When times are highly competitive and a 1 to 2 percent savings could be the difference in being awarded a project or being profitable, every item needs to be reviewed closely for economic fit. For the metal building contractor there are choices to be made with what kind of walk doors to purchase and where to purchase them from-and many times this decision is wrongly based on the most convenient place to get them instead of first starting with product and pricing considerations.
Since minor differences in components can affect the cost significantly it’s important to understand the pricing implications so as to make the best choices. First, ensure that for every building each door is individually considered for application and usage. The Steel Door Institute publishes a “Selection and Usage Guide” for many exterior and interior applications that could serve as an excellent guide for your choices. The more frequent the usage expected or the tougher the environment, the more probable the need for heavier gauges and higher grades of hardware.
For instance, while a standard 20-gauge door is typical for many applications, a heavier 18-gauge door is the minimum recommended choice for entrance doors with higher traffic requirements like employee or customer entrances. Likewise, a heavy duty Grade 2 lock or even a Grade 1 lock might be necessary in these situations versus a light or medium duty Grade 2 or 3 lock. There is a wide variety of value and quality within each grade so it’s important to review these more thoroughly than just relying only on the grade as a final determination. In addition to gauges of doors and frames and grades of locks, there are other key choices to be made with potentially large pricing implications.
One typical choice is the door core. Exterior doors should have an insulated core, with either polystyrene or polyurethane filler. Polystyrene is the most common and cost effective and typically carries an R-value of around 4-5. Polyurethane can reach R-values of 11, but carries a much higher price tag. As important as the tested R-value is for the door itself, something to consider might be the overall R-value of the door opening including the frame and components. Since doors are opened frequently, the seal will end up having a much greater impact than a static door R-value based on the amount of warm or cold air that will pass through the system. Ensuring doors are well sealed through a high-quality screw-on or kerf type weather seal nominal cost can eliminate the perceived need for a polyurethane core ensuring the best economic fit is provided.
Paint is also an interesting variable in pricing. Most door distributors only provide doors and frames with a primer coat that will require a top coat added later. By definition, top coats are very durable but costs are typically very high, especially if the doors are field painted. Another very solid economic
choice is a factory applied baked-on finish coat. A finish coat is more durable that a primer coat as it has additional hardeners added to meet an abrasion test that primers do not have to meet, and also doubles the humidity test requirements undertaken by both types of paint. Finish coats of paint can also be painted over by just cleaning-without sanding or buffing, so it provides a nice flexible surface and meets the needs of most contractors. Some manufacturers, like Hempstead, Texas-based Diamond Door Products have numerous finish coat color options, so customers are not limited to the normal white, bronze or gray choices of the past.
Finally, a large cost of a door unit is the hardware selected-starting with the lock type and then the addition of closers, latchguards, lite kits and other common hardware items. Key questions in this area are security, functionality and aesthetics. For instance, security is helped by adding a low-cost latchguard to help prevent picking of the latch. However, a mortise lock is much more secure but costly option as it adds the element of a deadbolt within the lock itself. A closer is important in preventing door slamming and swinging open widely-potentially damaging the door, frame, wall or all three, but can also be relatively expensive. However, in some applications a crash chain might serve a useful purpose at a much lower expense-and would certainly be beneficial as compared to not having either. So, explore the hardware options available through your supplier to put the dollars in the areas most important to you.
So, how does a contactor ensure they are getting the best product fit at the most economical choice? It takes a little time to go through the selection and sourcing process-but it will be time well spent and money can be saved or at least better applied to what you determine as important variables. Analyze the choices your supplier is providing-do they provide several systems and choices within each or just a “one size fits all” product line? What components, cores, paint and hardware options are important for your needs and what are the typical costs associated with each variable? Some projects will require the heavier gauges, the polyurethane core, or higher security locks, while many others won’t. Making the best choice is about what is right for you and the building owner and should be based on the opening needs and cost considerations-not by what the standard offering is through your provider.
Tom Granitz is the general manager at Diamond Door Products, Hempstead, Texas. Further information and product guides can be found at www.
diamonddoorltd.com.
