To Maintain Oregon Door Warranty, Follow These Care & Handling Instructions

Handle Oregon Door doors with clean canvas gloves. Bare hands leave finger marks and soil stains.

When moving doors, carry them; do not drag. Never drag one door across another. Carts and other equipment used to handle doors must be padded.


All doors must be inspected thoroughly by the installer before installation. Oregon Door does not warrant doors installed with a defect that was obvious prior to installation. All doors should be inspected for freight damage upon receipt and before forwarding. Any observed damage must be noted on the delivery receipt and Oregon Door should be notified immediately. Failure to follow this procedure may lead to claim denial by the shipper and/or carrier.


For information regarding maximum allowable tolerances on Oregon Door doors, please refer to the Oregon Door Warranty.



Stack doors flat on carefully leveled supports. We recommend a support of three 2 x 4’s placed the full width of the doors, one across the center and one 12” from each end, covered with a sheet of plywood or heavy cardboard to protect the face of the bottom of the door. The top door should be covered in a similar manner. Keep doors clean and avoid discoloration by applying an opaque covering which does not permit light to penetrate. Covering must allow for air circulation. (Certain species including Cherry, Walnut and Mahogany are extremely sensitive to light and require extra protection.)

Do not store doors in damp areas or in freshly plastered building. Storage space should be dry and well ventilated.


Doors should be conditioned to the average humidity of the locality before hanging. The HVAC system should be operating and balanced prior to arrival of doors.



Field finished doors, including primed doors, must be sanded prior to finishing. Before finishing, place the door in a horizontal position. To remove raised grain or handling marks, block or power sand all surfaces with the grain. It is the responsibility of the field finisher to determine the proper grit sandpaper required and the duration of face preparation necessary to make the appearance of the doors acceptable to the owner. Do not continue finishing if problem arise.

The appearance of field finished doors is the responsibility of the field finisher. If applying a dark stain to a light wood, thorough initial sanding is even more important to prevent blotchiness and to reduce the appearance of a “barber pole” effect. Do not use steel wool on oak doors.

Stains must be applied with the door in a horizontal position. This permits easier handling of the materials, and prevents the solvents from evaporating too rapidly. Rapid solvent evaporation can cause fillers to streak. It can also cause the wiping stains to dry before cleanup can be completed. If the door is in a horizontal position, premature drying is slowed down, since the heavier-than-air solvent vapors tend to remain on the surface. To stain/fill larger, flat areas quickly and with less danger of steaks, working in teams of two is recommended.

Good quality finishing materials used according to the manufacturer’s directions provided will produce the best most durable results.

Door orders generally specify only species, grade and cut of veneer. Unless specified, no attempt is made to manufacture doors with flitches of similar color and grain. Finishing will accentuate any natural characteristics that are apparent prior to finishing.


Many of our plastic laminate doors are supplied with a poly-peel coat on the door faces. The poly-peel coat protects the faces and should be peeled off after the door is installed.


Jambs should be plumb and square and doors should be hung so they will operate freely and without tension.
The recommended pre fit in width is a minimum of 3/16” under and a maximum of ¼” under to allow for no more than 1/8” clearance between the door edge and the frame at the hinge and lock side of the door.
The recommended pre fit for clearance at the top of the door is 1/8”.
The net width of the door should always be measured from the widest face of the door.

We recommend beveling both edges at the rate of 1/8” in 2” so proper clearance can be maintained.



While it is best not to cut doors to fit openings smaller than those for which they were manufactured, the following guidelines should be followed when trimming is necessary.

Trim equally from both sides. You should first verify that the outer hardwood or softwood stile will allow for trimming of the amount that you are required to remove.

Doors with veneer or decorative laminate edgeband will require re-banding after trimming. It is not recommended that doors with veneered edges or laminate edge band be field trimmed.

If the total height must be reduced more than ¾”; trim equally from the top and bottom, but never more than ¾” from either end.


All fire-rated doors must be prefit and machined by Oregon Door or other licensed machiners. While it is best not to cut doors to fit openings smaller than those for which they are manufactured, licensed machiners may bevel the stiles at the rate of 1/8” in 2” so proper clearance can be maintained.

The standard location for Intertek Testing Service – Warnock Hersey (ITS-WH) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) fire-rated door labels is on the hinge stile of the door. It identifies the door as fire-rated. Do not remove, cover up, or paint over the metal fire label.

