A facility in South Euclid had an issue with an aluminum glass storefront door. These types of doors are called narrow stile because the border around the glass is smaller. This allows for a larger glass surface on the door which customers like. In order to accommodate this set-up, special locks must but used. These locks were introduced by a company called Adams Rite. These locks are now referred to as “Adams Rite style” locks.
There’s nothing terribly complicated about these locks. In order to properly service them you need to have an assortment of different locks, styles, paddles, and indicators. Knowing exactly how to approach these locks is requires some more skill, experience, and tools. The first thing to know when working with metal doors, but especially aluminum is that once you cut it, it’s cut. Measure twice, cut once. The main reason why people install these doors is for the look. So maintaining a clean appearance is necessary, there’s no room for mistakes.
The reason why they called us to the South Euclid location was the lock was stuck and the door wouldn’t open. They were due for a fire inspection and wanted to make sure all of their doors were fire code compliant. Even if a door isn’t used frequently, the fire marshal will still want to make sure that it’s available for safe, easy, egress.
After removing the push paddle to open the door, I was able to use a hook tool to flip over the latch manually. The door was open! The door strike was cut opened up a lot. After examining the lock and how it was functioning, I determined that the lock itself was malfunctioning. The latch sometimes would stay locked in place.
Of course we had a 1 1/8 latch lock in stock and started working on installing it. The bottom screw that holds this lock in place wasn’t threading. The threading on the inside of the door was stripped. This caused the old lock to move back and forth inside the door. I’m almost positive that when the lock moved in the wrong angle it would bind, not letting you open the door.Luckily, we carry these support tabs that you can insert in the channel of the door to hold the lock in place. After a lot of time and effort the replacement lock was installed! Now it was time to swap the paddle. The old paddle seemed to have some wear on it. I decided it was worth replacing given it’s age and use. The holes that the original installer put in the door were off by maybe 1mm. But with these locks those small tolerances really matter. Replacing the paddle was actually the easiest part of the job!
Lock issues and door issues often overlap. This door was not plumb. Meaning the door was actually leaning away from the exterior. This caused the latch to bind occasionally. I adjusted the hinges to provide a little more space between the door and the door jamb. This extra space allowed for the latch on the lock to clear the strike plate on the door jamb.
The door still needed a little more help. The force of the door closing was still not enough for the door to actually latch. I adjusted the door closer to give it a little more “oomf.” Now the door closes and latches!
The entire job took longer than I would have liked but at the end of the day – it works and we saved the company a lot of money by not needing to replace the door.
If you have a commercial or residential locksmith need in South Euclid or the surrounding areas – call or text 215-505-1389. Our office tries their best to answer all calls but if we do miss your call – we will call you back!