Commercial doors are built to last and withstand more damage than residential doors, often made with durable materials that are stronger than regular doors. However, commercial doors still experience wear and tear that can cause them to fail.
At the very least, a damaged commercial door can cause a minor inconvenience during operations. In the worst-case scenario, it can cause injury to customers and lead to a lawsuit. To avoid any of these things from happening, here are the common problems that commercial doors face and how business and property owners can fix them.
Power supply interruption
A business that is equipped with automatic doors must always ensure that the power supply is in working order. Otherwise, the door can malfunction or simply refuse to open. If the automatic doors are not opening, check if the power is turned on first. If the power is on and the doors are still not working, put the motor in manual mode and call a technician to identify the problem.
And just like with custom-designed railings that are often made stronger to prevent accidents, automatic doors should be maintained regularly to prevent it from injuring someone trying to enter or exit the premises.
Broken hinges
Broken hinges are not common for commercial doors since they are designed to be durable, but it can still happen. The usual cause for this type of damage is poor lubrication around the hinges. When the metal-on-metal contact continues to happen without proper lubrication, it can start to create lots of unpleasant noise and eventually wear down enough for the hinges to break.
Damaged or worn rollers
Commercial garage doors have rollers that move along a track as the doors open and close. Depending on the manufacturer, the rollers can be made of metal, plastic, or nylon. As time goes by, plastic or nylon rollers can become smaller and smaller. When they are not replaced immediately, they can pop off the track and render the door out of order until replacements are made.
Metal rollers, on the other hand, are less susceptible to shrinking but are prone to rust and corrosion. If they are too rusted, they will also need to be replaced to get the door in working order again.
Obstructions
Sliding doors are also common choices for commercial establishments since they can save space and are easy to use. When a sliding door (both automatic and manual) starts getting stuck in the frame, it usually means that there are obstructions in or around it, such as stones, leaves, and other debris. Fortunately, the fix is as simple as getting a brush or a broom to remove the debris. But when the debris is unreachable, the door may have to be removed to get it unstuck.
Physical damage
Glass commercial doors are the usual victims of physical damage due to impact from hard objects, such as stones or pieces of metal. If the impact is hard enough, the glass can break completely; otherwise, it can just experience a hairline crack. Nevertheless, a cracked glass door will need to be replaced as it will eventually break.
Metal doors, on the other hand, do not break away completely when hit with something hard and heavy. As such, they will not need to be replaced right away, and if the door has panels, only the damaged panel may be repaired or replaced.
Misalignment
Another common problem for commercial garage doors is misalignment. When the track that the door runs on is corroded or if something hits the door, it can shift the alignment of the door and cause it to malfunction. This problem should be addressed quickly to prevent it from getting worse. Otherwise, the misalignment can make the door unusable until it is replaced with a completely new system.
When these problems are caught and addressed early on, business and property owners can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs. Apart from that, they can also prevent the damaged doors from causing a major obstruction in operations.
