Maintenance

Regular  maintenance is required to ensure Fire Doors always operate  to  keep  staff and  clients  safe,  shutting and latching correctly ensuring a safe working environment.

The time between inspection will  depend on the usage the doors get.  Abacus recently attended an existing customer which was a specialist Residential Care home were some of the communal  doors have  heavy  usage, being hit and damaged by wheelchairs  and  trollies  regularly.  So  much  so  the  doors  did  not  close  correctly. The hinges had worked loose which required the hinges to be refitted by drilling  out  screw  holes  plugging  with  wooden  dowels,  the  Cold  smoke intumescent seals had been damaged  which  required  replacing.  This  was after a period of 2 years. I would recommended a regular inspection of doors in this instance at monthly intervals by staff,  which  would  help  to  catch problems early on.

Door  Closers

Door  closers  normally  operate  for  years  with  little  problems  or  maintenance,  however  as  they  get  older,  especially  in  high  traffic  areas  then  there  are  tell  tale  signs  that  they  are  coming  to  the  end  of  their  operational  life.  Tell tale  signs  include  a  small  amount  of  oil  leaking  from  it (usually  dribbling  down  the  back  of  the  door  or  pooling  on  the  floor,  this  will  show  as  the  door  probably  with  start  slamming  shut  as  the  hydraulic  pressure  is  decreasing  in  the  unit  and  not  able  to  control  the  spring  inside  the  unit.  What  also  can  cause  the  hydraulic  seal  to  fail  in  the  unit  is  if  the  door  is  forced  shut  by  Staff  and  clients,  this  can  throw  the  hydraulic  pressure  in  the  unit.  Also,  another  sign  is  for  it  to  be  difficult  to  adjust  on  the  adjustment  screws  that  control  the  closing  action.  Normally  at  this  stage  the  unit  is  not  repairable  and  so  it  means  a  replacement  unit.