smooth edges on the top and bottom of the door, too.

Masonite Architectural high impact durable edge door with door handle.

Options for Impact Edge Doors

While the edges of architectural doors take the most wear and tear, for heavily-used doors, you will want a full high-impact solution. Masonite Architectural high-impact surfaces are specifically engineered to withstand intense use. Choose from a wide range of solid colors and wood grain patterns, or go with a high-pressure decorative laminate for tough commercial door that’s ready for anything.

Our high impact durable edges adhere to superior industry standards. They’re tested and built to WDMA, AWI and AWS performance duty level standards.

For more information, please order an Aspiro door sample today, or contact your a Masonite rep about high-impact edge commercial doors.

Attack Resistant Door Opening

Choosing Attack Resistant Wood Doors for Schools Amid Safety Concerns

Designing a school is a huge responsibility. “More than other building types,” the National Institute of Building Sciences says, “school facilities have a profound impact on their occupants and the functions of the building, namely teaching and learning.” When designing or renovating a school, your choices for educational doors and other design features can thus affect the lives of multiple generations and an entire community.

Whether you’re building a new school, renovating older classrooms, or simply looking to learn more about student safety, here’s everything to know about designing safer schools using attack resistant wood doors.

School Safety in the 21st Century

In the 21st century, school design means more than good aesthetics or responsible building practices. One of the greatest concerns today is how to keep students and teachers safe from what the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) calls “adversarial- and human-caused threats.”

Schools are conducting active shooter drills and implementing “Stop the Bleed” training. Communities are holding public meetings or convening expert panels discussing how to keep students safe from active shooters. In this environment, any school design or renovation plans must account for concerns about safety from violence. While a school’s layout, color scheme, and interior décor all still matter, designers should account for how a building protects occupants from threats.

One way to make a school building safer, for example, is by installing attack resistant safety doors. Architectural wood safety doors can be fitted for classrooms, corridors, gym entrances, teacher’s lounges, and other areas where people congregate. Wood safety doors provide durability and sophistication, but they can also help deter intruders and threats, especially when the doors are used in conjunction with emergency management planning.

Designing Schools for Safety: The Four Ds

It can be a challenge to balance security needs with a nurturing educational environment. Schools are not prisons, after all. You will want to find aesthetically attractive elements that incorporate safety features.

The Public Safety Commission that investigated the Parkland, Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School recommends that schools undertake target hardening. This strategy comprises “the four Ds” of physical security: deny access, delay the act, detect the crime, and deter the attack.

While critics are apt to point out that target hardening alone cannot eliminate all danger, many schools seek any and all measures that add up to a safer learning environment. Recommended building tactics that fulfill the four Ds of target hardening include things like curved hallways and other features that limit a potential shooter’s line of sight, situating a school on raised ground, and installing “safe rooms.” Additionally, every school needs to safeguard its entrances with secure safety doors, which play a part in at least three of the four Ds.

Defendr doors 2022

How Attack Resistant Doors Work in Schools

Education presents a major opportunity for commercial construction. A 2016 report estimated that $49 billion is being invested annually into building new school facilities. It’s not only new construction that’s taking place, but also renovations and retrofitting. The average age of a school in the U.S. is 44 years, and the majority need new interior doors and more infrastructure upgrades.

The Window and Door Manufacturer Association (WDMA) specifies commercial door standards, namely heavy duty and extra heavy duty standards for architectural wood doors. Doors built to these standards are designed for heavy and frequent use, making them ideal doors for schools.

While many commercial doors have performance attributes, not all heavy duty doors are attack resistant. In the absence of truly attack resistant doors, some schools apply security film to windows and door lites. The externally applied plastic is intended to keep glass from becoming shrapnel in the case of a blast. However, it only provides attack resistance for a matter of seconds. Another misconception about school building safety is that hurricane rated doors or windows can stop an intruder or violent attack, but that is not what they’re designed for.

According to Campus Life Security, “Attack resistant openings are ideal for new school construction as well as for retrofit applications.” Attack resistant doors delay access by an attacker for the critical minutes until emergency services arrive. To work effectively, the door, hardware, and glass must all function as a unit.

Note: Attack resistant opening solutions are comprised of the frame, door, hardware and glass.

Where to Find Architectural Attack Resistant Doors

Realizing you need attack resistant doors is only the first step to designing a safer school. Next, you have to find the highest quality educational door products while also staying within your budget, especially for a tax-payer funded school project.

