Concealed Door Frame Details: A Guide for Architects and Builders

A concealed door frame is what lets a door sit flush with the wall, with no architrave, no visible lining and nothing to give it away except a fine shadow line and perhaps a handle. Done well, it looks effortless. Done without agreeing the details early, it’s unforgiving, because there’s no architrave to hide a crooked opening, a cracked plaster edge or a floor that ends up higher than planned.

This guide covers the details that matter, from push and pull versions to plaster junctions, floors, skirting and hardware, and ends with a specification checklist. If you’re new to the terminology, start with our guide to jib, concealed, frameless and flush doors.

What is a concealed door frame?

Most modern concealed frames are aluminium profiles fixed into the structural opening at first fix. The wall finish, whether plaster, plasterboard or both, is then brought right up to a purpose-made edge on the frame. Once painted, only that crisp edge remains visible. The door leaf is hung on concealed hinges inside the frame, so it sits in the same plane as the wall on its flush side.

Our Frameless Hidden Door is a good example. Its aluminium frame has an edge profile designed to grip the plaster for an architrave-free look, it arrives primed, it’s supplied with OSB spacers to keep it plumb during installation, and it can go into metal stud, timber stud or masonry walls with a minimum 63mm stud.

Push or pull: which side is flush?

This is the first decision to make, and it affects the drawings, the skirting and how the room reads.

A concealed hinged door can only be truly flush on one face of the wall. On the other face, you’ll see a reveal where the leaf is set back into the opening. Manufacturers deal with this by offering push and pull versions of the frame. Eclisse, for example, offers its Syntesis Flush hinged frames in both push and pull options.

Some points to agree early:

• Which room gets the flush face. Usually the more important side, such as the hallway.
• Handing. Italian maker Invisible Door, in its technical data sheet, defines opening direction from the point of view of someone standing outside the room, and notes that a right push door is the same as a left pull door. Use one convention across the whole drawing set.
• Adjacent doors. The same data sheet notes that putting a pull-opening door next to a push-opening one results in misaligned top gaps. On a corridor with several concealed doors, that’s very noticeable.

Many complete sets avoid some of the handing headaches by being reversible. Our Concealed Omega Primed Door Set and Frameless Hidden Door can both be installed four ways: left or right, push or pull.

Wall build-up and frame depth

The frame has to suit the finished wall thickness, not just the stud or block size. Before ordering, confirm:

• Stud or block width
• Board type and thickness on each side
• Plaster skim or other finish thickness
• Any tiling, panelling or wall coverings

Minimum wall thicknesses vary between systems, so check the data sheet. Invisible Door’s flush hinged frame, for instance, needs a minimum finished wall thickness of 70mm, while our Frameless Hidden Door specifies a minimum 63mm stud. For tall or bespoke openings, our SF-LINE aluminium flush door frame is manufactured to size, up to 3m high and 1m wide, and comes with wall anchors for both plasterboard and solid walls.

The plaster junction: avoiding cracks

Cracking where plaster meets frame is the most common complaint with concealed doors. A door being opened and closed thousands of times puts repeated movement into that junction, so the frame and the wall finish have to be detailed together.

What helps:

• A rigid frame. Eclisse says its Syntesis Flush hinged frame uses a high-strength profile designed to avoid the strains that cause plaster cracks.
• Solid fixing. Fix the frame securely at the points the manufacturer specifies, particularly around the hinges and the latch.
• The manufacturer’s junction detail. Some systems are designed for plaster to be finished right to the frame edge; others have the board butt into a rebate so that the frame and wall aren’t rigidly joined. Follow the detail for the system you’re using rather than improvising.
• Packing and filling as specified. Some manufacturers recommend low-expansion foam around the frame to reduce vibration. Use only what the frame’s instructions allow.
• Briefing the plasterer. Concealed frame manufacturer Dorsis stresses that the plasterer needs to know the exact detail in advance: the final surface thickness, the front plane, and how the transition between frame and wall will be finished.

Sequence of works

Dorsis also sets out a clear order of work for concealed frames, and it matches what we see on site:

1. Prepare the structural opening accurately, plumb and square.
2. Fix the frame after the rough opening is ready but before final plastering, screeding, tiling and floor finishes.
3. Set it plumb, level and at the correct height relative to the finished floor.
4. Board and plaster up to the frame.
5. Hang the door once wet trades are finished and the plaster has dried, then adjust the hinges.
6. Paint frame edge, wall and door together.

