HPDL Doors Made Easy: How to Choose the Right Materials and Finishes

High-pressure decorative laminate (HPDL) doors offer both durability and versatility, making them a popular choice for commercial spaces. Beyond their functional benefits, HPDL doors provide architects and designers with a broad range of customization options, including various materials, patterns, textures, colors, and finishes. In this post, we’ll explore the key considerations for specifying HPDL doors, from sheet thickness to finish attributes, and highlight how you can create customized solutions that meet both aesthetic and practical requirements.

Thickness: Selecting the Right Grade for Door Applications

HPDL sheets come in varying thicknesses (grades), and not all are suitable for use on doors. The most common thickness for doors is General Purpose Grade, which is typically 0.05” thick. However, thinner grades like Horizontal Grade or Vertical Grade are not recommended for doors, as they are often used for other applications, such as countertops, cabinets, or wall coverings.

When specifying HPDL doors, it’s important to confirm that the selected laminate design and thickness are suitable for door applications.

Specification Tips

The first step should be to contact the door manufacturer to understand the standard options available. Forte Opening Solutions has already vetted through these considerations, making it easier to choose from pre-approved options. If a project requires something beyond what is offered, customers can reach out for assistance, and Forte will guide them through the additional considerations.

• For quick reference, customers can look up technical specifications on the laminate manufacturer’s website. If a specific request arises, Forte Opening Solutions will work with the manufacturer to ensure the chosen design meets all necessary requirements.

• Customers should verify that the laminate’s grade (thickness) aligns with their project’s design requirements. They can review the laminate manufacturer’s website to confirm that the desired finish is available in the appropriate sheet size for their door.

Sheet Size: Matching Laminate to Door Dimensions

HPDL sheets are available in a variety of sizes, designed to fit standard doors and other surfaces. Commercial interior doors typically measure 32” wide by 80” high, and HPDL sheets in these dimensions are widely available.

For applications like hospital doors, which often require wider doorways to accommodate equipment and beds, it’s important to ensure that the HPDL sheets are large enough to cover these larger dimensions. Common sheet sizes include:

• 4’ x 10’

• 4’ x 12’

• 5’ x 8’

• 5’ x 10’

These larger sizes help accommodate the unique needs of healthcare environments while minimizing seams and ensuring a smooth, professional finish.

Finish Attributes: Balancing Aesthetics and Performance

One of the major advantages of HPDL doors is the wide range of available finishes. These finishes not only affect the door’s appearance but also play a critical role in its durability and resistance to wear, fading, and scratches.

• Sheen Levels: HPDL finishes range from matte to high-gloss, allowing for different visual effects based on the desired reflectivity. High-gloss finishes not only provide asleek, modern look but can also serve functional purposes, such as writable surfaces for interactive spaces like classrooms and offices.

• Ticking Patterns: Many HPDL finishes incorporate textures or “ticking” patterns that mimic natural materials like wood or stone. This adds depth and dimension to the door’s appearance while maintaining the durability of a laminate surface.

• Customizable Options: HPDL doors offer significant flexibility when it comes to personalization. Designers can incorporate branded elements such as company logos or wayfinding symbols directly onto the laminate surface. Additionally, HPDL doors can be coordinated to match other surfaces within a space, providing a cohesive design throughout the environment.

Popular HPDL Finish Options

HPDL manufacturers offer a range of finish options to meet different design and performance needs. Let’s explore some of the common categories:

Basic Finishes

Basic finishes provide simple, functional textures that are cost-effective and easy to maintain. These include:

• Velvet: A smooth-textured finish with moderate reflectivity, ideal for various commercial settings.

• Matte: A non-directional texture that enhances color clarity and reduces glare, making it perfect for solid colors or woodgrain patterns.

• Artisan: A finely textured finish reminiscent of hand-rubbed wood, offering a natural aesthetic.

Premium Finishes

Premium finishes replicate the look and feel of real wood and other high-end materials, offering a more luxurious aesthetic. These include:

• Soft-Grain: A subtle woodgrain finish that mimics natural textures, providing a sophisticated look and feel.

• Rift-Cut: A vertical-textured grain with subtle ticking, ideal for straight-grain wood designs.

• High-Gloss: A mirror-like sheen that adds sleekness to modern environments, with writable versions available for interactive spaces.Gloss Levels: How Reflectivity Impacts Design Gloss levels are an important consideration when selecting an HPDL finish. They are measured using a gloss meter, which assigns a Gloss Unit (GU) rating based on the surface’s reflectivity.

• High-Gloss: Laminates rated above 70 GU are highly reflective, making them ideal for surfaces where a bright, shiny appearance is desired. However, it's important to note that high-gloss finishes are more prone to scratches and can be difficult to repair, which may reduce their long-term benefit for high-traffic or heavily used laminate doors.

• Medium-Gloss: Rated between 11 and 70 GU, medium-gloss laminates strike a balance between sheen and durability.

• Matte: Laminates rated between 0 and 10 GU offer minimal reflectivity, ideal for reducing glare and providing a natural look.

Special Performance Solutions: Meeting Acoustic and Safety Standards

In addition to aesthetic considerations, HPDL doors can be specified to meet special performance requirements for commercial and architectural settings, such as sound control and fire resistance.

Acoustic Performance

Sound transmission is a key consideration in settings like healthcare facilities, schools, and hotels. Acoustic-rated HPDL doors are designed to reduce noise transmission between rooms, creating a quieter, more private environment. These doors typically feature an acoustic core with Sound Transmission Class (STC) ratings ranging from above 40.

Fire Protection

HPDL doors can be built to meet specialty safety demands, including fire, attack, and radiation resistance. Fire-rated HPDL doors are essential for ensuring safety and code compliance in high-traffic buildings.

Key codes and standards for fire doors include NFPA 80, International Fire Code (IFC), and International Building Code (IBC), which dictate the installation and maintenance of fire doors. These regulations ensure that fire-rated doors are properly installed to perform effectively in the event of a fire.

Fire-rated doors contain solid cores designed to delay the spread of fire and smoke when the appropriate seals and gaskets are applied. The fire rating of a door, measured in minutes, indicates how long the door can resist fire. Common ratings for fire-rated doors range from 20 to 90 minutes, depending on the building's specific requirements.

In addition, HPDL sheets used on fire-rated doors must meet performance standards such as NEMA LD3 and/or EN438, ensuring the laminate’s suitability for fire-rated applications.

Attack Resistance and Radiation Protection

For sensitive environments like schools, hospitals, and research labs, HPDL doors can also be designed to offer additional protection against attacks or radiation. Attack-resistant doors are built to withstand extreme impact and slow down forced entry, while radiation-shielded doors protect against harmful radiation exposure in specialized facilities.

Conclusion: Customizing HPDL Doors for Every Project

HPDL doors offer an exceptional combination of durability, aesthetics, and performance. With a wide range of material, finish, and performance options available, architects and designers can customize HPDL doors to meet the unique requirements of any commercial space. Whether you're looking for a sleek, high-gloss finish for a modern office or a durable, acoustic-rated door for a hospital room, HPDL doors provide a versatile and cost-effective solution.