(216) 631-8080Discuss a project
Call
Technical Reference

Technical reference for panels, doors, floors and building products.

The figures D.W. Ross publishes, in one place: insulated panel thickness and R-value, fire-rated wall cores, cooler and freezer door sizing, freezer floor board grades, and building product sizes. Each one links to the page where it is used.

These are published figures for planning and comparison. The tested listing, the submittal and the site measurement govern the actual job.

Scope

What is supplied, and what is installed.

Building Products

D.W. Ross supplies building products. It does not install windows, doors, flooring, FRP or laminated panels. The contractor doing that work installs them, and we help get the product right before it ships.

Insulated Panels and Doors

Insulated panels and specialty doors are sold either way: installed by D.W. Ross, or supplied material-only. Material-only does not mean on your own. On panel jobs we have supplied without installing, D.W. Ross stayed on recurring calls with the installing contractor, working through the details as they came up on site.

Insulated panels

Thickness, R-value, cores and skins.

Standard insulated panels run from 2 to 8 inches thick. Insulating value is roughly R-8 per inch, so choosing the thickness is choosing the R-value.

Source: D.W. Ross, published September 2026. Supplier and model names are not published; the configuration is.

R-value by use

Architectural metal buildingTypically R-16, a 2" panel
Cooler or freezer down to -20°FR-32 minimum, about 4" at R-8 per inch
Fire-rated wallMineral fiber core, 4" to 8" by rating

Fire-rated wall panels

One hour4" mineral fiber core
Two hour6" mineral fiber core
Three hour8" mineral fiber core

Wall panels only; rated ceilings are not offered. A fire rating belongs to the tested assembly, so ask for the listing that covers your wall.

The standard core is polyisocyanurate. Continuous-line panels are foamed in place: the polyisocyanurate is chemically bonded between two roll-formed steel skins.

Polyisocyanurate over G90 galvanized steel is the construction the FM Approvals standards FM 4880 and FM 4881 test. The listing belongs to the manufacturer's tested panel. Ask us which one covers your wall.

A panel is specified by six choices, in this order: width and configuration, interior or exterior, concealed fastener, skin and surface, edge detail, thickness and core.

Skins and finishes

G90 galvanized
White modified polyester
Plastisol (PVC-coated steel)
304 2B stainless, embossed
304 2B stainless, shadow line
Color comes in runs. Minimum run is 1,000 square feet per color. A modified-polyester white and a plain polyester white are visibly different whites, and panels from two different runs can stand out beside each other, on a ceiling most of all. Order a room's panels together.

On a tall wall, a shadow-line face is preferred over flat smooth. Flat steel at height tends to oil-can, the visible ripple in a flat sheet, and the profile prevents it. Flat smooth on a tall exterior wall needs a signed waiver.

Cooler and freezer doors

Door families, and the wall a slide door needs.

Source: D.W. Ross’s own rule for laying out a slide-door opening.

Door families

High-speed roll-upFor openings that cycle constantly and cannot afford to stand open. Freezer-rated systems are part of this family.
Power-operated bi-partingTwo leaves from the center, for wide openings and traffic that has to keep moving.
Power-operated vertical slideThe leaf lifts rather than swinging aside, for openings where there is no room beside the door for a leaf to travel.
Single-slideThe workhorse cooler and freezer door.
Swing and personnel egressFor people rather than pallets, and for the egress route out of a rated envelope.
Blast-freezer sliding doorsBuilt for the temperature difference a blast freezer runs across the opening, not adapted from a standard freezer door.
Personnel blast-freezer doorsThe same severity, sized for a person rather than a pallet. The door a crew actually uses to get in and out.

A blast freezer is not a colder version of the same room, and its doors are not a colder version of the same door. The temperature difference across the opening is far more severe, and the door has to be built for it.

Rough sizing for a slide door

It needs room beside the opening for the leaf to travel into, and room above it for the track. These are the rough numbers to allow at the design stage.

Manual horizontal slideWidth in clear × 2, plus 1′ 7″Height in clear, plus 9″
Power-operated single slideWidth in clear × 2, plus 1′ 9″Height in clear, plus 14″

Rough sizing for laying a building out, not an order. The unit that gets built is measured on site.

Measure it twice, and check the voltage. These are special-order doors. Lead time runs five to six weeks and they are not returnable. A measurement that is off, or a door ordered for the wrong line voltage — a 460-volt three-phase unit for an opening running 240 — is not a delay. It is a door that cannot be installed and cannot be sent back.
Freezer floors

The board under a freezer slab.

