I’m in Carmel, Indiana tonight, to work on a project with the Allegion Marketing team tomorrow.  I stopped at an outdoor mall to replace something I forgot to pack (I know some of you are tempted to guess what I forgot, but let’s let it go and focus on the question below :)).  As I was checking out the variety of doors in the mall, mostly aluminum storefront, it reminded me that I’ve been meaning to get some input on this:

What is your preferred method for hanging an aluminum storefront door, and why?  What are the considerations – aesthetics, function, durability…others?

Pair 1 has butt hinges – I didn’t whip out my tape measure, but 4 hinges per door leaf usually indicates a door that is more than 90 inches tall.

Pair 2 – Hinges again…what do you think about the back-to-back pulls with no horizontal push bar across the glass?

Pair 3 has 3 hinges per leaf, and an application that’s one of my (many) pet peeves.  If you know what it is, what product application would you propose instead?

Pair 4 – I went through a pivot phase at one point…probably because of the fancy projects I was working on at the time.  Do any of you have a preference for pivots?  This pair has only top and bottom pivots.  Also – the bottom rails don’t meet the requirement for a 10″ flush surface.

Pair 5 has intermediate pivots along with the top and bottom set.  What about these pulls?  Do you think they meet the accessibility standards?

Pair 6 has geared continuous hinges.  If continuous hinges are your preference for aluminum storefront, do you like to use geared or pin-in-barrel type?

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This is unrelated to the hinge question, but I was looking for a photo of a rain drip the other day and saw this one at the mall.  If I’m remembering my hardware school lessons correctly, there appears to be a problem with the installation of the drip…can anyone see the issue?

Also unrelated but I saw this during my shopping trip and thought it was kinda cool…the storefront shown here is actually printed on fabric to cover a temporary wall during construction.  There’s a temporary door under the fabric, and the creative locking method is pictured below.

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Now, back to the question of the day…what type of hanging mechanism is your preference for aluminum storefront, and why?

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