Storefront Door

Glass Door | Aluminum Door

Doorsmith repairs and install all types of storefronts, and mall fronts. We are ready and equipped to serve anyone in the Orange County area.

A common replacement item for a storefront door is an overhead concealed closer. These closers should be expected to get over five years of use. Eventually, they will begin to leak hydraulic fluid, which affects door performance, causing them to slam shut. Overhead concealed closers can also serve as the top pivot, in a center hung position. They may also use offset 'J O' or 'V O' arms, that connect to a sliding track in the top channel of the door. This configuration uses offset pivots. Using this configuration is subject to damage caused by overextension of door travel, even though the sliding track uses a spring loaded cushion. The top pivot can be torqued out of alignment, and the arm itself can bend, preventing complete door closure.

Other closer positions could be surface mounted, or concealed in the floor, which would also serve as a bottom pivot. Floor closers generally offer more durability, as the hydraulic fluid is beneath the seal, rather than above it.

One advantage of the use of offset pivots, is the extra amount of clear opening width provided when the door is open. Oversized doors can use intermediate offset pivots, for additional support.

Other pivot options can make use of standard butt hinges, with the aluminum frame already prepped for them. Continuous hinges offer extra durability for high traffic doors. Continuos hinges can be used to retrofit existing openings, the door itself can be re-used, when using a full surface mount hinge. The hinges can also be half mortise, or full mortise. A full mortise hinge has blocked access to the hinge fasten points, the surface mounted hinge fasteners are concealed by an aluminum cover.

Glass | Aluminum doors are currently required to have atleast a 10" bottom on all newly installed doors, to meet ADA requirements. The vertical aluminum stiles come in different widths. Standard width stiles work just fine for a 3' X 7' door. Overside doors should make use of medium stiles or wide stiles. Unless, of course, we are talking about frameless glass doors, which take strength from 1/2" tempered glass, with the exposed edges of the glass being polished.

Standard lock hardware is a glass/aluminum door deadbolt. These can be short throw, medium throw, or long throw. Also available is a hook deadbolt style. With these style locks, the door must be unlocked while the building is occupied, to allow ready egress, and require a label defining that posted at the opening.

Other lock options can provide single action egress, so that the exterior side of the door can be locked while the building is occupied. The existing lock prep can be re-used for this type of hardware, with the deadbolt being replaced with a latch style lock. Single action egress is provided using a push paddle or push bar exit device. Storefront doors can also be prepared for concealed or surface mounted lock rods, using a push bar for egress. This style lock hardware would latch at the top and bottom of the door. Another style pushbar exit device can latch to the frame at mid height, on the inside of the door. This style exit hardware is known as a rim exit device.

Whatever needs you have to be fulfilled, you can rest assured that Doorsmith is completely knowledgeable of the different options you have. Our trucks are stocked and ready to offer you same day service, next day estimates are also available. Emergency service is available. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.

updated: 11/01/11