Door and frame assemblies
Steel door and frame repair in Charlotte — pulled and loosened anchors, racked and spread frames, corrosion at the bottom rail and frame toe, forced and dented leaves, and hardware prep on existing openings. Call (333) 333-3333.
At a glance
Compare this against the other three leaf assemblies or read the standards reference.
Door and frame assemblies
Hollow metal is specified precisely because it outlasts everything around it, and that is exactly why hollow metal complaints are almost never about the leaf. A Level 3 door has a 16 gauge face sheet and a Level 4 has 14, and neither of those is what gives up first in a Charlotte distribution building. The anchors do.
There are four common anchor conditions and they behave differently. A frame grouted into masonry that has started to move is a masonry problem presenting as a door problem. A frame in stud that was installed with the wrong anchor type, or with anchors at the wrong spacing, works loose on a schedule that tracks footfall. A frame that has been hit by a pallet jack is bent, not loose, and the two get diagnosed as the same thing constantly. And a frame whose toe has rusted through has lost its bearing on the floor, which shows up as a latching complaint long before anybody looks at the bottom of it.
So the first question on a hollow metal call is what the wall is made of, and the second is whether the frame was grouted. Those two answers decide the anchors on the truck.
Detail
Existing hollow metal leaves and frames in commercial and light industrial buildings inside Charlotte. We also work FRP leaves, which sit in the same frames and fail in the opposite order — the leaf outlasts everything and the hardware and frame go first.
Diagnosed by wall construction first. Masonry, grouted masonry, stud and precast all take different remedial anchors, and an anchor chosen without knowing which one you are in is a return visit booked in advance.
A frame that has been hit is usually spread at one jamb, which throws the strike out and makes the leaf latch only if you lean on it. Bringing a frame back is a different job from anchoring it and the two get confused.
Water sits at the floor line and works upward. How far up it has run decides whether this is a repair, a section replacement or a new frame, and it is the one thing worth measuring before you call. Galvannealed stock behaves differently under paint than plain galvanised and it matters for what the repair will hold.
Common in dock and back-of-house openings and around anywhere a cart runs. A leaf that still latches and has no rating label is often worth straightening. A leaf with a rating label that has been forced is a different conversation entirely, because the rating depends on the construction being intact.
Cutting in a new lock, closer or exit device on an existing leaf or frame. On an unrated opening this is straightforward. On a labelled assembly it is governed by what the listing permits, and some preps cannot be done in the field at all.
A 14 gauge Level 4 leaf is heavy and it will find any weakness in the hinge line. Elongated screw holes in a steel frame are repairable; a frame face that has deformed around the hinge is a different repair.
Knowing whether you have a Level 1 20 gauge office door or a Level 4 14 gauge maximum duty leaf changes what is worth doing to it. Under ANSI/SDI A250.8 the level also sets the construction and the minimum performance, so a 16 gauge face on a Level 2 construction is not a Level 3 door, whatever a spreadsheet says.
Standards
Five standards cover almost everything a Charlotte facilities manager gets asked about on a commercial opening. Each card gives the designation, what it governs, what the grades mean in cycles or gauge, and the thing it is most often misquoted on.
ANSI/BHMA A156.4
Door closers and pivots
Grade 1 closers are cycle tested to 2,000,000 cycles. Grade 1 is the top grade for this product class.
Most often misquotedGrade 1 means something completely different from one A156 standard to the next. A Grade 1 closer is a 2,000,000 cycle product and a Grade 1 exit device is a 500,000 cycle product. Comparing grades across product classes is meaningless.
ANSI/BHMA A156.3
Exit devices, meaning panic hardware and fire exit hardware
Grade 1 exit devices are cycle tested to 500,000 cycles, and since the 2014 edition that test is run with preload applied.
Most often misquotedThe preload change matters and gets left out. Preload simulates the door being pushed against while the device is operated, which is how they are actually used in a crowd. A pre-2014 Grade 1 figure is not directly comparable to a current one.
ANSI/SDI A250.8
Steel door and frame construction and performance level
Four levels. Level 1 standard duty at 20 gauge face sheets, Level 2 heavy duty at 18, Level 3 extra heavy duty at 16, Level 4 maximum duty at 14.
Most often misquotedPeople quote the gauge and stop. The level also sets the model, the construction and the minimum acceptable performance, and a 16 gauge face on a Level 2 construction is not a Level 3 door.
ANSI/SDI A250.4
Physical endurance of steel doors, frames and frame anchors
Three levels, all tested with latching. Level A is 1,000,000 cycles, Level B is 500,000, Level C is 250,000.
Most often misquotedA250.4 and A250.8 are different standards answering different questions, and a door can be specified to one without the other. Endurance level is not the same thing as performance level and the two get conflated constantly.
ANSI/BHMA A156.2 and A156.13
Bored and preassembled locks (A156.2) and mortise locks (A156.13)
Both run a Grade 1 / 2 / 3 structure, with Grade 1 as the commercial heavy-duty tier.
Most often misquotedWe are not printing a cycle figure on this card. The published cycle counts for lock grades vary by product series and by edition, sources disagree on them, and this site's rule is that a contested figure is left out rather than picked. Specify by standard, grade and series and read the current edition. Anyone quoting you one confident number for 'Grade 1 lock cycles' has not checked which standard they are in.
| Factor | Effect on the job |
|---|---|
| What the wall is made of | Masonry, grouted masonry, stud and precast take different remedial anchors and different working time. |
| Whether the frame is coming out | Anchoring an existing frame is a visit. Removing and resetting one is a job, and in masonry it involves the wall. |
| How far the corrosion has run | A repair at the toe, a section replacement, or a new frame. The measurement decides which. |
| Whether there is a rating label | A labelled assembly restricts what can be done in the field and it changes the sequence of the whole job. |
| Performance level of the leaf | A 14 gauge Level 4 leaf is worth more remedial work than a 20 gauge Level 1, and it is heavier to handle. |
| Whether the opening can go out of service | Some frame work needs the opening closed for part of a day. If it cannot close, the job changes shape. |
No figures appear in that table and none appear anywhere on this site, because a price quoted before anybody has seen the opening is a number somebody ends up unhappy about. Those are the variables that decide it.
Why us
It is the question that decides the anchors, and it is the one most often skipped.
How far up it runs is the difference between a repair and a new frame, and guessing it wrong costs somebody a second visit.
A rating label on the hinge edge changes what is permitted. We read it before anything gets cut.
Because what a leaf is worth spending on depends on what it is, and a lot of buildings do not know.
Fibreglass leaves hang in the same frames and fail in the opposite order. We work both rather than sending you to two contractors for one opening.
We will find what is wrong with a rated steel opening and put it right. We do not issue the annual certificate and we will not pretend to.
Process
Two questions that decide the anchors.
Plumb, square, anchor condition, and the toe at floor level.
Aligning a leaf to a frame that is still moving is work you do twice.
Then cycled and checked it latches without being pushed.
Tell us what the wall is made of and roughly how far the rust has run.
