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You need to know that your business is protected by your commercial doors all year round. Winter opens up new challenges that doors don’t face the rest of the year. During this time, you’ll be able to see the difference that a quality door can make and how disastrous it could be if your door’s unprepared.
Here’s how the right door will defend your property in the colder months:
Cold temperatures are one of the main issues you will have to deal with during the winter months. Having the right doors for your business is essential to ensuring that you aren’t losing valuable heat and running up your utility bills. A cold building can also be very uncomfortable for employees and clients, so it won’t bode well for your team productivity or sales, either.
Commercial doors can come in a variety of different materials一steel, wood, glass, and more. Ideally, your businesses should limit glass doors and only use them where necessary for aesthetic purposes, like an office or retail store entrance. Steel and wood doors provide much greater resistance to heat transfer than relatively thin glass windows.
The US Department of Energy advises that doors are a substantial factor in energy efficiency. When it comes time to choose your doors, you’re going to want to evaluate different options based on their R-values. That is a standardized rating scale for insulation and can help you save as much energy as possible.
Wood doors are generally very effective at insulating but can be more expensive than what some businesses are looking for, depending on the specific application. The most common choice is hollow steel doors with insulated cores. There are many grades of insulation available, and a properly insulated steel door can provide excellent heat transfer resistance.
Winter is the time of year that your doors are going to face some of their toughest challenges. There’s going to be plenty of ice and snow that can damage the door itself and hardware. You could find yourself having to deal with frozen locks, latches, and more. This is particularly true for doors in warehouses or other unheated areas that cannot thaw reliability.
The snow itself isn’t the only threat, though. Your doors face potential corrosion from salt. Salt is used to prevent icing on roadways, parking lots, and sidewalks. As an entry point, your door is likely going to be near salted sidewalks and streets. This salt can potentially corrode steel doors or other hardware over time if they aren’t properly maintained.
There are numerous types of steel that manufacturers use to make steel doors. Significant research goes into finding out which withstands corrosion from salt the best. Most steel doors are painted, and those meant for exterior use will have the appropriate protection to stave off this type of corrosion. The largest concern is going to be other hardware exposure, so you want to ensure that you only use the highest quality door hardware available.
Over time, steel can bend out of shape. This is true for anything made of steel, and it’s true for steel doors. If put under enough pressure often enough, a steel door can deform. This will lead to several issues, such as potential security threats, giving potential intruders the leverage they need to gain access. You’ll also run the risk of letting the elements and pests get inside through small gaps.
Winter is when you’re going to have people pushing on your doors more than any other time of year. Sounds odd, but think about it. Your door’s hardware may become frozen due to cold temperatures, and unfortunately, the average person’s first reaction will be to push hard or even kick the door to get it open. This isn’t going to do much at the time, but if it keeps happening year after year, the damage can add up.
Another major concern is that snow can become packed around the door, carrying dirt with it. If the door frame isn’t cleaned from time to time, this buildup can result in the door being pushed to one side or another every time it’s shut. You could find yourself with a warped door eventually or possibly damaged hinges.
The best way to prevent winter from taking a toll on your doors and potentially compromising your business’s security is to only go with the best commercial doors available. CDF Distributors is your source for all types of commercial doors that can stand up to anything winter has to offer. Give us a call or build a quote online.
