Inside mount
Posts sit inside the opening, against the jambs, and the barrier sits within the reveal. This is the cleaner and less expensive of the two, and it is the default wherever the opening allows it.
- A sound reveal of reasonable depth on both sides
- A substrate that will take an anchor — solid block, poured concrete or properly backed framing
- Reveals that are roughly parallel and square
- Nothing in the way: no garage track, shutter housing, trim return or threshold detail fouling the post line
Entry doors, sliders and lanai openings with a genuine reveal usually take inside mount. Nothing projects onto the wall face.
Outside mount
Posts mount on the face of the wall outside the opening using an L-profile, and the barrier overlaps onto the wall rather than sitting inside the opening. Left-hand and right-hand posts are the same extrusion — the cap determines which is which.
- The reveal is too shallow, or there is no reveal at all
- The opening is out of square enough that an inside mount would not seal
- The substrate inside the opening will not take an anchor reliably
- A garage door track, roller shutter housing, screen frame or trim occupies the jamb
- The opening is a flush frame with the wall face
The posts are visible on the wall year-round, and the barrier covers slightly more width than the opening itself. In exchange it will seal on openings where an inside mount simply will not.
Which one is yours?
For most openings the answer is decided by two things: is there a reveal deep enough to take a post, and is anything already living in it. Garage openings very often end up outside mount because the door track occupies exactly the space an inside post would want. Entry doors and sliders with a proper masonry reveal are usually inside mount. A photograph of each jamb settles it in about thirty seconds at our end.
What to measure before you call
You do not need to arrive at a finished specification. You need to give us enough to work from, and we do the takeoff.
- Width at the top, middle and bottom — the smallest of the three governs fabrication
- The height of protection you want, or simply describe what happened last time
- Substrate: block, poured concrete, frame, or stucco over which of those
- Reveal depth, if there is one, and whether the floor or threshold is level
- Photographs: one straight on, one of each jamb, one of the floor line
Planks are cut to the dimensions submitted. A plank that comes out long can be trimmed. A plank cut short is scrap. When a measurement is borderline, measure it again.
Wide openings
Openings past a certain width take a centre post with a braced 45° leg support, and very wide runs take more than one. The spacing depends on both the width and the height of the system, because taller systems carry more load and need closer support. Give us the opening width and the height and we will tell you how many centre posts the job takes.
