Questions before a door is specified.

These notes are for openings on an architectural plan for a new home. A sliding door, a hinged door and a stacking door can sit in the same hole on a plan and still leave a different walk-through. These notes cover panel arrangement, swing or stack direction, the clear opening, the threshold and screens. They are not a catalogue, and they do not confirm what can be made for the project.

Project review still decides the door. This page only lists what is worth marking before that review. Ask for the verified clear-opening dimension. The frame, the hinges, the panel thickness and the open angle can change it.

Same opening, different movement.

The useful difference is not the name on the card. It is how many panels move, which way they go, and what is left to walk through.

Sliding

Panels. Usually a mix of moving and fixed panels in one frame. The words sliding door do not say how many of each.

Direction. The moving panel travels along the track. Name that direction so the meeting stile and the pull land on the side you intend.

Clear opening. Ask for the verified dimension. Do not write a panel width, or the whole frame width, in its place. Which panels move, and how thick the frame and panels are, change the walk-through.

Threshold. A track crosses the floor line. Ask how it meets the inside floor and the outside finish. That is a drawing question, not a sill chosen on this page.

Screens. A screen door may want its own track. If it does, ask whether that track changes the walk-through. Do not guess the number, and do not treat the door as already screened.

Hinged

Panels. One leaf, or a pair. A pair is two swings. It is not a stack of travelling panels.

Direction. In or out, and which hand. The leaf has to clear the wall, the switch, and anything standing in the swing.

Clear opening. Ask for the verified dimension. Do not treat the leaf width as that dimension. The frame, the hinges, the leaf thickness and the angle the leaf actually reaches all change it.

Threshold. A sill, or a flush junction with the floor. The leaf has to clear the floor finish through the whole swing, not only when it is closed.

Screens. A screen is another leaf, with its own hand and its own swing. It needs room the door may already be using.

Stacking

Panels. Several panels travel, then park. The panel count is the layout. A wide opening is not a layout.

Direction. Ask where the open panels park. That can be to one side, split both ways, or inside the opening. Parking against an adjacent wall is one arrangement, not the arrangement.

Clear opening. Ask for the verified dimension once the park position is known. Do not subtract parked panels from the frame width and call the remainder the clear opening. Frame and panel thickness change it too.

Threshold. A track, and the floor at the park position you actually chose. A step or a change in finish there belongs on the plan. That position is not assumed to be a wall beside the opening.

Screens. A screen may not share the stacking track. Mark wanted, not wanted, or undecided. Do not treat a stacking door as already screened.

D / Sliding

Sliding: count the moving panels.

How many panels, and which ones move? A three-panel frame with one moving panel is a different door from a two-panel frame with both moving. Write the arrangement, not only the family name.
Which way does the moving panel travel? Toward the kitchen, toward a return wall, or toward the fixed panel. The pull ends at the end of that travel.
What is the verified clear opening? Ask for that dimension. The frame and the panel thickness change it, and so does which panels move. Do not substitute a panel width or the overall frame width.
What crosses the floor? Track, inside finish, outside finish. If the levels differ, say so. This page will not pick a threshold for you.
Where does a screen sit? On its own track, or not required. If it has a track, check you are not about to walk into it.

D / Hinged

Hinged: the leaf needs a swing.

One leaf or two? A pair needs two hands and two swings. Note both, and which leaf carries the lock if the drawing already shows it.
In or out, left or right? Stand on the side the leaf opens toward. A light switch, a curtain or the arc of another door can sit in that quarter-circle.
What angle does the leaf actually reach? A robe, a bin or a stop can hold it short of fully open. That still does not make the clear opening equal to the leaf width. Ask for the verified dimension. Frame, hinges, leaf thickness and that open angle all change it.
What is under the swing? A thick rug, a tiled set-down or a raised deck can catch the bottom rail. Note the floor condition, not a product name.
Is the screen a second swing? If yes, it needs a hand that does not fight the door. If no, write no screen so one is not added by assumption.

D / Stacking

Stacking: the park position is the design.

How many panels, and where do they park? One side, both sides, or inside the opening. Do not require a wall beside the opening. If the chosen arrangement does use a wall, note that wall and any handle that sticks past the frame. If the panels park inside the frame, note that instead.
What is the verified clear opening once they are parked? Ask for that dimension. Frame, panel thickness and the park position change it. Do not calculate it as the frame width minus the parked panels.
Does the open position cover a switch, a downpipe or a side window? Ask only where the chosen park position puts panels. A closed elevation will not show a clash that appears when the doors are open.
Is the track continuous through the park zone you chose? A step, a column or a change in floor finish in that zone is a plan note. It is not a detail to discover on site. The zone follows the configuration. It is not assumed to be an adjacent wall.
Screen, asked separately. Wanted, not wanted, or undecided is enough. A stacking layout does not answer the screen question by itself.

What to include with the plans.

A door schedule is more useful when the movement is written down, even where some answers are still open.

Door marks, with panel counts and which panels move.
Swing direction, or the stack park position. Name the arrangement. Do not assume the panels park against a wall.
The verified clear opening, or a note that it still has to be measured. The frame, the hinges, the panel thickness and the open angle can change it. Do not substitute a leaf width, a panel width, or the frame width minus parked panels.
Threshold and floor-finish notes already on the drawing, including any change in level.
Screen wanted, not wanted, or undecided. Per door.

Window panes are a different conversation. Window planning guide

Those notes are reviewed on the process page. You still attach the drawings in your own email app.

Read the process

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