Office buildings across Plano and Richardson, from corporate campuses along the Dallas North Tollway to the tech offices of the Telecom Corridor, depend on their entrance doors every day. When a door starts to drag, fails to latch or slams shut, it becomes a security problem, an accessibility problem and a first impression problem all at once.
Here is how to tell whether an aluminum or glass entrance door needs a repair, new hardware or a full replacement.
Common Entrance Door Problems
- Dragging or sagging: the door rubs the threshold or frame. Usually caused by worn pivots, loose hinges or a racked door.
- Not latching: the door bounces back or does not close fully. Often a closer adjustment, a worn closer or a misaligned strike.
- Slamming: the closer has lost fluid or its speed settings are off.
- Hard to open: too much opening force, which can also be an accessibility issue.
- Air and water leaks: worn weatherstripping and sweeps let in heat, dust and rain.
- Broken glass: cracked or shattered glass in the door itself.
Repairs That Usually Work
Many door problems can be fixed without replacing the door:
- Adjusting or replacing the door closer
- Replacing worn top and bottom pivots or hinges
- Realigning the door, strike and lock
- Replacing panic hardware, push bars or pulls
- New weatherstripping, door sweeps and thresholds
- Replacing the glass in the door with new tempered glass
These repairs are usually fast and keep the existing look of the entrance.
When Replacement Makes More Sense
A new door, or a new entrance system, is often the better value when:
- The door frame or stiles are cracked, bent or corroded
- The door has been repaired repeatedly and keeps failing
- Parts for an older door system are no longer available
- The entrance does not meet current accessibility requirements
- The building is being repositioned or remodeled and needs a new look
- You want better energy performance or security than the old door can give
High-Traffic Office Entrances
Main lobby doors in a multi-tenant office building can open thousands of times a day. For these entrances, heavy-duty closers, offset or center pivots and wide-stile doors last longer than light-duty options. Some buildings move to automatic operators or revolving doors at the main entrance to handle traffic and reduce energy loss.
Security and Access Control
Many Plano and Richardson offices use card readers, electric strikes or electrified panic hardware. When replacing doors or hardware, coordinate with your access control vendor so the new hardware is compatible and the door still releases correctly for life safety.
Planning Around Tenants
Entrance work in an occupied office building should be scheduled to keep at least one entrance open and secure at all times. Hardware swaps can often be done in a few hours. A full door replacement may take a day, with temporary security if the work runs into the evening.
Entrance Door Service in Plano and Richardson
We repair and replace commercial entrance doors across Plano, Richardson and the rest of Dallas-Fort Worth. Call 866-665-3975 to describe the problem, or send photos of the door and hardware for a faster quote.