How to avoid door damage this Winter
The exterior doors of your retail location have to cope with a lot during Winter. High winds and storms try to exploit the tiniest vulnerabilities and wreck your doors. A storm can result in your doors becoming difficult to open or close. Worse, they could then become dangerous to use whenever there is a strong wind. So here are some points to help you mitigate against the potential damage a storm could do to your doors.
Prevent your doors from opening fully
A door that can open violently from high winds can be dangerous to anyone nearby. Plus, the swinging action will strain the hinges and door frame. To limit this, you can use a door stop to restrict the door to opening no more than 90°.
The use of a door stop prevents a closing mechanism from being over-extended, which in turn then puts strain on the door hinges and the frame itself. The stop can be positioned in the floor, or if this presents a trip hazard fitted overhead from the wall or frame.
Use another door
Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. If you have multiple entrance and exit doors, check which are directly affected by high winds. The position or opening arc of a door might be out of harms way, so you can have these doors in use during bad weather. This will not just prevent damage to your doors but also protect your staff and customers from injury.
Check your door closer is up to the job
The door closers fitted to your doors may seem to work fine when the weather is good. Stormy weather can be a challenge for a door closer to work effectively.
In some case your doors may be forced wide open by high winds. This can be due to the door closer being the wrong type needed for your doors. Alternatively, the door closers may need adjusting to work correctly. Door closers can come with a number of different features that regulate how your door works. For example, the closing power of the door closer may be too low or your door closer may have a backcheck function that controls the speed of your doors as they open towards 90°.
With fine tuning, door closers can control your doors high winds while also ensuring they comply with building regulations – vital to ensure they are safe to use for any customer.
If your external doors are performing badly when the wind is blowing, expert help is only a phone call away. Store Maintenance has an unrivalled network of vetted professionals who can spot problems with your doors and fix them fast. To make your doors open, close and stay safe and secure, contact Store Maintenance for help.
