What is a panel door?

A panel door consists of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails, with one or more panels set between them. It is the traditional door construction — the standard from the seventeenth century well into the twentieth — and still the door that defines the character of a period house.

Construction

• Stiles: the two vertical members at the sides. The hanging stile is on the hinge side, the lock stile on the latch side.
• Rails: the horizontal members — top rail, lock rail (at handle height) and bottom rail. The bottom rail is usually the widest.
• Panels: the flat infills, loose in a groove or held behind a bead.
• Joints: traditionally mortise and tenon, sometimes pegged with dowels.

The number of panels sets the character, from the plain two-panel door to the six- or eight-panel doors of the nineteenth century. Where the upper panels are replaced by glass, it becomes a glazed panel door.

Advantages and drawbacks

Advantages

• Very long life; individual parts can be replaced
• Dimensionally stable thanks to the floating panel
• Repairable: a split panel can be replaced without writing off the door
• Suits the character of a period property

Drawbacks

• More maintenance than a flush door; the mouldings take more painting
• More expensive than a factory-made flush internal door
• Poorer sound insulation than a solid or filled flush door, because the panels are thin
• Not readily made fire-resisting

Practical tips

• Painting: work in a set order — panels first, then rails, then stiles. That avoids visible joins in part-dried paint. Do not fill the gap between panel and frame with a thick bead of paint; it will crack open at the first change in humidity.
• Stripping old paint: in properties built before the 1990s, old paint may contain lead. Do not dry sand it mechanically; use an infrared stripper or a chemical stripper and take the proper precautions.
• Sticking doors: a panel door that sticks in winter usually does so because the stiles have moved or the hinges have dropped. Check the hinges before you reach for a plane.
• Improving sound insulation by adding a sheet to one face is possible, but you lose the panelled appearance.

Related terms

• Panel
• Internal door
• Flush door
• Transom
• Door furniture

Want to learn more about construction terms? Visit our knowledge base at fredsdiyplans.com.