3 Hinge Position On Fire Doors

How to determine hinge spacing on a door.

3 hinge position on fire doors.

This is accomplished through the use of a closer or spring hinge and a fire rated lockset or exit device. Light hollow core doors that are 6 8 only require 2 hinges with a cheap pin. I have got the frames fixed in place and now need the hang the doors a first for me. When a door starts to sag and hang crooked it always does so from the top so the upper part of the doorknob side is where it will start to catch.

I have a few doors to hang shortly. Figure 1 shows a standard hinge arrangement. Figures 2 3 and 4 detail hinge positions for doors where the hinges are operating at the near the maximum load capacity or where door closers particularly back check closers are in use and the door is in a high frequency of use environment. It s a standard moulded door 1980 x 601 mm.

Hinges are generally spaced out equally to also keep the door straight. This means that in the event of a fire all of these doors will close and latch without a person s help. 170 180mm 6 inches from the top. From what i understand it is best to have one hinge near the bottom and two hinges near the top of the door to take the weight rather than three hinges equally spaced.

They are all 44mm fire doors and a couple of them are 915mm wide so they are quite a heavy door. For heavier doors i use two 4 butt hinges or for very heavy doors three 4 butt hinges. Is there a preferred position for the top and bottom hinges up the edge of the door. Bigger solid core doors require 3 or 4 or more hinges with ball bearings.

With fire resisting doors becoming heavier there is a practice to fit two hinges at the top of the door with the third hinge at the bottom of the door. It is unsafe to alter the as tested position of a hinge on a fire door without assessment from a suitably qualified authority. 190 200mm 9inches from the bottom. For light weight internal doors two 3 butt hinges should be adequate.

The top hinge need to be positioned approx. All fire doors have an additional safety feature they must be self closing and self latching. The top hinge is a little closer to the top usually about 7 as it is always in tension with the forces applied. When hanging heavy exterior doors fire check doors hardwood doors or doors in a bathroom airing cupboard for example you should mark a line and position for a third hinge in the center of the door and frame as well.