Sound Control Doors vs accessibility

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Author Message (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 11:38 am:    We are having an on-going discussion in our office on the most appropriate door hardware to schedule for STC sound control doors (recommended by our acoustical consultant) and meet accessibility requirements. For a high STC (above 43) all souund control door manufacturers indicate cam-lift hinges; but, considering the weight of the door and the motion required to open the door, it is not possible to meet the 5 lbf opening force requirement. This is a publicly-funded school project and doors to band, choir, and practice rooms must meet accessibility requirements. Surely we're not the only firm who has experienced this dilemma before. We had a long discussion with one manufacturer's engineer on a recent project and he refused to budge on the cam-lift requirement. Any suggesstions? Wayne Yancey Senior Member Username: wayne_yancey Post Number: 149 Registered: 01-2008 Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 12:15 pm:    Can you use a barrier-free vestibule with traditional auto door bottoms, threshold, sound seals, etc on each door opening. Power assist operators on the sound control doors? Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 313 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 12:40 pm:    MY suggestion would be to add power-assisted closers/operators on the sound control doors, similar to LCN's Electrohydraulic Powered Systems - Auto-Equalizer (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 01:57 pm:    Wayne, No. Our acoustical consultants insist on sound control doors with high STC rating. The problem with power-assist operators is that with the cam-lift hinges, the door must rise approximately 3/4" on its initial opening. We anticipate the arm of the power-assist operator would wear out very quickly and would be an on-going maintenance headache for the Owner. Lynn Javoroski CSI CCS LEEDŽ AP SCIP Affiliate Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 839 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 02:32 pm:    Can you do a sliding door with an automatic or an assist? Wayne Yancey Senior Member Username: wayne_yancey Post Number: 150 Registered: 01-2008 Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 03:01 pm:    UG, Have you validated your "anticipation" with the various power-assist operator manufacturers? You may want to condsider a manual override of the power-assist so the door can operate normally till such time as is required by a disabled person. Bob Woodburn, RA CSI CCS CCCA LEED AP Senior Member Username: bwoodburn Post Number: 269 Registered: 01-2005 Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 03:59 pm:    If these are required at each practice room (instead of just the band room entrance), I would think industrial-type doors are overkill. The problem here may be that "all sound control door manufacturers indicate cam-lift hinges." Your acoustical consltants may think that no self-respecting acoustical consultant could consider anything other than Overly or some other specialty door firm aiming at the heavy-duty industrial/military market. A quick search on 4Specs for sound control doors turned up a bunch of others. I tried the first (Ambico), but its website was a problem, so I went on to Eggers. It lists an STC 45 flush wood door using a gasket system consisting of a double row of bulb gasketing with a door bottom and threshold (and a flush pair with an STC of 44, with similar gasketing). Pretty simple. I didn't even see a mention of hinges (cam-action or otherwise) for its STC-rated flush wood doors (but then there was nothing about opening force, either). http://www.eggersindustries.com/en-us/technical_information/default.aspx Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 314 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Friday, December 05, 2008 - 07:10 pm:    You might want to check with Ingersoll-Rand. They may be able to accomodate the cam lift hinge with their closer arms. I know I have used their regular closers in this situation, but I'm not sure about the auto-equalizers. Also, as was previously mentioned - if you are using a mfgr like Overly or Krieger, yes, they only use cam lift hinges which would/might be necessary for really high STC (55 and above) doors. However,if you do not need that high an STC,you may be able to get doors with an STC of 45 or less without the camlift hinges, thus allowing you to use normal hinges with a low energy power assist closer.