So the frame needs to be on site well before the plasterer.

Floor and ceiling levels

Finished floor level

The frame height is set from the finished floor level, so you need to know the full floor build-up, including screed, underfloor heating, underlay and the final floor finish. If the floor finish changes at the door, for example tiles to carpet, agree where the transition sits and how the door gap at the bottom is handled.

Floor-to-ceiling doors

Full-height concealed doors look superb but leave no margin for an uneven ceiling. Eclisse notes that its Syntesis Swing door can be installed with or without a header, allowing integration between door panel, wall and ceiling. Taller leaves also need suitable hinges and, often, reinforcement. Eclisse supplies its doors over 2,000mm high with a tensioning rod to keep the leaf flat.

Skirting details

Skirting can make or break a concealed door. The common options are:

• Stopping the skirting at the frame. Simple, but it marks the door position.
• Flush skirting. Eclisse offers a skirting board adapter so the skirting sits flush with the wall, giving an uninterrupted line.
• Skirting carried across the door leaf. The traditional jib door approach. On a pull-opening door, Invisible Door notes that cladding on the leaf needs a 45° cut through its thickness to allow a full 90° opening. Push-opening doors don’t need this. Remember any cladding also adds weight to the hinges.

Hinges, latches and handles

Concealed frames use concealed hinges, typically 3D adjustable so the leaf can be set exactly flush with the wall. They’re usually supplied with the frame and pre-machined into the leaf. For more detail on load ratings and adjustment, see our guide to concealed door hinges.

Latches are usually magnetic, which keeps the leaf edge clean and closes quietly. For a handleless door, a push-to-open touch latch is needed. Our Omega set, for example, is supplied with an AGB Polaris magnetic latch for use with a handle, and requires an AGB touch latch for the handleless option. Hinges and latches are available separately in our concealed door accessories range.

Fire-rated concealed doors

If the door is on a protected route or otherwise needs to be a fire door, the frame, leaf, hinges, latch and seals must be a tested combination. Our Invisible Frameless Hidden Concealed FD30 Fire Door is supplied as a complete set including intumescent kits. Install it exactly as the instructions require, and keep the paperwork for building control.

Drawings and technical data

Ask the manufacturer or supplier for the technical data sheet, fitting instructions and, where available, CAD or BIM files before you finalise the drawings. Some product pages provide these directly; our xREVERx flush reversible hinged door system page, for example, links to a product sheet, fitting instructions, a CAD library and a BIM library.

Specification checklist

• Push or pull, and which face is flush
• Handing, using one convention throughout
• Structural opening size and tolerance
• Finished wall thickness and build-up on both sides
• Finished floor level and floor finish at the threshold
• Head detail: standard height or floor-to-ceiling
• Skirting approach
• Hinge type and load, including any cladding
• Latch and handle, or handleless
• Fire rating, if required
• Leaf finish: primed for paint, wallpaper or cladding

Frequently asked questions

When should a concealed door frame be installed?

After the structural opening is formed but before plastering, screeding, tiling and floor finishes. The frame needs to be set to the finished floor level, so the floor build-up must be known.

Is a concealed door flush on both sides?

Usually not. A concealed hinged door is flush on one face, and the other face shows a reveal. That’s why frames come in push and pull versions.

Can I fit a concealed frame into an existing wall?

Yes, but you’ll need to open up the wall around the doorway so it can be re-boarded or re-plastered up to the frame edge. It’s much easier during a renovation or new build than as a standalone job.

How do I stop the plaster cracking around the frame?

Use a rigid frame, fix it securely, follow the manufacturer’s junction detail exactly and make sure the plasterer knows the detail before starting. Good hinge adjustment also stops the door from knocking against the frame.

Can a concealed door be fire rated?

Yes, if you use a tested fire-rated concealed door set, such as an FD30 set, installed with the correct intumescent kits and hardware.

Plan your concealed doors with us

Whether you’re specifying one hidden door or a whole corridor, we can help you choose the right frame and hardware. Explore concealed and flush to wall doors, or contact our team with your drawings and wall build-ups.