A Simple Way To Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work

When Vlad says "I went up to the door and clapped," does he mean that he stood facing the door and clapped his hands together, like applause, in order to announce his presence? I took clapped to be a synonym for used a door knocker but then it seems from other context that this isn't what people do there.

I'm up to Phoenix, by the way, and enjoying the series very much. It's more or less been getting better with each book. (Though I get the impression that Brust later regrets the precedent he sets in the first book by suggesting that bringing back the dead is easy and common. It almost never happens after that, with the author going through contortions not to contradict himself.)