The old saying is true: “time flies when you’re having fun.”  I have been having fun creating posts for iDigHardware for 15 YEARS, and working with the Allegion brands for 30!

Tim Weller of Allegion sent me a photo recently that reminded me about a past post addressing door closers for arched doors.  Although this is not a super-common application these days, it’s a crying shame to see a beautiful arched door with a less-than-beautiful closer retrofit.  This one happens to be on a door serving a medieval cathedral in Europe.  –>

I went back to find the past post, and I can hardly believe that I wrote it in 2011!  I have updated it and am sharing it again for those of you who joined iDigHardware Nation at a later date, so you know what to do when you come across this situation.

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You don’t see a whole lot of arched doors on new construction projects 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 door 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 from LCN details 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 this application, and Nolan Thrope of our Metro NYC office 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 arched door retrofit 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 Allegion was holding out on me:

For reference, here is the LCN special template (ST-2480) for the 4111-Cush closer on an arched door (ST-2480-2 is for the 4040XP), and here are the dimensions required for fabrication.  LCN closers for arched doors are supplied with Cush or H-Cush arms, templated for a 90-degree opening/stop.  Once the custom plate and bracket are designed based on the information about the opening in question, a layout number is provided which can be used to order the closer.  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 by email at closers_techprodsupport@allegion.com.

Click here to 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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