Choose A Desired Storm Door. Put In Appropriate Panic Bar Hardware. Get Peace Of Mind.Installing and maintaining safety and security devices in our homes and workplaces is as crucial as our daily dose of health food. Ignore both these elements and your chances to defend yourself against bodily harm get progressively fainter. As exciting it is to see your house being built from scratch, it is important to choose every building material with care. If you are literally handpicking every item for the house you are building, spare a thought for the panic bar hardware for your storm door. It's true that many people install storm doors to use them as screens to let in fresh air, but the presence of a storm door can have life-saving implications. A fire, a truant pet, the need for an emergency exit in which you don't have to depend on manual mechanisms - if you think of these scenarios, youÂ'll know why panic bar hardware is being given so much thought and research. Your choice of storm doors will determine what kind of panic bar assembly is best suited. So first, a look at the types of storm doors available: Wooden Storm doors Â- Wood - the original materiel for storm doors/storm screens is by far the most popular. The new design door panic hardware can be mounted onto doors with less than 1 inch thickness. With some regular painting/coating of wooden storm doors, they will withstand tough weather for longer duration. Aluminum storm doors: What makes them score above wooden storm doors is the fact that they are corrosion resistant. They come in a variety of thicknesses and allow for interchangeable screen and glass panels to be fitted. The downside is that the strength of these storm doors is limited by the brittle aluminum alloy with which the corners that hold the door frame are made. Hoping that such a storm never arises which might bring the door down; you can still find the right parts to hold up the door in case you face such an emergency. PVC and Fiberglass Storm Door: The most advanced materiel for storm doors till date is PVC or fiberglass. It displays the highest resistance to corrosion among the three varieties. It is chemically treated to slow the effects of exposure to UV-radiation, which increases durability. Slightly more expensive than wood and aluminum, PVC/Fiberglass storm doors are by far the strongest. With storm doors becoming a fixture in every house, the need for panic hardware for these doors has also risen. There are quite a few manufacturers that offer durable and reliable panic hardware. The market is flooded with panic hardware from Von Duprin, Yale, Corbin, Sargent, Jackson, Warnock Hersey and more. Take your pick from a range of panic bars of differing materials and grades. You will come across panic bars which are manufactured for fire-rated and non-fire rated doors. Whether the panic bar for the storm door should be fire-rated or not is for the building inspector or local fire marshal to determine. However, no matter what the rating, having a panic bar installed on your storm door will certainly put your mind at ease. |