Case study · Hawkes Café, Kingston Grammar School, London Road KT2
Why the closer and the shoot bolts were done together
The two faults on this entrance are the two most common on any aluminium double door, and they feed each other. A concealed transom closer that has lost its hydraulics lets the active leaf swing free and fall shut, and every uncontrolled slam shocks the hardware on the leaf beside it. The shoot bolts on the secondary leaf — the flush lever in the photograph, driving a rod down into the threshold and up into the head — take that shock each time, and once their cams and slides are worn the rods no longer seat in the keeps. From then on the lock on the active leaf is throwing into a door that is merely resting in its frame.
For a café inside a school that matters twice over. During the day the door needs to close itself so it is never left standing open to the courtyard; at night the pair needs to bolt and lock so the servery and its stock are secure. Replacing the closer alone would have fixed the first and left the second, which is why the job was quoted and done as one.
The work on the day
The active leaf was lifted off its bottom pivot, the transom cover removed and the worn closer, mounting plate and arm stripped from the box. A new concealed closer went in on a fresh plate with a new arm into the top rail, the leaf was re-hung and the closing and latching speeds set so the door arrives on its seals under control and the latch takes on the last few degrees. The secondary leaf was then lifted out and laid flat: the two old flush bolts came out of the stile, the mortices were cleaned, and two new shoot bolts with new guides were fitted and tested for a full throw before the leaf went back on its pivot. The pair was then checked as a pair — bolts thrown, lock engaged, both leaves meeting square at the stiles.
Work completed at Kingston Grammar School
- Transom closer — worn concealed closer removed from the head of the active leaf and replaced with a new unit, mounting plate and arm; closing and latching speeds set.
- Shoot bolts — two new flush shoot bolts with guides fitted to the secondary leaf, top and bottom, each tested for a clean throw into its keep.
- Commissioning — both leaves re-hung and checked for meeting-stile alignment, latch engagement and lock throw into the bolted leaf.
- Café — open throughout; one leaf worked on at a time.
School door repairs across Kingston and South West London
Commercial Door Maintenance and Security Ltd works for independent and state schools across Kingston upon Thames, Surbiton, New Malden, Wimbledon and Richmond on the same basis as Kingston Grammar: a quote from a photograph, the closer pattern and bolts identified before the visit, and the work done around the timetable without closing the door. Dining halls, cafés, sports halls and main entrances all run the same aluminium door hardware, and the same two faults account for most of the call outs. See our school door repairs page for how term-time and holiday work is scheduled.
