Commercial Aluminium Doors in a high traffic application with automatic operator
As a general rule, a pvc door should only ever be fitted to a dwelling. Any other installation should be fitted with an aluminium commercial entrance door.
Consider that our front entrance doors at home are opened and closed probably 10-20 times a day. That in reality is all pvc doors and their hardware are designed to do.
Once you install a pvc door in a medium or heavy duty application such as a shop, office block, school, hospital or other “high traffic” installation it is very likely that door will fail, drop or need persistent adjustment, not to mention the lever handles will quite likely fail as well. A door is not always just a door!
It is very surprising how many high traffic buildings such as schools continue to have pvc windows and doors fitted. It’s disappointing that those supplying and installing pvc windows consider them suitable for such heavy duty applications – they are not. They remain a residential product. The pvc industry will argue they are suitable but if you look at every modern building constructed in recent years (newbuild houses aside) they have by and large all been fitted with aluminium.
As a general guide, any public entrance door (one that is not to a private dwelling) should be a commercial entrance door.
Commercial aluminium doors offer many benefits and advantages:
- Commercial doors are specifically specifically designed for high traffic use.
- Door closers and locks used with commercial doors have been tested to hundreds of thousands of cycles for heavy duty use.
- Commercial doors are available with integrated anti finger trap hinge stiles – a vital safety feature which prevents fingers or hands being trapped when the door is opened or closed.
- Centre hung doors have the facility to swing both in and out.
- Commercial doors offer slimmer profiles and sight lines
- The widest range of locks and handles can be fitted – pvc doors are limited by their profile and the eurogroove.
- With the correct hardware and specification, commercial doors meet the requirements for disabled access, fire escape and controlled access and exit – PVCu and residential doors do not.
- Commercial doors feature low thresholds meeting the current Building Regulations (Part M) and the Disability Discrimination Act.
- Commercial doors can accept the widest variety of buzz entry systems, access control, keypad locks, swipe card entry systems, exit devices and automatic operation, whether sliding or swing. PVCu and residential doors do not.
- Aluminium is widely accepted for its strength and low maintenance properties.
Commercial Doors are available either single or double action, centre hung, rebated or anti-fingertrap, with a variety of threshold, framing, stile and rail options available. The comprehensive choice of hardware available with these doors makes them ideal for every type of installation and most requirements can be met.
- A proven, successful, top quality product
- Slim, aesthetically pleasing profiles.
- Low Maintenance.
- Double woolpile draught proofing for improved weather performance.
- Supplied fully fabricated and assembled with all hardware fitted.
- Wide midrails and deep bottom rails are available.
- Extensive lock and hardware options available, including exit devices, access control systems and architectural ironmongery.
- Available as either standard centre hung, rebated or with anti finger trap hinge stiles.
- Security beading.
- Suitable for automatic swing or sliding operation.
- A wide choice of colours and finishes.