Do not trim the lock stile, hinge stile or top rail of doors with concealed intumescents. Doors may be undercut a maximum of ¾” from the bottom only as long as clearances are maintained per NFPA-80.


Oregon Door doors are not recommended and are not warranted for exterior use. If you must use a door in an exterior application, we recommend the use of structural composite lumber core (SCL) with medium density overlay (MDO) faces.


The stile edge of positive pressure door constructions with non-combustible materials does not support screw reinsertion. If a door must be removed from an opening after the hinges are attached, avoid removing the hinge screws from the door edge. Instead, remove the hinge pins or remove the screws from the frame.

In situations where the hinge screws must be removed from the door stile after the hinges have been attached, it is recommended that wire or epoxy resin be inserted into the screw hole prior to reinserting the screws. For more details on this procedure, contact Oregon Door at 800-722-7269.


Lite and louver openings in fire-rated doors must be machined at the factory or by an approved licensed machiner. For fire-rated labeling purposes, openings must be 5” to any edge and adjacent openings. For warranty purposes on particleboard core, agri-fiber core, staved core and mineral core doors, openings must be 5” to any edge and adjacent openings.
For warranty purposes on structural composite lumber core doors, openings must be 2-1/8” to any edge and adjacent openings. A minimum 5” top rail, 6” stiles and 12” bottom rail must be maintained.


To properly install the glass in a wood lite kit, the glazier must first remove the packaged prefit pieces of the wood moulding kit from the plastic bag. It is the installer’s responsibility to determine the type and amount of caulking or glazing tape required. The amount of caulking or glazing tape varies depending upon how much is needed to make the moulding fit flush on the door face. The loose moulding is nailed into place using 1-1/2” nails (supplied by the installer), placed no more than 2” from the corners and no more than 8” apart. (Secure the narrow pieces of moulding first.) Set nails and fill holes with matching putty.


Blocking is not standard in any mineral core door; blocking is available as an added option.
When blocking is not specified, through bolts must be used to secure surface mounted hardware.



Consult the UL Building Materials Directory for listed frames.

Install door frames per manufacturer’s instructions. Do not install doors unless the jamb is plumb and square.


Care should be taken in fitting concealed hardware to ensure the door in not unduly weakened at that point.
Consult a factory representative if you have questions or concerns about hardware preparation.


Mortise hinges should be pre drilled for pilot holes (by the installer) and attached with wood screws per the hardware manufacturer’s instructions. Surface hinges must be secured with steel through bolts.

Install locks per manufacturer’s instructions.


A surface-type closer does not require the removal of wood except for fasteners. Some concealed closers may void warranty.

• Surface-mounted hardware with through bolts can be used on Mineral Core doors without bolt blocking.
• Backer plates are recommended on decorative laminate face and Mineral Core doors when throughbolts are used. Attach backer plates with No. 8 x ¾” threaded-to-the-head wood screws. A pre-drilled 3/32” pilot hole is necessary,
• When installing a closer, provide a properly located stop to limit the door opening swing and prevent stile and / or rail failure.

Metal edges or metal edges with astragal may be used on fire rated pairs (20, 45, 60 & 90 minute rated) but are not required except on mineral core doors (45, 60 & 90 minute rated) when concealed vertical rod panics are to be used.

Mineral core (45, 60 & 90 minute rated) pairs that are machined for concealed vertical rod panics require the use of 5” metal edge guards. Edge guards are not supplied by the door manufacturer unless specifically requested at the time of quote or ordering.

Proper pre fit at the door width must be calculated to allow for the edge guard thickness.

20 minute rated smoke doors require the use of fire retardant edges (FRE) at meeting stiles if metal edge guards are not being used.


Kick-plates may be attached to the face of the door. The plate used must be an approved material (metal, stainless steel, acrylic, vinyl, bronze, aluminum, or high pressure laminate). The height from the bottom of the door is not to exceed:

• 48” for 20, 45, 60-minute rated doors (applied with screws or adhesive).
• 48” for 90-minute rated doors (applied with 6 x 32 nylon screws or adhesive only).
• 16” for 90-minute rated doors (applied with screws or adhesive).

Make sure doors continue to swing freely (do not bind in the frame). Also, to ensure proper functioning, periodically inspect and adjust door hardware as needed.