Why doors are less forgiving than windows
A window sash is opened occasionally and its weight is shared around a frame. A door is operated many times a day, carries its full weight on two or three hinges, and has an opening at floor level where water collects.
That combination means small errors compound. A frame a few millimetres out of square shows up as a leaf that catches. A hinge under-rated for a glazed leaf shows up as a door that drops and then drags. A flat threshold shows up in the first heavy monsoon.
How we install
Survey
We measure the opening, check it for square and plumb, and establish what the frame will be fixed into. We also check the floor level across the opening, which matters enormously for sliding and folding systems where the track has to run dead level.
Frame fixing
The frame is packed at the hinge and lock positions — the points that take load — then shimmed square and mechanically fixed into structure at the correct centres. Fixing only at the top and bottom is a common shortcut that lets the jamb bow once the door is hung.
Thresholds
The detail that decides whether the door leaks:
- a weathered upstand so water cannot run under the leaf
- a drained channel that collects anything getting past and takes it outside
- outlets sized for monsoon volume, not for drizzle
- a continuous gasket the leaf closes onto, joined to the jamb seals
Where level access is required, a low threshold is possible, but the drainage has to be designed rather than reduced.
Hanging and hardware
Hinge count and rating are selected for the actual leaf weight, including the glass. Multi-point locks are adjusted so every point engages and pulls the leaf onto its seal — which is what makes the door weather-tight as well as secure.
Handover
Leaf swing checked through its full arc, latch and lock engagement tested, seal compression checked, and any restrictors or child locks explained.
What we install
The full door range: sliding, lift-and-slide, slide-and-fold, casement French and uPVC entrance doors, in uPVC and aluminium.
Because we manufacture our own systems, a non-standard opening is a size to make rather than something to pack around.
New, replacement or refurbishment
For new build and fit-out we work to the project programme. For replacement, the existing opening is the constraint and the survey does most of the work. Where the frame is sound and only the hardware or seals have failed, a service visit is the better answer and we will say so.