4 Types of Commercial Hollow Metal Doors

Commercial hollow metal doors can come in several different metal face thicknesses or gages. Hollow metal doors also come with many options for the door core such as honeycomb or insulated cores. You can read more about hollow metal door cores here.

The purpose of this article is to cover the more common door elevations you’ll see. An elevation basically means a vertical projection representing the visual appearance of an architectural detail. In this case it refers to the way a door looks when you are facing it.

1. Flush Hollow Metal Doors

Flush hollow metal doors have a smooth face on either side of the door. Flush hollow metal doors are probably the most common elevation in commercial applications. It provides security and insulation as well as a clean finished appearance. A flush door can be fire rated up to 3 hours with the proper core material.

2. Hollow Metal Doors with Windows

Windows of various sizes can be cut into the door allowing light and visibility into a space. Fire rated hollow metal doors will have certain restrictions for glass size. Common elevations with windows, or lites, include the half glass door (G), full glass (FG), narrow lite (N), and vision lite (V). Hollow metal doors can also have louvers installed to allow air flow through the door.

3. Paneled Hollow Metal Doors

Hollow metal doors with panels are generally embossed on the face of the door. Embossed panels add an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the opening. Hollow metal doors can have any number of panels, depending on the manufacturer, but the 6-panel design is probably the most common. Embossed panels can also be used together with lites cut into the door (like the “E2G” type door below).

4. Graintech

Steelcraft offers a hollow metal door that provides the appearance of a wood door while also having the performance and durability of hollow metal. Graintech looks like it has a wood grain and is stained at the factory to match other openings. Graintech can be supplied with the typical core options such as honeycomb, polystyrene, and polyurethane.