New Door Selector Tool

The Steel Door Institute has just created a Door Selector Tool to help architects select the appropriate doors for their projects. Just answer a few basic questions and the tool will show the commonly specified performance levels and door designs for that type of opening.

Our hope is that this tool will save architects time. Rather than manually researching the common door constructions for each opening in a building, architects can bookmark this tool and reference it anytime to see what is often specified for that location.

As one architect told us recently, “I don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Tell me what’s usually done and I’ll take it from there.”

screenshot from Door Selector tools, which shows step 1, choosing the type of building

The Curious Case of a Rusted Interior Door

close-up photo of rusted interior of door

We received an email from a maintenance manager who had a fire-rated blast door with some issues. Despite being an interior door in a non-humid environment, the caulk was pulling away from the door and there was pervasive rust underneath.

The door was not produced by an SDI member manufacturer, so we analyzed the issue based on photos and what the facility manager knew about the door. We thought it would be helpful to share our diagnosis with the architecture community and explain how this situation can be easily avoided.

Based on the photo, the rust was most likely caused by an unprimed door and frame, and the mortar not being properly cleaned up. When grouting is done correctly it will not cause any issues with the frame. Unfortunately, thin pumpable slurry is often used and its excess water causes rust.

We suspected the door was not fabricated from galvannealed/galvanized steel, which was confirmed by the facility manager. Specifying “doors to be constructed in accordance with ANSI/SDI A250.8 and ASTM A653” will ensure they are galvannealed/galvanized and would provide a high level of corrosion resistance in applications like this one.

For more information on grouting, see SDI article The Risks of Grouting Frames. Information on the benefits of galvanized steel can be found in SDI-112.


LEED and Sustainability

green globe LEED logo

All LEED projects registered after October 2016 must comply with the more stringent LEED v4 rather than LEED 2009. Design professionals seeking LEED points or working toward a net zero environment will need to understand what this means and how to maximize their contributions.

SDI’s new LEED and Sustainability page offers a bird’s eye view of green building in layman’s terms and how it relates to steel doors and frames. The LEED 2009 vs. LEED v4 section highlights the significant changes to the Building Design & Construction (BD&C) category.