A pre-hung door is a slab door with hinges attached to a three-sided frame and includes a pre-cut bore for lockset and strike plate and is generally provided as a complete package when purchased. When it comes to installation, openings for the door should be properly measured and shimmed out so the ready-to-go door can slide right in. Before pre-hung doors, all the components were sold separately – the slab door, hinges, and frame – and the door would need to be installed as a knock-down assembly.
Pre-hung doors can generally be categorized into two major groups:
This is the most common type of pre-hung door assembly and is found in most homes and apartments today. Pre-hung door options for interior applications span a great multitude. The most common configuration is a 1⅜ inch hollow core commodity door assembly. This is an economical selection with a vast array of panel configurations to achieve many design intents. An upgraded version is the 1⅜ in solid-core door. These are generally provided to reduce sound transmission and provide a heftier feel to the product with a higher life cycle. The top product is 1¾ inch solid-core doors. These can be provided as molded panel assemblies or even built-to-order stile & rail with virtually limitless design options.
Exterior pre-hung doors are the doors you will generally find at the front of homes or the exterior of commercial builds. They are made of steel and/or fiberglass and are typically weather-resistant. Hung on a rabbeted wood frame with integral weatherstripping, sweeps, and thresholds, exterior doors provide privacy and insulating seals for a home’s entry point. Today’s steel and fiberglass doors are all manufactured to meet the rigorous standards to achieve energy star certifications. Exterior doors come in various panel configurations and can include decorative glass in the door panel and sidelights and transoms to add curb appeal.
When considering labor costs and scheduling timelines, pre-hung doors are often the smartest option as opposed to knock-down assemblies that include purchasing a slab door, frame, and hinges to be installed on-site. Although buying a slab door, frame, and hinges in a knock-down assembly may be less expensive upfront; a pre-hung door is always the most sensible option once labor and speed are accounted for. The builder or installer simply needs to take measurements of the doorway before ordering to ensure the unit fits properly and is level upon installation.
There is a vital distinction to be made between pre-hung doors and pre-install doors. Pre-install doors comprise the door slab and all its necessary finish hardware. The finish hardware could include doorknobs, lever sets, closures, and other ancillary hardware already attached to the door unit. They are typically hollow metal or architectural-type doors and are not yet attached to their frame. Regarding pre-hung doors, the only hardware included is the hinges.
As a large and leading distributor & service provider, Unified is competitive in our range of product offerings and expert services. If you're working on a site that needs pre-hung doors but need clarification on the requirements, we know what to do, and we won't need to spend time searching for answers. Our team of specialists can work with tight production timeframes due to our state-of-the-art machinery and expert staff. You can count on the efficiency of our processes thanks to our years of experience and up-to-date technology. Unified locations provide a shop-controlled environment you can trust to deliver your pre-hung door products on time and under budget. We have the knowledge, relationships, and resources to get the job done.
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