Masonite Architectural and Armoured One have teamed up to develop an attack resistant door solution—creating an added layer of protection designed to slow an active shooter from entering a room, allowing more time for the occupants to react and for the police to respond.

The attack resistant door opening solution features Armoured One Glass and Masonite Architectural’s Aspiro Series doors, along with standard door frames, metal vision kits, and reinforced hardware. When combined, these elements are designed to resist up to 237J of force after bullet degradation.

The Shooter Attack Test Method used to test the product is not an industry or government published standard but is based on two recognized test standards (UL 752 Level 7 / ASTM F476) that were modified and combined per recommendations from law enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and active shooter subject matter experts.

The product is not bullet resistant, but rather a solution designed to slow down an attacker using materials within a budget that allows owners to better protect more building occupants (students, workers, etc.). Masonite Architectural has long been a leader in commercial doors but is working with Armoured One because of their expertise in whole building security. This allows builders and project owners to identify and prioritize the best investments to provide safer educational environments.

Tested with a variety of surfaces and elevations to meet the design intent for multiple project types, the solution for attack resistant school doors is available across Masonite’s Aspiro Series of flush doors. For more information, contact a representative for your location.

Masonite Architectural – Want help?

Our expert field of Territory Sales Managers can help guide you through the process. We’ll make sure you get the perfect doors to delight your clients on opening day (and for years to come). 

We can apply our expertise of wood type, grain, stain and door design to complement your space. Often, designers give door hardware more consideration than the door itself. Masonite Architectural knows the whole opening matters. We offer a wide selection of veneer options and available material choices.

If you’re ready to get started on your current project, you can call 1-877-332-4484 or
email us archinfo@masonite.com

Reasons to Use Acoustically-Rated Doors in Healthcare Construction

Doors play a big role in shaping healthcare environments, and door selection starts with understanding performance solutions. During the design of a hospital or healthcare facility, it’s important to take into account both technical and aesthetic considerations. Acoustically-rated doors play a role in patient outcomes. Without careful consideration, the wrong interior doors could easily become the weak link in a healthcare facility’s acoustic performance.

In some cases, building codes dictate a door’s STC rating—the decibel level it blocks. However, some clients in the healthcare industry may want acoustically-rated doors that provide sound-reduction above and beyond what’s required. Sound reduction confers a range of benefits for patients and employees.

Here’s some great information to know about acoustically rated doors and how to choose them for when constructing or designing a doctor’s office, hospital, or other healthcare setting.

1. Setting Client Expectations for Acoustic Healthcare Doors

As with any commercial construction project, setting client expectations is critical to a successful outcome. Clients may request “soundproof” doors, so it’s important to be clear that nothing is 100% soundproof. STC (Sound Transmission Class) ratings provide a guideline to how much sound a door can block.

Solid core doors offer the greatest sound reduction, and they are typically called for anyway, for fire resistance and other specifications. Commercial wood doors can be manufactured for multiple performance requirements including fire ratings, blast resistance, bullet resistance, radio frequency, shielding, or other possible combinations.

Clients might ask whether acoustically-rated doors will obstruct wifi or cellular signals. Typically, this will not be a concern.

2. A Quick Review of STC-Ratings and Door Acoustics

Acoustically-rated doors carry two STC (Sound Transmission Class) ratings, one of which is a “sealed in place” rating, and the other is an “operable” rating. Manufacturers may test acoustically-doors while they’re sealed in place with putty, or in a realistic, operational setting. Masonite Architectural tests all of its doors in operable openings.

The STC rating of a door roughly indicates the decibel reduction that it provides. At a rating of 35, loud speech is audible but not intelligible, while 40 or more meets the level considered “privacy.”

The materials, construction and installation of architectural doors all play a part in acoustics. STC-rated doors reduce sound in two ways, by absorbing sound or by reflecting it. Healthcare clients want surfaces that are easy to clean and sanitize in order to prevent infection. That means that doors for these projects typically have flat, painted surfaces or heavy-duty laminates with minimal ornamentation. They work mainly by reflecting sound.

The best acoustically-rated doors bring together form and function. You can find just the right style, finish, and color to match the rest of the hospital or medical facility, to create a seamless visual effect.

