Commercial · Wexford
Panic & Exit Hardware in Wexford
The fire inspector's note is blunt: the banquet hall's second exit still turns on a deadbolt, and the crowd it is rated to hold needs a door that opens under one motion, no key involved.
In plain words
Sometimes the hardware is already there and simply needs honest attention. A crossbar that has stiffened, a dogging function that no longer holds, or a strike that has drifted out of line are common finds on a device that has been in service for years. The locksmith services what can be serviced, adjusts what has moved, and replaces only the parts that have genuinely worn out, so a functioning exit device is not swapped wholesale when a cleaning, an adjustment and new fasteners would restore it.
How the visit goesA padlock went on the stockroom's back door years ago for security and nobody has thought about it since, until the walkthrough this week pointed out that the same door is the room's only other way out.
Panic & Exit Hardware
How the visit goes
What the access-control side of the door needs
When a card reader, keypad or intercom is part of the plan, the assessment includes a conversation about the exit side of the same door: does the reader need a request-to-exit signal so the panel knows someone left rather than forced the door, and does the door need electric latch retraction so it can be released remotely without ever compromising the crossbar's push-to-exit function. These questions are answered before the device is ordered, because retrofitting an electrified function onto hardware chosen without it in mind rarely goes cleanly.
Fitting outside trim that still controls entry
The inside of the door stays simple: push to leave, every time. The outside gets whatever lets the right people in, a plain pull for a door nobody needs to unlock from outside, a lever with a key cylinder for staff entry, or a keyed cylinder alone where entry is occasional. Whichever trim is chosen, it operates entirely independently of the inside crossbar, so locking the outside never has any effect on a person's ability to leave from within.
Entry that stays separate from exit, permanently
The building keeps full control over who enters through the trim on the outside of the door, independent of what happens on the inside. A lost key, a staff change or a new access-control card affects only the entry side; the exit side keeps working exactly as it did on installation day. That separation is the point of the whole installation, and it is worth remembering when any future change is proposed for that door, so entry security is never solved by touching the inside crossbar.
Panic & Exit Hardware
In the van
Request-to-exit switch
Through-fixings and mounting hardware
Coordinator for door pairs
Installation template and jig
Signage and labels
Panic & Exit Hardware
What affects the quote
Outside trim selected
A plain pull is the simplest outside trim. A lever with a key cylinder, or a trim matched to other hardware finishes in the building, involves more parts and more fitting time.
Device family required
A rim device suits many single doors with modest work. A mortise or vertical-rod device, or hardware built to a fire-exit listing, takes more preparation and generally more hardware, which the quote reflects.
Number of keys or dogging cylinders
Cutting keys for the outside trim and providing a dogging key or keyed dogging cylinder for the device is counted individually, the same way any keyed hardware is.
What to have ready
- Is this for new construction, a renovation, or an existing building?
- Who should hold the dogging key once the work is finished?
- Has a fire inspector or building official already flagged a specific door?
Panic & Exit Hardware: questions
QuestionsHow is occupant load actually counted for this decision?
Occupant load is calculated from the floor area and the intended use of the room, using published factors for that occupancy type, rather than a headcount taken on a busy night. A building official or a locksmith familiar with the calculation can work through it for a specific room, and the result is what decides whether the exit doors serving that room need a releasing device.
Does a retrofit into an older building work the same way as new construction?
The device and trim choices are the same, but a retrofit usually has to work with a door and frame that already carry someone else's old hardware preparation. Reading what holes and reinforcement already exist, and choosing a device that can use or cleanly replace them, is a bigger part of a retrofit than of a new opening built with the hardware in mind from the start.
What is the difference between a rim, mortise and vertical-rod device?
A rim device sits on the surface of the door and suits most single openings, including many tall and fire-rated doors on their own. A mortise device fits into a pocket cut in the door's edge and is chosen where a heavier case or a particular trim style is wanted. A vertical-rod device runs rods to the top, or top and bottom, of the frame, which suits an opening that specifically needs latching at more than one point rather than height by itself.
Related services
- Master Key System DesignThe office key ring has become the org chart.
- Access Control InstallationThe keypad on the side door has started sticking on cold mornings, codes get shared instead of reset, and half the staff still remember a code you meant to retire two hires ago.
- Commercial-Grade Lock ReplacementHead office wants every branch keyed alike under one system, and half the locations are still running whatever lockset the original contractor happened to install years ago.