Fire door gaps and hinges in Slough
Gaps wider than they should be are the first thing smoke finds.
Get a priceRun a coin down the side of your door.
It gives you a rough idea. Inspectors use a gauge, and on most fire doors they want the gap at the sides and top sitting at around 2 to 4mm. We aim for 3.
Too wide and the intumescent strip cannot close it fast enough in a fire. Too tight and the door binds, then somebody takes a plane to it.
Why a gap goes wrong
Worn hinges are the usual start. The leaf drops a little, the latch side catches the frame, the closer stops being able to pull it in.
Next, the fixings. Screws work loose in old timber. On a heavy door the top hinge carries the most load and it pulls away first.
Sometimes the frame itself was never right. A frame fixed to a wall with too little packing moves when the door is slammed for a few years. This is common in converted buildings, where the opening was formed to suit an office.
What we do about it
Even gap, slightly too wide, on a door in good order? We can often take that up with packing behind the hinges, or by fitting new hinges in the right place.
Bad on one side only? That can mean new hardwood lipping on the edge, cut back to the correct width so that the gap comes right.
A gap that changes along its length is a different story. Say it starts tight at the head and opens up as it goes down. The frame is out of true and hinge adjustment will never cure that. Our carpenters take the architraves off, repack the frame, refix it, fill behind it with fire foam, put the architraves back and rehang the door.
That is around half a day on one door, and it is where cheap quotes fall over. We price it as what it is.
The gap under the door
Gaps at the bottom are judged differently. Where cold smoke needs holding back, the gap usually needs to be small, or a seal has to fill it. New flooring is the usual culprit. A carpet comes out, vinyl goes in and now you have 15mm of daylight.
An automatic drop-down seal can solve it without touching the door height.
Hinges
Most fire doors should have at least three hinges, and they need to be suitable for the door. We replace them in sets, because a door with one new hinge and two tired ones wears the new one out.
All the screws need to be there. Sounds obvious. You would be surprised.
Questions we get asked
Can you plane the door to stop it sticking?
Only within what the door maker allows, and only after checking why it is sticking. Taking too much off a fire door can mean it no longer matches its certification.
My door is fine apart from the gap. Is that really a failure?
Often yes. It is also one of the cheaper things to put right if the frame is sound.
Send it over with the postcode and we will price it per door the same day.
Get a price