3. Many Hospital Doors Fall Short on Noise Reduction

As it stands, healthcare facilities often fail at providing ample sound reduction. According to Healthcare Design magazine, many studies conducted in hospitals have found background noise ranges between 45 dB and 68 dB, peaking at more than 90 dB. The World Health Organization, by contrast, recommends that hospital noise not exceed 35 dB. By accounting for noise reduction by incorporating acoustic-rated doors into your healthcare facility’s designs, you can create a more accommodating environment while avoiding costly renovations later

4. Benefits of Acoustically-Rated Doors in Healthcare Settings

A healthcare facility should be designed to block the sound of human voices, as well as noise from ringing telephones or medical equipment. Sound reduction confers three key benefits:

  • Patient well-being
  • Patient satisfaction
  • Privacy

Studies show quieter environments produce higher patient quality-of-care ratings in healthcare settings. Hospital patients need peace and quiet to be able to concentrate on recovery and sleep well. Also, hospital administrators rely heavily on positive reports of patient satisfaction and strive constantly to improve these. Patients and visitors alike report that noise levels impact the ratings they give. Finally, HIPAA privacy rule also requires safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information. This means conversations must stay private, whether between care providers and patients, or among employees of the facility.

An added, but sometimes overlooked benefit of acoustic healthcare doors is that noise reduction can also help nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff to avoid distractions and focus on their work.

Besides the STC- rating of the hospital room door itself, other factors influence how sound travels through healthcare facilities. For example, same-handed rooms leave more space between patient doors, which means less sound carries from one to the next. Silencer pads attached to the door stops soften noise of a closing door. Proper door hardware will limit latch noises.

5. Where to Install Acoustically-Rated Doors in Hospitals

These are some of the places where you may want to specify acoustically-rated doors in a healthcare setting:

  • Patient rooms, for the purpose of aiding in relaxation and recovery
  • Corridors, which can carry sound readily
  • Offices and work spaces where people need to concentrate or talk privately
  • Chapels, meditation rooms or other spaces where visitors go for quiet reflection

For your next healthcare construction or design project, keep acoustics in mind when choosing patient room, office, or cross corridor hospital doors as a key element of satisfaction on the part of the end user. At Masonite Architectural, we offer a complete line of acoustically-rated doors to meet your healthcare project’s needs. To see our work in action, read our CHUM Hospital case study on how we provided doors for North America’s largest healthcare facility.

And if you need a helping hand in picking out acoustic healthcare doors for your next project, please use our Acoustically-Rated Door Finder or reach out to your Masonite Architectural sales rep.

Masonite Architectural – Want help?

Our expert field of Territory Sales Managers can help guide you through the process. We’ll make sure you get the perfect doors to delight your clients on opening day (and for years to come). 

We can apply our expertise of wood type, grain, stain and door design to complement your space. Often, designers give door hardware more consideration than the door itself. Masonite Architectural knows the whole opening matters. We offer a wide selection of veneer options and available material choices.

If you’re ready to get started on your current project, you can call 1-877-332-4484 or
email us archinfo@masonite.com

Explaining the Value of Quality Commercial Solid Wood Doors

6 Tips to Help Commercial Construction Clients Understand the Value of Quality Architectural Doors

Quality Solid Wood Doors Never Go Out of Style

While doors comprise only one small portion of a commercial construction budget, their quality affects the finished product in multiple, important ways.

First-time property owners might look at every line in a budget for places to trim costs. When they do, they may find the costs of architectural and commercial solid wood doors surprising. That’s because, if they’re more familiar with residential doors, architectural doors seem expensive by comparison.

To help them understand the importance of their investment, share the following points with them.

1. Architectural & Commercial Doors Take a Lot of Abuse

Remind your client how much traffic they hope to see through their restaurant, hotel, medical office, or whatever kind of business they own. Doors get used constantly, often by visitors or clients who aren’t as conscientious as one might hope. They may kick doors open, bump into them with luggage carts, let their children bang on them, or worse.

 Solid core wood doors are durable, especially those with impact edges or factory finished paint. Stile and rail doors are particularly sturdy—and stylish—and can last a long time, saving the client money in the future.

2. Architectural & Commercial Doors Must Meet Stricter Code Requirements 

Commercial clients may not be aware of the many different code requirements for interior and exterior doors, in the various parts of a building in their industry. Hundreds or thousands of people’s lives may depend on a door’s fire resistance, for example, so those codes are in place for a reason. They might need to consider ballistics or lead lining as well, depending on the nature of their business.

3. Quality Solid Wood Doors Never Go Out of Style

Most businesses feel the need to redecorate and rebrand frequently these days. For example, most hotels get a facelift every six to eight years. For many restaurants, it’s even more frequent. The timeless beauty of a stile and rail door outlasts any fashion trend. The combination of durability and a classic look make it a smart long-term investment.

