Historically, dutch doors provided the convenience of opening up a space for ventilation or conversation while offering some security or keeping animals out of the house. This image is courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In Britain they’re known as stable doors, as they are frequently used in barns and stables. Perhaps this usage of a dutch door is familiar to you and explains the British term:
Today, the most common application we see commercially for dutch doors is a transaction window–perhaps a package pickup, pharmacy, or evidence room. A close relative is the wicket door which is a door within a door. In pedestrian doors, a common application for wicket doors (in fact, the only usage I can think of at this writing) is on a package pickup at the post office.
We also see dutch doors in educational occupancies, specifically child day care. This application closely resembles the historical application–opening up a space while keeping small children from running about.
How do these doors receive hardware, you might ask? I’m glad you asked. Let’s start with the DHI format for hardware: hanging the door. Since dutch doors in commercial applications almost always have shelves, I strongly recommend a continuous hinge that is prepped for the two leaves of the door. Now, after saying that, wouldn’t you know the picture I took doesn’t have a shelf, but here’s an example from a recent project we specified and supplied:
Notice the frame leaf of the hinge is continuous (hence the name) and the door leaf is split into top and bottom leaves. The other option for hanging a dutch door is on two hinges for each leaf, assuming a standard 7-0 door height. When you have a shelf, that shelf invites someone to lean on the door, which stresses the hinges. Also, aligning the leaves in the frame is problematic. Both are good reasons for using a continuous hinge.
Moving on to the next step, latching, the bottom leaf needs to latch or lock into the frame at a minimum. The picture above shows a GP Series cylindrical classroom lock from PDQ Industries. The top leaf can be bolted to the bottom leaf with a dutch door bolt (of all things!), which is surface mounted on the inside face of the door.
Lastly, we need to stop the door. Typically we will see two wall stops (one for each leaf) or sometimes an overhead stop for the top leaf when conditions warrant. When there is a shelf, depending on the shelf location, this can affect your stop selection for the bottom leaf so be aware. If the door above had a shelf on the corridor side, a wall stop would be appropriate. If the shelf is centered or on the classroom side, then the corner of the shelf will hit the wall first, so a floor stop would be your choice. This is why most dutch door shelves are frame side.
Specifying hardware for rated dutch doors is a little trickier. The top leaf must be self closing with a closer (or other listed closing device) and catch the bottom leaf and close both together. This is accomplished with an astragal that overlaps the bottom leaf. Depending on your door manufacturer and conditions, you may need to latch the top leaf into the bottom leaf, which then latches into the frame, or both leaves must latch into the frame as they close together. As always, consult your door manufacturer for requirements on your specific application. Another point to consider for a rated dutch door is including a magnetic holdopen for the top leaf. A dutch door that is always closed doesn’t serve the purpose well, unless you are trying to provide some security for temporary transactions (think back to that evidence room application mentioned earlier). A holdopen tied into the fire alarm will allow you the flexibility of keeping the top leaf open, while meeting the fire separation requirements.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can help you with your door or hardware questions or needs. We’re happy to help!
Doors & Door Hardware 