TotalDoor

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Author Message ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 297 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 06:00 pm:    I've been getting conflicting feedback regarding Integrated Door Assemblies in general and TotalDoor specifically. Has anyone else received feedback about these systems, good, bad or other? Alan Mays, AIA Senior Member Username: amays Post Number: 99 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 06:37 pm:    The good thing, they work. The bad thing is that they are usually ugly. Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP, EDAC Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 350 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 07:28 pm:    They are also very expensive. But if you need a true 8-foot clear opening (including projecting hardware) for a California hospital corridor, they are almost, but not quite, the only game in town. John Hunter Senior Member Username: johnhunter Post Number: 97 Registered: 12-2005 Posted on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 08:44 pm:    No experience with TotalDoor, but we've used integrated door assemblies in healthcare and educational projects and they seemed to work out well. The manufacturer (Adams Rite's "Rite Door" was the product) also helped vet some details that had some pretty challenging clearances. anon (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, July 09, 2012 - 06:35 pm:    I have specified this system for many years, no issues, great system/product. Assa Abloy has a competing system that they call The Rite Door, which I include as an acceptable alternative to TotalDoor in the same spec section. Also, no issues with this. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1311 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 06:03 pm:    Integrated door assemblies are sufficient so long as they are moderate to low traffic. If the doors are high traffic, you would be better off with a conventional door system. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 300 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 10:09 am:    Thanks everyone. The feedback I've been receiving is that TotalDoor is just as David said, good for low level cycling at doors operating every once in awhile but not on a regular basis. Apparently they have a 'full-height' hinge that is something other than a continuous hinge. Unlike TotalDoor, the IR and Assa options use standard hardware including options for butts, continuous hinges, or pivots, and can be cycled and maintained in the same manner as their typical products. Their exit devices do not recess flush with the face of the door the way TotalDoor devices do. Essentially, at high use doors TotalDoor sounds like it can become a maintenance hassle requiring high ceilings to enable dismantling the entire hinge assembly. Some facility managers don't want it on their projects regardless of how good it looks or photographs when the project is completed because of the hassle factor. Apparently TotalDoor tried putting out some kind of 'snake oil' data sheet about how wonderful their hinge is vs. heavy-duty butts and really screwed up on the physics involved. While I'm all for innovation, I usually feel more comfortable with technologies I understand. It seems like people either love it or hate it. Maybe it's another case of form vs. function. Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 308 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 04:02 pm:    I asked Total Door to comment and here is their response: ------------------------ The Total Door System has been successfully tested to over 5,000,000 cycles, far surpassing any ANSI standard. To my knowledge, we are the only manufacturer that provides a lifetime warrantee on hardware. If you are interested in learning more about the top performing system, Total Door offers a class every month at the new manufacturing facility in Michigan. Feel free to register on line and take advantage of the 17 HSW credits offered. Please post responsibly and accurately. Patricia Yulkowski, CEO Total Door Systems http://totaldoor.com/ Colin Gilboy Publisher, 4specs.com 435.654.5775 - Utah 800.369.8008 Michael Phillips (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, July 16, 2012 - 07:14 pm:    Thank you for permitting me to provide a slanted but informed view of integrated doors. I cannot comment on the integrity of the cycle/endurance testing performed by Total Door, but The Rite Door has ANSI/BHMA certifications for the hardware components and for the complete integrated door assembly. The Rite Door is mostly “conventional” hardware that is recessed into the door versus surface applied. Recessed hardware is not only great to provide the maximum door opening width; it also serves to protect the hardware from abuse. The Rite Door also uses architectural grade continuous hinges (Markar) to serve as the backbone of support for the door movement. I believe integrated doors have proven themselves as an aesthetic upgrade from conventional hardware. Take the time to peruse ritedoor.com and totaldoor.com, and you should be convinced that these packages offer aesthetics that are unmatched by component derived openings. I believe that the entire concept of integrated doors will become the norm rather than the exception in the future. I look at it in the same way as the personal computer industry; how many computer users actually buy and assemble components to put together a system. It is more reliable and less expensive to purchase the complete package pre-installed and pre-tested. The same applies for integrated doors. Michael Phillips Director of Brand Management – Adams Rite Mfg. www.ritedoor.com ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 305 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 09:14 am:    So, now that the manufacturers are here, perhaps we can get some clarifications. Is the TotalDoor hardware BHMA certified? The website doesn't say. Do RiteDoor and INPACT Door offer similar hardware warranties as TotalDoor? A few facility managers I've spoken with that don't like TotalDoor (most seem to like it) complain that they have to dissemble the door to access the 'hinge'. They don't like the fact that it's non-conventional hardware. It is outside their comfort zones. This doesn't sound practical to me. They also said that dissembling the doors is troublesome at best. This is not my opinion, just what I've been told by others. I like the idea of integrated openings but it would be nice to know what the playing field is. Right now, it's certainly not level. guest (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 10:47 am:    The Rite Door has a 5 year warranty for the entire system including electrified options. And, we do not exclude the 'door' from the standard warranty. The warranties from the non-core components we do source (hinges, closers, etc.) extend beyond the Rite Door's basic warranty as well. For instance, the Markar Hinges we use for healthcare applications have a 25 year warranty. It would be difficult to find a component derived package that would net out to a 5 year overall warranty. Another benefit of taking responsibilty of the entire package. Great discussion. I am offering this to inform the group about the benefits of integrated doors and not to sell you on our product. I hope you see this a beneficial information.