Door Stops and Holders Explained: Wall, Floor, Overhead and Electromagnetic

A door stop keeps an opening door from slamming into the wall; a holder can also keep it open. This page explains wall, floor, overhead and electromagnetic stops and holders as Ives, Rockwood, Glynn-Johnson and LCN describe them, and how to read the model numbers in our product names.

Stop or holder: what the catalogs mean

Rockwood's catalog names two functions for its overhead units: a stop, where the door "deadstops at a particular degree of opening", and a hold open, where the door "remains held open near deadstop location". Ives names its floor and wall holders by how they engage:

• Manual (Ives WS445/WS449, FS446/FS450): a stop until a hook is engaged in the strike by hand; released by hand.
• Automatic (Ives FS40 to FS43): engages when the door is opened; a firm pull releases it.
• Kick down (Ives FS452): activated "with a touch of the foot".

Wall stops and wall bumpers

Ives calls its wall bumpers, wall holders, kick down holders and hinge pin stops "an economical alternative for doors without a closer and overhead stop or holder". The Ives WS406/407 (Ives: "406 and 407 are not different products") comes with a convex (CVX) or concave (CCV) bumper; according to Ives, the concave bumper "avoids damage to locks with projecting buttons".

The wall decides the fasteners. Ives packs the WS11 with fasteners for drywall and wood and the WS11X for heavy duty masonry. Rockwood gives each fastener pack its own number:

So a Rockwood 403 is a solid cast concave wall stop with the sheet metal screw and plastic toggle pack. The Rockwood 406 (convex) and 409 (concave) are wrought wall stops with a back plate.

Floor stops: dome stops and their heights

Rockwood lists its low dome stops 440 and 441 (1-1/8 inch high) for doors without thresholds that are not undercut, and its high dome stops 442 and 443 for doors with thresholds or undercut doors. The 441H has a low lip with the height of a high dome stop, which "eliminates the need to determine requirement for traditional low or high dome stop". Ives splits the FS436 (1 inch high, doors without threshold) from the FS438 (1-3/8 inch, doors with threshold or undercut doors); its R435 and R437 risers convert them for carpet.

Ives sets the FS40 to FS43 model number by door-to-floor clearance:

For kick down holders the catalog lists the FS452-4 for a clearance of 2 inches or less and the FS452-5 for up to 3 inches.

Overhead stops and holders: surface and concealed

An overhead stop has an arm working from the jamb to the top of the door. Glynn-Johnson's catalog says its overhead holders and stops "should always be used on doors furnished with door closers, as closers are not door stops". Its 70, 79, 81, 90 and 450 series are surface mounted: no mortising, with the jamb bracket on the frame stop and the channel on the door face. The 100 and 410 series are concealed: jamb bracket mortised into the jamb, arm and channel into the top of the door.

Glynn-Johnson puts the function in a letter suffix:

• H - hold-open
• S - stop-only
• F - friction hold-open, "where multiple hold-open positions are desired"
• SE - special stop-only without the shock-absorbing mechanism, for single point hold-open electronic closers

The third digit is the size, chosen by the door opening, which the catalog defines as the width "from jamb to jamb, not just the width of the door". For doors on butts or offset pivots:

The holders work from 85 to 110 degrees, and their shock absorbers give about 5 to 7 degrees beyond the hold-open or stop point; for a wall or other obstruction at 110 degrees or less the catalog calls for "dead-stop templating", except on SE models (no shock-absorbing spring).

ABH numbers differently: in its 1000 series cut sheet the third digit is the function (1 hold-open, 2 stop, 3 friction), so an ABH 1023 is a stop. See our ABH overhead stop and holder templates guide.

Rockwood's overhead stop introduction warns: "HOLD OPEN FUNCTION CANNOT BE USED ON LABELED OPENINGS!"

Electromagnetic door holders

LCN describes its Sentronic SEM 7800 magnets as "fail safe": they "hold until the current is interrupted", and "a manual door closer is used to control and close the door". The SEM 7820 is floor mounted, the SEM 7830 surface wall mounted, and the SEM 7840 and SEM 7850 recessed wall mounted (low and standard profile). Each has COM, 12V, 24V and 120V terminals; LCN gives 35 lbs of holding force.

The LCN catalog explains: "Electromagnets are typically used with fire alarm systems. Doors are held open in the non-alarm condition. When the fire alarm panel enters the alarm condition, power to the electromagnets is removed, the doors close under door closer control, and function as a manual door." Its wiring diagrams connect the magnet to the fire alarm panel, and the SEM 7830 instructions say to pull wire "in accordance with applicable codes, standards, and authorities having jurisdiction".

How our product names show model, size and finish

These names start with the brand, the model and the finish code:

• Rockwood 409 US3 - wrought concave wall stop, finish US3 (605)
• Ives WS406/407CVX US32D - convex bumper (CVX), finish US32D
• Ives FS43826D - FS438 dome stop, 1-3/8 inch, finish 26D
• Rockwood 441H US10BE - universal dome stop
• Ives FS45226D4 - FS452 kick down holder, finish 26D, ending in 4 like the catalog's FS452-4
• Glynn-Johnson 904S32D - 90 series surface, size 4, stop-only, US32D
• Glynn-Johnson 104SE-SPBLK-ADJ - 100 series concealed, size 4, special stop-only, black powder coat, adjustable jamb bracket
• LCN SEM7830 695 - surface wall magnet, 695 dark bronze

Finish codes such as US26D, 626 or 695 are explained in our door hardware finish codes chart.

Door stops and holders at The Builders Supply

• Door stops and bumpers
• Overhead stops and holders
• Magnetic door holders

Not sure which stop or holder fits your door? Our customer support team is available Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4 PM Central Time, at 1-888-800-7789 or [email protected].