What Size Kick Plate Do I Need? A Simple Sizing Guide for Any Door

The correct dimensions for the kick plate should be between 6 and 10 inches in height and should be the same width as your door. Knowing the exact dimensions is the key that distinguishes the kick plate made with care from those that don’t seem thought through at all.  If you are looking for the right size for a 24" x 34" stainless steel kick plate or are just trying to figure out what will suit your standard door, you have come to the right place. JustKickPlates has an extensive stock of stainless steel plates ready for shipping right away.

Importance of Ensuring That You Have the Right Size

Besides making the door look more attractive at the bottom, this door protection plate will keep the finishing from getting scuffed, dented by wheel carts, or damaged by the impact of shoes during the first two years. If you do not have this plate, your doors at work or home will become worn out very quickly, and the cost of refitting or replacing such a door will be much higher than the cost of this small protector plate.

However, sizing the plate properly may cause a problem for many customers. A small plate will leave some space open, and an oversized one might interfere with the opening mechanism of the door. The right size depends on knowing the exact height and width of the door.

How Can You Measure the Door for Proper Kick Plate Sizing?

This will take five minutes or less using a tape measure. These are things to keep in mind before ordering the plate:

• The width of the door, taking into consideration a possible bevelled edge, minus ½ inch clearance on each end.
• The height at which you'd like it installed, generally 6, 8, or 10 inches from the bottom of the door.
• A door closer, kick-down stop, or a bottom hinge located in the area where the plate is to be installed.
• Thickness of the door to make sure the return, which is the part that goes around the edge of the door, fits properly.
• Go ahead and round up, not down, as a slightly larger plate can always be trimmed but not a smaller one.
  

Kick Plate Sizes Used for Both Residential and Commercial Doors

Residential doors come in size ranges from 30 to 36 inches wide, making a plate of this size sufficient to cover the door bottom without any additional work on cutting. For example, if you need to purchase a kick plate for the interior door, a 24" x 36" stainless steel kick plate is probably the best option available.

Commercial doors are usually wider, and they are widely used in schools, hospitals, shopping malls, and other establishments where people move around using wheeled equipment like carts or dollies. Since such traffic causes much more wear on the bottom area of the door frame, commercial doors require larger plates installed there than residential doors. That's why commercial doors usually have commercial stainless steel kick plates installed.

Kick Plate Vs Push Plate: What Do You Really Need?

This is one of the questions that gets asked frequently, and here is the brief answer. The difference between the kick plate and push plate lies in the problem they solve. While the former shields the bottom third of the door from the impact of feet and rolling objects, the latter is installed at hand level to guard against fingerprints, oils, and touch.

If you consider using either option in your office entrance, it is better to apply both plates in order to make sure that the wear areas are protected well. While the kick plate is enough if the door is touched by feet and wheeled equipment, the combination of these plates will last longer.

Kick Plate Material: Stainless Steel vs Aluminum Kick Plate?

In terms of the material used, it is important to determine the level of durability and aesthetic appearance of the material for the kick plate. The differences between stainless steel and aluminum kick plates are as follows:

• Stainless steel is resistant to damage in the form of dents, scratches, and corrosion; therefore, this material is preferred when dealing with high-traffic doors and outdoor commercial doors.
• Aluminum is a lightweight and affordable material that works best for interior low-traffic doors where budget is a priority, but the durability of the material is not.
• Stainless steel can keep the brushed or polished appearance longer compared to aluminum that may fade or oxidize faster in humid environments.
• The stainless steel kick plate will last a few years longer than the aluminum one when the door is used commercially on a regular basis.

Do Interior and Exterior Doors Need Different Kick Plates?

The debate over kick plates for interior vs exterior door placement mostly comes down to exposure. Interior doors sit in dry, climate-controlled air, so a lighter-gauge plate holds up fine for years without issue. Exterior doors deal with rain, salt, temperature swings, and direct sun, so they do best with a heavier-gauge stainless steel that won't warp or discolor.

A front door kick plate gets extra attention because it's often the first thing a visitor notices. Beyond protection, it needs to match the door's hardware finish and hold up to weather without streaking or rusting at the edges, which is exactly why stainless steel remains the go-to pick for entryways.

Larger commercial entry doors, like those found on storefronts or double-door lobbies, often need a bigger plate altogether. A 28" x 40" stainless steel kick plate is a common fit for these wider, taller openings, giving full bottom-panel coverage on doors that see constant foot and cart traffic throughout the day.

Places Where Commercial Kick Plates for Door Protection Are Applicable

Commercial kick plates for door protection tend to be applied in various places other than those normally thought of. These include:

• The entrances and stairway doors of office buildings, where rolling carts and footsteps occur throughout the day.
• The hallways of schools and hospitals, where beds, rolling carts, and wheelchairs collide with the bottom section of doors repeatedly.
• Storefronts and kitchen entry doors in restaurants, where the metal kick plate for door protection is used to protect the door from oil, moisture, and swinging.
• Loading docks and warehouse doors that get exposed to pallet jacks and machinery daily.
• Entrances to apartment and condominium buildings, where the kick plate keeps the appearance of the shared doors neat.

Avoiding Sizing Mistakes When Doors Don’t Have Standard Sizes

Every door doesn't necessarily fit in a standard sizing guide, and this is where most mistakes occur in terms of sizing. There are old buildings with customized doors, and there may be a gap around the edges or even a plate that overlaps the frame when you use only the sizing guide in such a case. It would be best to measure the opening itself instead of using an adjacent building or a door down the same hallway.

In the case of double doors, there is another peculiarity because each door will have its own plate, not two plates as one whole unit. It is also easy to forget about this rule or to consider the doors to be the same when it comes to older buildings where doors could be of different sizes due to uneven aging.

Match the Kick Plate to the Door, Not the Reverse

Size matters when it comes to giving the impression of a perfectly fitting kick plate. Make sure you measure correctly, factor in hardware and hinges, and pick materials that reflect the wear and tear of everyday use of the door in question.

With the measurements sorted out, ordering should be relatively straightforward. At JustKickPlates, we carry a large variety of commercial-grade kick plates made of stainless steel that come in sizes already shipped from our warehouse with fast Canadian delivery and cost-effective bulk prices. You can order from one kick plate to fit a single residential door to many more to cover the doors of a commercial building, and finding the perfect match is usually easier than you think.

Want to give your doors proper protection? Visit our site to browse all the available sizes and styles.