Door installation and repair in Hamilton

18-gauge face sheets are the commercial standard, with 16-gauge used where traffic or abuse is heavy and 20-gauge limited to light interior duty. Frames run the other way: 16-gauge is the usual interior frame and 14-gauge the exterior and heavy-duty one. Lower number, thicker steel. The ANSI/SDI A250.8 levels are the shorthand the trade uses — Level 1 through Level 4, standard duty to maximum duty.

They do, but Ontario winters are what test them. Grit and salt in the floor track are the leading cause of slow and juddering doors from January onwards; water freezing at the threshold is the second; and the sensor package is affected by low sun and by the wet floor mats that appear at every entrance in November. A thermally broken frame and the right seals cut the condensation and drafts, and a winter service visit is worth more than a summer one on any exterior slider.

Yes. Labelled stainless assemblies are made in the same ratings as painted hollow metal — 20 to 180 minutes — with the core the rating requires. The whole assembly has to be labelled and compatible, so the frame, hinges, closer and latch are specified with the door. It is a common requirement where a rated corridor runs into a kitchen or a processing area.

A framed, demountable system can be — that is a large part of its appeal to tenants and landlords, since a floor can be reconfigured without demolition and the components largely reused. Frameless partitions are more permanent in practice: the glass is cut and finished for its exact opening, and a changed layout usually means new glass even if the fittings survive. If flexibility matters, say so before the system is chosen, not after the first reconfiguration.

Because commercial glass is made to your opening. Tempered glass cannot be cut, drilled or edged after it is manufactured, and sealed insulating units are assembled to size, so every unit has a fabrication lead time — there is no stock pane on a truck that fits a shopfront bay. Any company promising same-night replacement of commercial glass is describing a residential stock size, or is going to board it up like everyone else. The board-up is what makes the wait safe.

A closure built from aluminum links or rods with deliberate gaps between them, running in a guide each side of the opening and coiling onto a barrel above it. Mechanically it works exactly like a slat shutter; the difference is that you can see straight through it. That is the whole point — the unit is secured and the display behind it stays lit and visible, which is what a shopping centre wants along its concourse after hours.