This is a decision made before the slab is poured. Bring the freezer to us while it is still drawings and the floor is a specification; bring it afterward and it is a repair, and sometimes it is a rebuild.

Source: the board manufacturer’s current published data sheets, read 15 September 2026. The full submittal properties are on the freezer floor page.

BoardExtruded polystyrene (XPS), closed cell
Insulating valueR-5.0 per inch
EdgesSquare edge, or a drainage channel board where water has to move.

The grade is chosen against the slab, the load and the racking that will sit on it, not against the room's temperature alone. That selection is the job; the board is the easy part.

Non-scored board. Freezer floors take non-scored board. Scored backfill and foundation board is made to snap for a different job, and substituting it is one of the quieter ways a floor assembly goes wrong.

Compressive grades

25 psiASTM C578 Type IVGeneral below-slab work where loads are moderate. Thickness: 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, 3 and 4 in.
40 psiASTM C578 Type VICommon under cold-storage and freezer slabs. Thickness: 2, 3 and 4 in.
60 psiASTM C578 Type VIILow-temperature freezer floors, and the racking and lift traffic that go with them. Thickness: 1 1/2, 2 and 3 in.
100 psiASTM C578 Type VThe heaviest loads. The manufacturer notes that a full ASTM C578 listing is not available for this grade, so confirm it against the job before it is specified. Thickness: 2 in.
Building products

Windows, flooring and FRP, by the numbers we publish.

Source: D.W. Ross’s current lines. FRP colors, fire classes and trim profiles are on the FRP pages.

Window material groups

VinylThe widest range, and the most room to work on price.
Thermally broken aluminumCommercial and historic work, aluminum inside and out.
Aluminum-clad woodAluminum outside, wood inside. The premium line.

Solid hardwood and LVP

2-1/4"wide, 3/4" solid hardwood
3-1/4"wide, 3/4" solid hardwood
4-1/4"wide, 3/4" solid hardwood
Stair nose3/4"
Reducer3/4"
Baseboard3-1/2"
20 mil wear layerHeavy-duty wear layer with a Crystal Lux finish.
Licensed tongue-and-grooveA locking system the manufacturer pays to license.
Closed-cell rubber backingCushioning built into the plank.
Glue-down optionPressure-sensitive adhesive for high-traffic areas such as apartment hallways, so a single plank can be replaced.

FRP sheet and coil

4' × 8'.090" sheet
4' × 9'.090" sheet
4' × 10'.090" sheet
4' × 12'.090" sheet
4' × 50'.090" coil

Solid, full three-quarter inch. The line is solid hardwood; engineered thicknesses are not part of it.

D.W. Ross supplies building products. It does not install windows, doors, flooring, FRP or laminated panels. The contractor doing that work installs them, and we help get the product right before it ships.

Evidence

The record behind the figures.

Founded 1921, incorporated 1972, and still family-operated. The company’s own job-site prints, the work it can name, and articles that carry their sources.

History

1921Charles Ross establishes the company
1972Incorporated under Donald W. Ross
TodayFourth generation, Cleveland-based

51 job-site photographs of panel and cold-storage work from the company’s own files.

The company’s job-site prints

Work we can name

Fat Head'sBrewery
Great Lakes BrewingBrewery
Heritage BeverageCoors distributor
Craig, AlaskaFishery co-op project
Cleveland Archives buildingState historical preservation project
Spitzer HotelState historical preservation project
Mansion on 38th, FranklinState historical preservation project
Warehouse on Detroit Road at W. 28thWarehouse window replacement
Shred cheese roomCooled shred room, cheese manufacturing
Victorian house in LakewoodResidential window replacement

Other cold-storage customers stay unnamed. Referrals on request.

Not published

What is not on this page, and why.

  • Panel supplier names and model numbers. The configuration is described instead; ask us which panel covers your wall.
  • Operating temperature ranges for cooler, freezer and blast-freezer doors. A door is selected against the room, not a chart.
  • Prices. A panel envelope, a door schedule and a window package are priced against the building.
  • Any approval or listing as D.W. Ross’s own. A tested listing belongs to the manufacturer’s product.

Need the figure for your job? Ask for it.

Discuss a project →Call (216) 631-8080

Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM. 3195 West 63rd Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44102.