Continuous hinges

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Author Message Anonymous   Posted on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 04:14 pm:    We find continuous geared hinges outlast all other types of hinges on high traffic doors. What is your experience? David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 215 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, December 22, 2003 - 04:39 pm:    Yes! Continuous hinges also work well in high abusive environments, like schools, where kids hang on the doors. The problems with continuous hinges is that they tend to sqeak and installers do not like them. Continuous hinges are actually less forgiving and harder to install than 3 butt hinges. Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 37 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 06:28 am:    Bear in mind the differences between continuous geared hinges and continuous barrel hinges. I avoid the geared hinges in circumstances where dirt can accumulate in the gears, naturally or by abuse, leading to early wear. Is the squeaking problem related to this? John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 173 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 08:52 am:    I have used continuous hinges in retrofitting new doors to existing frames. They work well for that since you don't need to deal with precise coordination of hinge prep locations, or repair of them. Thanks David and Phil, for pointing out a couple of pitfalls I wasn't aware of with this product. Would using four HD butt hinges be a better choice in some locations? Valarie Harris CSI CCPR Junior Member Username: valarieh Post Number: 2 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - 10:47 am:    Here in California, many of our schools have open air breeze ways instead of hallways. We also have periods of extremely high winds. The continuous hinges seem to hold up to being whipped in the wind. Some school districts also see an additional safety factor with continuous hinges preventing students from putting hands and fingers through the space between the door and the frame. William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS Senior Member Username: wpegues Post Number: 255 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 01:26 am:    Its the condition of use, or rather abuse I should say, that makes some of the continuous hinges better in some conditions. Where you may have situations where people ae hanging on the doors, like schools, or just plain abused doors, they make sense. But in most situations, ball bearing butt hinges serve outstandingly well. The problem in some conditions is that the butt hinge is incorrectly specified - often by the hardware supplier rather than the architect. The number of hinges on a door is determined by its height. The width of the door determines the size (height and width) of the hinge. The 'weight' (regular, heavy weight, etc.) of the hinge should be determined by the frequency of opening. All too often the supplier comes back and says that this is not a heavy door, you don't need heavy weight hinges. But frequency of opening is the real governor of the weight of the hinge. I deal mostly in high rise office buildings, corporate headquarters, hotels, high rise residential. I typically only use continuous hinges on office building balcony doors for their cleaner look. I use butt hinges typically on all except special situations like entrance type doors. I have buildings in my personal experience going back 25+ years where the butt hinge is still performing perfectly - exterior situations, high use situations. I also have projects only a few years old where the owner chose to follow the advice of the supplier and took regular weight hinges that are failing at interior locations that are not abused, just very frequently used. William John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 175 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 08:57 am:    William. Good synopsis! I was inspired to go recheck the Hager catalog, which has an excellent discussion of how to select hinges. You're comments agree with their recommendations. William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS Senior Member Username: wpegues Post Number: 256 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - 09:14 am:    John, Straight out of Door and Hardware Institute. Curiously, year after year, job after job, some of the best known and national level suppliers keep recommending use of regular weight because the 'door is not that heavy'. Very strange.