Archive for the ‘Special-Lite Doors’ Category

There was a time when heavy duty doors weren’t as beautiful as they were functional. Those times, thankfully, have changed.

And now Special-Lite has even come out with a new Fire Door that combines looks with functionality and durability – the SL-23 Fire-Rated Sandstone Textured FRP Door.

Available in any of our Sandstone-FRP through colors or in custom colors, the SL-23 is also fire-rated up to 60 minutes for both interior and exterior applications. It’s been tested in accordance with UBC 7-2, NFPA 252, UL 10C, has passed the 1 hour positive pressure test and the hose stream test, and has passed 250 degree temperature rise tests to achieve Warnock Hershey listing for fire-rated U.S. doors.

Put simply, it’s a top notch Fire Door that looks good too. Because really, why should you have to sacrifice looks for service?

There are infinite applications that call for tough doors. We talk a lot about schools, as high traffic and high abuse areas that need both durability and security in a door.

But lately we’ve been installing Special-Lite doors in another application that’s probably even tougher.
Hospital doors not only need stamina and durability to deal with massive amounts of traffic and use, but they also have to be automated and fire rated, both of which call for a tougher, stronger, and more dependable door.

Special-Lite doors fit these qualifications, and we’ve recently installed them in two Memphis area hospitals, one of which is already ordering more.

Baptist Memorial Hospital in Southaven, Miss. initially installed Special-Lite’s SL-17 doors in its loading dock, and is now ordering SL-21 fire rated doors for use in the Hospital Supply Area. Both sets of doors have automatic operators and SELECT Products heavy duty continuous geared hinges, and the interior doors include fire rated vision lites and electrified exit devices for fire safety.

Similarly, Methodist LeBonheur Germantown Hospital in Germantown, Tenn. has installed Special-Lite’s double egress SL-21 fire rated doors for use as Cross Corridor Fire Doors. These doors also include SELECT Products heavy duty continuous geared hinges, automatic operators, fire rated vision lites and electrified exit devices.

Hospitals are a tough environment, and Special-Lite makes tough door. Sounds like a match to me.

We live in a world where everything is getting smaller, sleeker, and more efficient.  Our TVs, phones, computers, and MP3 players are all smaller, lighter and more powerful than ever.

So why do we still think that the only way to have a good, solid, durable door is for it to be as thick and as heavy as possible?

Special-Lite’s Fiberglass Reinforced Polyester (FRP) doors have challenged that old notion. These FRP doors are sleek and lightweight, thin and attractive, and even more efficient and durable than traditional doors.

Because of their low mass, Special-Lite’s FRP doors require less force to open and close, resulting in less wear and tear on their hardware and frames.  Because of their high compliance and elasticity, these doors have flexural strength, which allows them to absorb and bounce back from forces that might damage more rigid doors.

The proof, however, is in the testing.  Special-Lite has put these doors through rigorous tests in order to prove their strength and durability, including tests for endurance over several life spans, tests for endurance under hard and abusive conditions, and even tests for resilience and stamina under hurricane winds and explosive forces.  Under all of these conditions, Special-Lite’s FRP doors remained strong and functional, and only against a blast force of over 18,000 pounds within milliseconds did these doors sustain any damage at all.

Think of them as having heavyweight toughness without the weight.

Here’s a good article on the topic from Doors & Hardware.

The introduction of Special-Lite’s SL-17 Fiberglass Reinforced Polyester (FRP) door revolutionized the world of heavy-duty doors nearly 40 years ago and has yet to be matched for its strength and resilience. Since that time, Special-Lite has expanded its series of composite doors, each sharing an unbeatably strong and durable physical structure, but differing in stylistic choice and exterior skin.

One constant question we get, as clients search for that perfect combination of strength with style, is “what’s the difference?”

Each of this series of composite doors has a poured-in-place polyurethane core, rendering the doors 30% lighter than comparably sized steel doors. Reduced mass and monolithic construction translates into significantly less wear and tear on the door’s individual components while enhancing the door’s strength by carrying operating loads through the door skins.

While the SL-17 Series doors are a favorite in the schools and universities for their strength and durability, Special-Lite offers a variety of aesthetic choices to allow for a greater client choice and to meet individual needs. Although all of Special-Lite’s foam core doors share the poured-in-place foam composite structure, some stylistic choices include:

SL-16: Aluminum skin painted or anodized for enhanced architectural beauty

SL-17: Flagship FRP door, durable pebble-grain surface is tough and easy to clean

SL-18: Acrylic Modified Polyester (AMP) skin, 6-panel Colonial style door available in wood grain or smooth surface

SL-19: AMP skin, flush door with wood texture

SL-20: FRP skin with a Sandstone texture, handsomer than SL 17, and nearly as tough

This video created by Joe Swaika, Associate Architect at Herrington Architects, illustrates another application of the in-door proximity reader installation mentioned in the December 21 entry on The Door Blog.

As you can see, when a person holds his prox card to the surface of the door on the right with the prox reader in it, an automatic operator is triggered on the opposite door and it opens to let the person in.  This application is perfect for accommodating persons in wheelchairs or with disabilities.

Special-Lite is now offering 6-panel AMP (Acrylic Modified Polyester) Colonial Doors with smooth AMP face sheets without the wood grain texture. This version of the SL-18, identified by the model number SL-18S, combines the aesthetics of traditional styling with the performance, durability and reduced maintenance made possible by modern engineering and materials.

The SL-18S is available in custom sizes from a minimum of 30″ x 80″ to a maximum size of 42″ x 88″ and it can be factory-painted just about any color. Smooth colonial AMP face sheets can also be fabricated into 1-3/4″ panels for side lites and transoms.

 The new Smooth Colonial Door is constructed exactly the same as the SL-18, just without the wood grain texture. It is also backed by the same Limited Lifetime warranty as all of Special-Lite’s AMP/FRP doors.

For more information please visit http://www.special-lite.com/

Recently Dillard Door & Entrance Control in Memphis posted an interesting YouTube video about long-lasting school doors. Titled Doors With More Life, it features their “try me free” promotion for school systems in their area.