Bent edge guards: a 10-minute fix
Edge guards on busy corridor pairs get twisted and stop the doors from closing. Often you can straighten them yourself instead of buying new ones.
One of our crews has a motto: if you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to go work on some fire doors. So here is a little trick to save some money and breathe some life into those beat-up doors.
Doors in high-traffic corridors take a beating around the clock, especially the edges — usually double-egress doors or pairs along a corridor. It doesn’t take long for the edge guards to get twisted and banged up. The doors won’t close properly and will hit wherever the bent guard strikes the other leaf. That isn’t compliant, and it’s unsightly enough to draw anyone’s attention to the door.
Sometimes a guard gets caught on a cart or a pallet and pulled over the screw heads. Now there is a screw behind the guard and the door will never close correctly.
These stainless edge guards aren’t cheap, and having a company come out and replace them costs even more. You can take them off the door fairly easily and bend them back into shape with an adjustable wrench. It’s probably a 10-minute fix that saves your facility hundreds of dollars you can use somewhere else.
Donald’s before-and-after photos of this repair are coming soon.
A bent guard is a door that won’t close and latch. Straighten it, put it back in its own holes, then check the gap and test the door — that last step is what makes it a repair, not a guess.
What the code says
Why it matters
A fire door has to close and latch on its own. On a pair, a twisted guard on one leaf can hold the other leaf open, or keep it from latching. The annual inspection specifically asks whether meeting edge protection, gasketing and edge seals are present and intact (NFPA 80, 2013, 5.2.3.5).
The gap you are restoring
For steel doors the clearance at the meeting edges of a pair is 1/8 in. ± 1/16 in.; for wood doors it may not exceed 1/8 in. (NFPA 80, 2013, 6.3.1.7.1). Measure from the pull side.
Keep it a repair, not a modification
Reinstall the original guard in its original holes with its own screws. Do not drill new holes in the door, and do not swap in a guard that is not intended for that fire door — field modifications can void the label (NFPA 80, 2013, 5.2.3.5). If the guard is torn or cracked, or the door edge under it is damaged, replace it or call the manufacturer’s rep.
Test it when you’re done
After maintenance work, the door must be inspected and tested again (NFPA 80, 2013, 5.2.2.5): open it fully, let it go, and watch it close and latch — both leaves, in the right order if there is a coordinator. Write it down; NFPA 80 wants a record.
Practice drill: check it on your next round
- Push each leaf open and let it go. Does it close and latch with nothing rubbing?
- Look down the meeting edges: any guard bowed out, lifted, or sitting over a screw head?
- Gap gauge at the meeting edge: 1/8 in. ± 1/16 in. on steel doors.
- After a repair: retest, and log it with the date and who did it.
Sources and further reading
Section numbers are from NFPA 80 (2013) and NFPA 101 (2012), the editions CMS and The Joint Commission enforce for hospitals. Check the edition your authority having jurisdiction has adopted.