Commercial Security Hardware: It All Starts With The Door

Commercial security hardware is a wide ranging topic. Non-electrified security hardware includes Grade 1 level doors and mechanical hardware. Commercial grade door hardware includes locks, exit devices, closers, thresholds, coordinators, mullions, plates, pulls, and hinges.

Before we begin with the hardware attached to the door and jamb, any good discussion should begin with the door itself. In addition to the standard hollow metal doors, solid wood doors and aluminum stile doors, there are customized doors designed to provide different levels of security. These include fire labeled doors (20 minutes to 3 hours), bullet resistant doors, corrosive materials doors, sound deadening doors, lead lined doors and “Student Proof Doors.”

Doors and jambs come in a variety of styles, materials and strengths. Stamped metal doors appear to be wood, having a higher fire rating than a comparable solid wood doors. Metal doors can be ordered with a facesheet of 20, 18, 16, 14 and 12 gauge thickness. The thicker the gauge, the heavier the door. The core material can be honeycomb, polystyrene, polyurethane or mineral fiber to name a few. Depending upon hardware to be installed onto the door, reinforcement will usually be added to provide additional support for hardware such as a door closer.

Commercial wood doors are becoming available using veneer facings. Algoma Hardwoods Inc. doors can be equipped with solid lumber outer stiles, along with Structural Composite Lumber (SCLC) rails and inner stiles that are securely bonded to the core under side pressure. The doors are finished with hardwood face veneer or medium density overlays. These doors can be ordered with fire labeling up to 1-1/2 hours. For information, contact Algoma Hardwoods Inc., 1001 Perry Street, Algoma, Wisc., 54201. Telephone 920-487-5221 Web Site www.algomahardwoods.com

Also common in commercial applications are the extruded aluminum doors. Aluminum stile doors with a center tempered glass panels are very popular in strip malls. These aluminum-glass doors are available with narrow to wide stiles (vertical edges) and can be installed as single or double-door configurations.

JABS, HINGES, PIVOTS

All doors are installed into jambs. Jambs can be wood, metal and aluminum jambs. Wood jambs are usually attached to the wood (extruded metal) framing. Hollow metal jambs can be installed in just about any configuration - wood framing, block, and poured concrete.

Depending upon the opening configuration and the degree of opening required, doors can be equipped with continuous hinges, butt hinges, center pivots or offset pivots.

Continuous hinges are designed to support the door from almost the top of the hinge edge to the bottom, spreading the weight over the entire hinge. Continuous hinges are a long-term solution for high-traffic commercial door openings. They are available in different configurations including pin and barrel continuous hinges and geared continuous hinges.

The choice of hardware for some products is a choice by the owner. For others, it is determined by the architect or the hardware specifier.

The mechanical door locking products probably are the most variable, including cylindrical locks, mortise locks, rim locks and exit devices. Styles of cylindrical locks include knob and lever locks as well as deadbolts. Mortise locks are available with latch, with latch and deadbolt and deadbolt. Exit (panic) devices include rim, mortise, surface vertical rod and concealed vertical rod. All of these come in various styles, finishes and levels of security depending upon the manufacturer.

Note: One area that needs to be considered is retrofitting an existing building. The new hardware should be able to match existing hardware unless all of the hardware is being replaced.

Ok, so what's on a commercial door? Doors can be equipped with push / pull hardware, door viewers, sweeps, plates, flush bolts, center pivots, offset pivots, butt hinges, concealed over-head hinge, floor closer, or over-head surface / concealed closer. To ensure the door provides a sufficient seal against nature, there are thresholds installed into the floor and seals mounted onto the stop face of the jamb.