4. Beautiful Wooden Doors Make a Statement

Doors make a strong impression on customers, whether they notice consciously or not. When a patron arrives at a business and move from one space to another inside, they interact with doors a lot. A gorgeous, unique door can make a strong impression of the business’ brand and quality. Plus, their functionality affects the overall experience. Different kinds of people, of different ages and abilities, all need to use them effortlessly. Quality doors are worth the customer experience.

5. Clients Trust Brand Names They Know

Your client might ask about the brands of the products you spec for their building. If you can assure them that a particular brand of commercial wood doors comes with your personal seal of approval, as well as a long history in business, they may show more willingness to foot the bill. 

6. Clients Care About Warranties

You can reassure your clients about their investments in high-quality wood doors with good warranties. They are making a sizable investment and taking a leap of faith by starting a business or moving one to a bigger, better space. Recognize that they might feel nervous about encountering problems down the line. Many consider lifetime warranties on architectural doors and the other component parts of their building worth the investment.

At Masonite, Aspiro doors come with a lifetime warranty, while Cendura doors carry a limited lifetime warranty.

Even if your client is less familiar with the range of commercial brands available, some will know the name Masonite from the residential market. You can also assure them that, with Masonite, they will not have to choose between performance and appearance or use doors as a place to cut costs. When they arrive at work each day, they too will see those well made doors you specified and will appreciate the beauty and reliability.

Masonite Architectural – Want help?

Our expert field of Territory Sales Managers can help guide you through the process. We’ll make sure you get the perfect doors to delight your clients on opening day (and for years to come). 

We can apply our expertise of wood type, grain, stain and door design to complement your space. Often, designers give door hardware more consideration than the door itself. Masonite Architectural knows the whole opening matters. We offer a wide selection of veneer options and available material choices.

If you’re ready to get started on your current project, you can call 1-877-332-4484 or email us archinfo@masonite.com

Simplifying Door Selection Start-to-Finish

Simplifying Door Selection Start-to-Finish

Imagine looking out over the Pacific Ocean from the penthouse suite of a gleaming 38-story luxury condo-hotel in Hawaii. A building of this esteem is expected to have intricate design elements and top-of-the-line finishes. That’s why the design team for the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Waikiki worked with us to specify more than 2,000 doors with various design and functional needs. Working with a single source helped ensure quality and consistency to meet the demands of this luxurious environment.

The high-end door styles for the multi-million-dollar residential spaces needed to not only match aesthetic expectations, they also needed to meet performance requirements such as fire and STC ratings.

Now, imagine working in a non-profit behavioral treatment center providing care to children with mental health issues. The design team for the Clarity Child Guidance Center was focused primarily on specifying high-performing doors that could create a warm, calming environment while also standing up to abuse and ensuring the safety of the patients and staff. Standard doors could not provide the long-lasting durability needed for this structure, which is why the design team turned to us to help create a successful environment with high-performing doors.

Choosing the right doors for your project isn’t easy — we know that. Especially when your projects span different building types and requirements. In this post, we’ll explain how we help create a simplified door specification and buying process.

Experience Leads to Simplification

In 1924, William H. Mason pioneered radical innovations in manufacturing with wood, leading the way towards modern door construction. Another pioneer in this world is one of our legacy brands, Marshfield, which has been making solid core wood doors since 1908. They’ve provided the door industry with numerous innovations in performance. Algoma, another of our legacy brands, has been known for innovations in door design for six decades and innovated distribution, which helped reduce door ordering and delivery times.

Today, Masonite Architectural is one of the undisputed leaders in manufacturing wood doors. We’re leveraging our experience to make your door selection process as simple as possible. Here are a few ways to help you start.

Identify the Market

Each project has its own unique design and certain traits shared with other buildings of its kind. We understand these market-specific qualities. From healthcare to hospitality, we have the experts to help you achieve your client’s goals for a better environment.

As you begin each new project, you need to educate yourself on the market trends, code requirements and other nuances critical to a successful design. When you understand the unique needs of your environment, you can begin focusing on the right door options for your building type.

Pinpoint Unique Design Needs

Once you’re clear on your project’s market-specific needs, look at the specific design requirements of each area and room of your building. To help ensure the environments you design provide the best possible experiences, we’ve put together solutions for your most stringent design needs, such as:

Drill Down to Specifics

Now that you’ve narrowed down the market and design needs, you’re ready to get down to door specifics to begin specifying the right doors for your project with confidence. This is when it helps to work directly with an expert partner. To help you find the perfect doors for your project, we’ve designed tools to make the process simple from start to finish.

