Planning For An Addition: Construction Introduction

Repairing Automatic Doors — Make Sure To Follow Standards!

There is no doubt about it — an automatic door can make things run so much smoother for a business, public institution, or facility. The steady stream of traffic just flows through the door, with doors parting and closing as needed…except when they don't. Then a traffic jam occurs as employees have to manually prop open doors or pedestrians and visiting clients have to push and pull on doors to make them work — enter the need for automatic door repairs!

Types of Doors You Can Repair

There are three basic types of fully automatic doors: those that slide, those that fold, and those that swing. Sliding doors are used where there is plenty of space on either side of the door to allow one (or both) of the doors to slide open. Sliding doors are great for facilitating a large amount of two-way traffic.

Folding doors, on the other hand, are used when space is at a premium. Each folding door consists of two panels: one that folds and one that swings, all in a track to guide each panel. Folding doors are often used to retrofit older, manual doors that weren't designed with automatic doors in mind.

Swinging doors are the easiest to visualize. For a dual, automatic swinging door to open, one door swings outwards, and one swings inwards, allowing for the maximum traffic. Single swinging doors are best used for low-traffic areas.

Standards That Relate to Door Repair

Automatic doors are governed by very exact standards in the United States. And there are different standards based upon the type of door. When you are getting your door repaired, make sure that the technicians agree to follow the standards' requirements, since automatic doors have to pass inspections. The two main standards are:

One other important note is that if you have a custom installation, those custom specifications aren't covered by either of these standards, but the custom installation must conform to the applicable guideline.

Automatic doors are a great facilitator of business, as well as providing a modern feel to any building. Repairing an automatic door is a priority for any building maintenance organization to keep business moving as usual.