You don’t see a whole lot of arched doors on new construction these days, but I think we probably have more than our fair share of beautiful old arched doors in the Northeast. Over the years I’ve had quite a few calls about how to retrofit new hardware onto existing arched doors, and the trickiest part is the closer. A floor closer would work well, but it’s often difficult or impossible to install a floor closer on an existing door because of the required floor preparation.
This is where LCN’s engineering department comes in. One of the 3,000+ special templates available is for the mounting bracket (and drop plate if required) for an LCN 4111 closer on an arched door. I’ve been on the lookout for a photo of one, and Nolan Thrope of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies of Metro NYC came through with not one, but TWO photos – one with a drop plate and one without. I will admit, the photo with the drop plate isn’t the most beautiful application I’ve ever seen, but sometimes you have to make a small sacrifice in aesthetics for function and durability, right?*
In this arched door photo, sent in by Todd Borsch of LCN, someone decided to take matters into their own hands:
UPDATE: Liz Lenox of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies of Metro NY was holding out on me:
For reference, here is the LCN special template (ST-2480) for the 4111-Cush closer on an arched door, and here are the dimensions required for fabrication. It’s always best to check with LCN’s engineering department to make sure you have the most current template available. You can reach them at 877-671-7011.
Check out some more closers on arched doors.
*As I was writing this I thought of an architect that I’ve worked with on several high-profile projects. He’s very particular, as he should be on this type of work. Once, when I explained that the doors would not look the way he had drawn them on his interior elevations because of hardware required by code, he told me that I was ruining his whole design and then he called me the “Anti Fairy Godmother.” Today he accidentally copied me on an email that had nothing to do with hardware, and then apologized, saying “I included the wrong Lori.” I jokingly said, “WHAT?? You have another Lori?!” and he replied, “She is referred to as ‘The Other Lori.’ You remain Lori.” Phew! I thought I had been replaced! That cracked me up. 🙂
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Here’s an arched door with a closer at the Sterling Winery in Calistoga, CA from our vacation last November:
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa221/chparkjr/Doors/1652af0c.jpg
Not too clear of a look at the closer, but you can see the bracket.
–Chuck–
Yup, going for floor closers first choice. If you gotta go w/ surface closers + plates/brackets, though, no one does it better than LCN.
Love it! Lori – can you PLEASE send me the highest resolution files of the images you posted with the special templates??? We are creating an LCN calendar for 2012 and we plan on focusing on special templates for one of the months. We’re also going to include in the calendar all the pictures we took around LCN of the plant and people that we didn’t use in our 4040XP Real Deal launch.
We’re going to be shipping out a bunch of these to every SSC sometime in November. I’ll be sure to send you your own bunch to send to your most loyal LCN followers!!
Joseph Vaida, GREAT IDEA!! oddly, beginning of April I came up with the idea, but did nothing about it, it was just a joke between me and a closer rebuilder located in Canada,
……hey, why not ring in the new year looking at a high res image of an LCN 4040XP!? 😀
an idea could be also maybe a door with an LCN closer decorated for the holidays (Nov//Dec) great place to find images of door decorating or creativity with door closers is school buildings and sometimes they are involved with the tradition of having a door decorating contest.
when taking the photos are they going to be using all modern closers or will there be any of the old traditionals pictured, im sure there are lots of those old ones still going well.
as well as the rare uncommon closers or even record breakers (oldest LCN, largest, smallest)
another great idea, a timeline of when the different models were introduced and a brief history of Lewis Norton. or a tip of the month for installing/troubleshooting the common problems.
Lori: as for the photos of the closers on arch top doors, the contributors did well with the submissions,
the only issue you may run into with an arch door and a drop plate/corner bracket is height, to a tall person, bumping their head into a closer that’s mounted to a drop plate can be the last thing they want to do. or will cause the person to have to duck to avoid hitting the body or back of the plate with their head. not saying corner plates are bad, but just have to be careful about height of mounting and they and the closer comply with ADA or other building codes.
as for that waist height LCN 4040 on pull side of a door sent in by Todd Borsch at LCN,
I have heard of and seen that (not personally, but in photos) method of mounting, the method of installing them this way is not common in the united states but most commonly seen in western Europe and on gates in Australia.
that method although can be convenient to the installer and the end user to be able to adjust it without a ladder but it does put the closer at high risk of vandalism because its within easy reach to any child/mischief maker. young children have been known to investigate things (especially mechanical), a moving arm of a closer at that height can cause some PINCHED FINGERS.
nice to hear from you again Joseph,
-Jess the door closer doctor
I am the President of a coop building in the Brooklyn Heights section of New York City. Our lovely brownstone was built in 1846 and has an entry vestibule at the Parlor level with two sets of doors. The inner doorway has a set of antique arched double doors and we have not been able to find a door closer that will keep the heavy doors from slamming.
I would very much like to pursue an LCN closer with the appropriate adapter plate as a solution. Would you know anyone that can help us with specifications and installation?
Hi Nico –
I sent you a direct reply by email with the name of someone for you to contact.
– Lori
the problem of that mid (waist?) height closer is that the mounting does not conform to normal
door closer mounting and operating geometry. you won’t be able to get rated closing strength, nor can you guarantee that the door can’t be ‘latch parked’.. that is, someone closes the door gingerly and the latch will not ramp up the strike lip (assuming single point latch) and remains a security risk in leaving it ‘ajar’ for any of their fellow punks to get in. i run into this when i hang door closers on pool gates on hoa’s. the only way to do it right is to put in a cross bar
across the top of the frame, make a bar across the gate just under it and do a parallel arm mount. this not only keeps the closer arm ‘tight’ and deters kids going ‘monkey bars’ on it and bending the closer arm, but it virtually guarantees that the latch will engage the strike properly every time. unless the strike hole is taped, plugged with paper or debris. but then i would call the vandalism and not guarantee that..
the mounting arrangement to which i referred to earlier effectively emulates a standard door/frame and should be less of a problem, if say a lawsuit emerges from something happening, a kid gets injured or drowns and the guy who put the closer on the gate has to be deposed.. i’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that if you try to do the right thing, then it seems to me to be less of a problem if you stick to the basics when doing ‘custom’ work, instead of that funky monkey mounting that was seen in the earlier picture.
Our church recently installed an LCN closer with a special order parallel arm plate for an arched top door. The door will not open pass approx. 85 degrees. We were hoping we could resolve this issue with an extended closer arm. Any ideas on this. Thanks.
Hello,
Do you have information on where to purchase this bracket?
Thank you
Hi Hank –
The bracket for an arched door is available from LCN – it’s a special template because each bracket is based on the shape of the arch.
– Lori
I work in a Hospital and I use LCN door closers their easy to install and durable.
Hi, I’m looking for a solution for arched doors on the pull side, Any idea of they still make these brackets? I understood from LCN’s website that it’s discontinued.
And also is there an option to go with a simple drop plate like Yale use to have (see image) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f2bTHqwgxWEHhswX3TgeaURztIfaokL6/view?usp=drivesdk
Hi Motty –
I’m pretty sure the brackets are still available. I would recommend checking with LCN Tech Support – their email address is Closers_TechProdSupport@allegion.com.
– Lori
Hi Lori,
I have an arched door. I would like a top mount, was wondering what closer you recommend. Here is a pic: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PLPI4LgYcwo3DFdGZmLDCV_gQagtyOfl/view?usp=sharing
Thank you!
Hi Jason –
The best thing to do is to contact LCN Engineering and they will help you with the special template. Their email address is closers_techprodsupport@allegion.com.
– Lori