If only I had a nickel for every time I’ve recommended wide stile aluminum doors on a project…I’d have so many nickels!! I’m seeing wider stiles now, because of the accessibility requirement for a minimum 10-inch bottom rail (measured up from the floor), but there many existing narrow stile and medium stile doors out there.
I saw the door in today’s Fixed-it Friday photo on a university campus recently. The “fix” would probably make the architect cry, but this is VERY common. Many universities and other types of facilities have standardized on a particular hardware application and/or product. If their hardware of choice does not fit on a narrow or wide stile door, they often make it work.
In this case, the university has added plates to accommodate Von Duprin 99 Series rim devices with a removable mullion. It would have saved some time, expense, and architects’ tears to specify wide stile doors from the get-go.
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I am now working as a Plans Check Professional at a local AHJ, but my background as an Architect and love for architecture is ever present. I would cringe and cry at that sight. The entrance door is often the first visual and tactile experience of architecture – what a way to make the first impression. As one leaves the building, those plates would leave a lasting impression….years of nightmare and therapy.
If this is what the architect specified, then those tears are for him/herself. With that being said, if the door/hardware supplier failed to bring the conflict into question, then they should also be culpable.
If the facilities maintenance pulled these devices off of some old doors and installed them here, then the blame falls to the maintenance folks
Boy–if only some hardware manufacturer would develop a device for narrow stiles