It all begins with our step-by-step Door Selector, which helps you narrow down your door type, surface material and construction details. From there, the Product Details page will help you find the right veneer for your door. You’ll then have clear, complete door information to request samples and, ultimately, finalize your door specifications with confidence.

Masonite Architectural     

Creating Successful Environments

Our experts are here to help guide you through the door selection and buying process. We’ll make sure you get openings to delight your clients on opening day (and for years to come). We can apply our expertise of wood type, grain, stain and design to complement your space. Often, designers give door hardware more consideration than the door itself. Masonite Architectural knows the whole opening matters. We offer a wide selection of paneling, veneer and material choices to meet your unique needs.

And, finally, remember to request samples of the specific species and cuts you’re considering. Experiencing the door through a sample can help reduce lead times for your project’s doors by ensuring your design choices are solved early. If you’re ready to get started on your current project, you can call 1-877-332-4484 or email us archinfo@masonite.com.

Advantages of Factory Painted Doors

Factory-Finished vs. Field-Finished: Understanding the Difference for Your Doors

Painted doors have the potential to be the perfect visual impact for your projects. From neutral colors that complement your interior to bold hues that stand out as design elements, painted wood doors create a beautiful aesthetic element across the entire built environment.

Ensure consistency across all your painted wood doors by specifying the factory finishing technique. In this post, we’ll compare aspects of painting doors in the field to finishing in the factory to help you understand the differences.

Characteristics of Factory-Finished Painted Wood Doors

Unrivaled Consistency

With factory finishing, doors have a uniform color, texture and coating, providing consistency across your building. When you specify factory-finished painted wood doors, you’ll receive doors painted with state-of-the-art spray systems that are cured with optimal flash-drying and cooling cycles. This can help provide more durability than field-painted wood doors.

“A more controlled finishing process provides consistent color and uniform film thickness,” explains Rob Boudry, Masonite Architectural product manager. “A monitored paint curing process ensures proper curing and greater field performance. Factory painted doors are more efficient, more reliable, and very easy to specify.”

shutterstock_353341136 SM

Increased Efficiency

Contractors can immediately install factory-finished doors after delivery. This gives the construction manager flexibility in his schedule and can help expedite project completion. Finishing doors in this controlled process also allows for specialized finishes unavailable in the field, which can optimize fire spread rates and minimize moisture content.

Also, in most cases, factory finishing costs less than using a field finishing contractor since job site preparation, painting and cleanup are not necessary. The end result — significant labor savings with the consistent finishes across all of your doors.

Less Room for Error

In the factory-controlled environments, there is reduced contact with dust and dirt along with adequate drying and curing time. This process also protects the wood door from unfavorable moisture conditions.

Characteristics of Field Painted Doors

If you choose to specify doors that need to be painted in the field, there are a few challenges surrounding consistency and damage. We’ve outlined some of the common hurdles that come along with finishing doors on the job site.

Unstable Reliability

Doors arrive onsite with instructions to the painter on how to paint the doors. Typically, the doors will come with a note stating that the manufacturer does not warrant the final appearance of the field-finished doors. Meaning, the end result is the responsibility of the field finisher.

Room for Error

When the painting process begins, the painter finds a safe working place on the jobsite and uses clean canvas gloves to avoid finger marks and soil stains on the doors. Then they will sand and prep the doors in a horizontal position. This is messy, dusty business but it’s the only way to ensure the clarity of finish and uniform color you need.

Increased Downtime

Once the paint is dry, the contractor will hang the doors in place and try to tell the other tradesmen rushing to finish their own work to be careful of these doors. The doors are not cured yet, so the paint gets easily scratched.

Harmful Chemicals

After their work is done, the painter cleans up the mess, using solvents where needed to remove any paint. He also properly disposes of the unused paint.

A valiant effort, but you can see the hurdles a contractor faces to get great looking field-painted wood doors.

Masonite Architectural

Creating Successful Environments

If you want a more consistent, efficient and reliable finish done in less time, factory-finished painted wood doors are the solution. We take pride in our ability to serve your needs. Our factory-trained craftsmen have been finishing doors for years. Their experience coupled with our state-of-the-art finishing line ensure beautiful results — today, tomorrow and a lifetime.

If you’re ready to get started on your current project, contact your Masonite Architectural Representative or order your factory-finished painted wood doors samples today. We’re here to answer any questions you have and help you specify the perfect door and finish for your project.