Allow me to go back a few years. I was sent to a series of retail stored to add a simple block to modify the electric strike. The strike allowed the latch to pass out the back so either door could close first. The day started with 20 of these strange geometric aluminum blocks and a page of addresses. Upon arrival at the first site, I found one dimension of the block was too big and it had to be cut and ground down. I did it and thought this will take a while. I did three that day all the same. My times were getting better but not great.
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| This is not the model under discussion, but it shows the open back of the electric strike. |
The next morning, we made contact with the head office which had sent these out. They were concerned I had only done 3 on the first day. However, I was sent to do more. My second stop on the second day, I had a front door which was 2 1/4 inch (57 mm) built from the standard 1 3/4 inch (44mm) door with a plastic and aluminum liner of 1/2 inch (13 mm). The part fit perfectly. You put in two screws and done.
It was then that I phoned the supplier. Several things had gotten lost in the communication and to this day I know not where. They had designed this for the thickened door and believe almost all of the sites had the same door. They also expected me to just report the actual door thickness if wrong so they could send out the different version of the blocks in the right quantity. All fair enough but none of that got to me -- the only guy seeing the doors in my city.
Brings me back to a more recent install. I am going to be vague since this job is still ongoing. Perhaps in a year or two I can say more. I am a journeyman and yet was installing some door hardware I had not done before. I read the directions and thought I had this under control. Also, this is fire rated hardware so compliance depends on doing just that. When done, it did not work as required. I pulled it off and modified the instructions to get the function back. The manufacturer had based the instructions on certain assumptions about the door construction which in hindsight are not required to be true even for fire doors.
I have installed hardware of many type and usually such assumptions are clearly stated so that if some condition is not met, you change how you proceed. For instance, if a hollow metal door needs a closer and you suddenly find it is the thinnest possible metal without any support behind, you can run sex nuts through the door. However, all the big names in closers will state that they assume the door has support for the device.
I guess in summary, I just want people to be clear about the condition under which a piece of hardware can be used and can not. It saves the guy on the ground time. And finally, if hardware is hard to install and there are choices in suppliers, easy of installation and repair is part of the decision making criteria. OK, so it is not the final say but I can live with that.
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The contents of this post are released for non-profit or educational use in whole or in part provided this statement and the attribution below are kept attached.
Laux Myth ... Thoughts From a Locksmith
By MartinB, Found @ http://lauxmyth.blogspot.com/
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