Commercial · Toronto
Panic & Exit Hardware
Two doors used to swing as a pair at the community hall entrance, but one leaf has started closing before the other, catching the astragal and leaving a gap wide enough to worry the caretaker.
In plain words
A pair of doors is its own small project, and not every pair needs the same approach. Some rim-device pairs keep their mullion and latch each leaf independently with no set closing order. Where sequencing does matter, one leaf is chosen as the inactive leaf and closes first, guided by a coordinator so the active leaf's device can seat properly into the strike or into an astragal on the inactive leaf. Removing a centre mullion calls for a compatible replacement arrangement on each leaf, which can matter for wheelchair access or for moving equipment through.
How the visit goesThe crossbar on the loading-dock door barely returns anymore. Someone has to lean into it with a shoulder, and twice this month it has stuck half-latched, propped by whatever was nearest.
Panic & Exit Hardware
How the visit goes
Checking what is already fastened to the door
A surprising number of exit-hardware calls turn up a second lock nobody had mentioned: a hasp and padlock added for security, a slide bolt at the top of a rarely used door, or a deadbolt installed long after the original exit device. Each of these has to be understood before work starts, because an exit door can only be trusted to open under one motion if every fastening on it releases the same way. The locksmith notes what is there, explains what it means for the door's exit function, and works out with the owner what stays and what comes off.
Recording what was fitted
The visit closes with a written account of the work: which device went on which door, its type and rating, the outside trim fitted, any electrified function added, and the tests the assembly passed. This record travels with the building rather than staying in the locksmith's memory, so a fire inspector, an insurer or a new manager reviewing the space later has a clear account of the exit hardware and when it was fitted.
A door that opens under one motion, every time
What the space has afterward is straightforward: anyone inside can leave through that door with a single push on the crossbar or touchpad, no key, no second step, no need to remember which way a lock turns. Staff can be shown the motion once and it stays intuitive, because that is exactly what the hardware is built to do. Outside, entry still works the way it was set up to, through the trim chosen for that door, entirely separate from the exit function inside.
Panic & Exit Hardware
In the van
Force gauge
Installation template and jig
Through-fixings and mounting hardware
Door closer
Coordinator for door pairs
Panic & Exit Hardware
What affects the quote
Single door or a pair
A pair of doors that needs ordered closing calls for a coordinator or an astragal, and one being converted into a single wide exit needs a mullion removed and replaced with vertical-rod devices on each leaf, both of which add work beyond a single-door installation.
Access-control integration
Where the door ties into an existing access-control panel, coordinating the exit hardware's signals with that system takes planning with whoever maintains it, which the quote accounts for separately from the device itself.
Electrified functions added
A request-to-exit switch or electric latch retraction adds wiring, a power source and coordination with the building's other systems, while a standalone alarm module can run on its own battery; each is priced alongside the mechanical installation itself.
What to have ready
- Which doors are involved, and are any of them fire-rated?
- Does any door already have a hasp, padlock or extra deadbolt fitted?
- Who should hold the dogging key once the work is finished?
Panic & Exit Hardware: questions
QuestionsDo exterior exit doors need anything different from interior ones?
An exterior device faces weather an interior one does not: temperature swings, moisture and road salt tracked up to the door in winter. The device, strike and trim chosen for an exterior opening account for that exposure, and more frequent cleaning and light lubrication keeps an exterior crossbar releasing smoothly through a whole winter season.
Can a padlock or extra deadbolt stay on a door that has this hardware?
No additional fastening should stay on an exit door that does not release the same way the primary device does. A hasp, padlock or separate deadbolt added at some point for extra security is a common finding on an older door, and removing or replacing it with something that releases under the same push is part of bringing that opening back to a single, reliable exit.
How much force does the door need to open with?
Hardware standards set a maximum, not a target: an exit device is built to release the latch under a firm push, no more than about 15 pounds of force applied at the touchpad or crossbar, roughly the pressure of a light shove rather than a heave. That ceiling covers people who cannot lean hard into a door, so the swing stays open to anyone moving toward it under pressure.
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