Parts of a Screen Door – Hinged and Sliding, Labeled

All 11 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Start here: 6 main parts 6

Screen (screening) Woven mesh of aluminum, bronze or fiberglass; stops insects.
Stile An upright member of the door's frame.
Rail A crosswise member of the frame: top, middle or bottom.
Spring hinge A hinge with a coiled spring inside that closes the door.
Door pull (handle) A plain grip on the outside of the door.
Hook and eye A hook on the door drops into an eye on the frame.

Hinged door 2

Push guard (grille) Bars across the door that protect the screening from pushing hands.
Turnbuckle (brace) A diagonal rod tightened in the middle to square a sagging door.

Sliding door 3

Rollers Wheels at the corners; the door rides and is guided on them.
Track The upper and lower channels the sliding screen door runs in.
Spline A cord pressed into the frame's groove; it holds the screen.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-30; a name is kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Walter Jowers, An All-Season Screen Door for Post-Victorian Houses, The Old-House Journal, July 1984, https://archive.org/details/usmodernist-OHJ-1984-07 : the screen fabric is held by wood splines; screen door latch sets, hinges and tension rod or turnbuckle braces (mounted diagonally on the door to keep the frame from warping); push guards (ornamental, and they protect the screening); spring closers and piston-type closers. (2) Tom Philbin, The Illustrated Hardware Book, https://archive.org/details/theillustratedhardwarebook : screening (aluminum, bronze and fiberglass) and the spline that holds the screen in the groove of the screen frame; the screen door spring; the pneumatic closer; the lock mechanism and strike plate; the hook-and-eye turnbuckle for wood-framed screen doors. (3) Four separate hardware makers' trade catalogs on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/NationalMfgCohardware (screen door turnbuckle, made extra long, giving additional leverage to raise the door; spring hinges; rim and mortise screen door latches; hooks and eyes; door pulls), https://archive.org/details/columbianhardwarecoscreendoorspringhinge1907 (screen door spring hinge; screen door sets of hinges, door pull, hook and eye), https://archive.org/details/FrantzGuaranteedBuildersHardware (screen door sets, spring hinges, screen door brace, screen door check and closer, door spring, hook and eye, door pull), https://archive.org/details/detroit-hardware-mfg-co-1927 (screen door guard, push bar). Hook and eye rests on these four companies. (4) Sweet's Catalog File 1938, https://archive.org/details/Sweet1938windows26 , as search passages: screen door frames, rails and stiles, spline. (5) Two window and door makers' glossaries, https://www.andersenwindows.com/support/window-door-glossary/ and https://www.marvin.com/support/glossary : stile (vertical member), rail (horizontal member), insect screen. (6) A door maker's owner's manual, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5934788 : sliding screen doors: keep the upper and lower door tracks clean; the rollers on the screen can be adjusted; lift the door into the upper channel and set it on the lower track. (7) ShopNotes no. 88, https://archive.org/details/shopnotes88vol15shopbuiltpanelsaw , as search passages: sliding screen door rollers, spring tension rollers, track. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A screen door is a light frame filled with mesh. It lets air in and keeps insects out. These are the names for a hinged wooden door and its hardware, and for a sliding one.

Read the full guide

The hinged door

The frame is two stiles joined by rails. Screen fills the openings. Spring hinges swing the door and pull it shut, and a door pull on the outside opens it. Inside, a push guard takes the push of hands so the screen does not, a hook and eye fastens the door, and a turnbuckle brace is tightened to lift a corner that sags.

The sliding door

A sliding screen door runs in two tracks on rollers at its corners. On a metal frame the screen is held by a spline, a cord pressed into a groove all the way round. Pull the spline out and the screen comes free.

Not every door has spring hinges. Many close with a long door spring or a pneumatic closer, and fasten with a latch set.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a screen door called?

The frame is made of stiles, which stand upright, and rails, which run across. The mesh is the screen or screening. The hardware is the hinges, a pull or latch, a hook and eye, a push guard, and a spring or closer to shut it.

What are the parts of a sliding screen door?

A frame, the screen, and the spline that holds the screen in the frame's groove. Rollers at the corners run in an upper and a lower track, and the rollers can be adjusted if the door drags.

What is the rod across a screen door for?

It is a turnbuckle brace. The rod runs diagonally across the door, and tightening the turnbuckle in the middle pulls a sagging corner back up so the door stops dragging.

What holds the screen in a screen door?

On a metal frame, a spline: a cord pressed into a groove over the edge of the screen. On an old wooden door the screen is fixed under thin wood strips nailed round each opening.