Episode #26 - What Can Go Wrong? Acoustic Door Installation Lessons from the Field

Part 3 of our Acoustic Door Series

What Can Go Wrong? Acoustic Door Installation Lessons from the Field

Lisa Morrow

Welcome back to another Acoustic Door discussion with Grace Jacob, IAC Acoustics Architectural Doors and Windows Sales Manager and Mike Cerna of Hensel Diversified Construction. Last time we were together, we talked about how acoustic door performance depends on the entire assembly and not just the door itself. Today we're taking it a step further and looking at what happens during installation because even the best designed acoustic door can run into problems if the installation isn't done correctly.

Lisa Morrow

Mike, for contractors or installers who may not have worked with acoustic doors before, what tends to surprise them the most?

Mike Sirna

People that are unfamiliar with acoustic doors, think the biggest thing, the most prominent thing that surprises me is the weight of the door. Those doors, when they are put on the hinges, it takes a couple of people to do it. Some of them are upwards of four, five, 600, 700 pounds. Some of just the lower ones are still 250 pounds a piece. So I think that people are surprised at the weight of the door. Initially, that's the biggest breakthrough.

Lisa Morrow

To piggyback on that question, in our last talk you mentioned issues that could come up if a wall opening isn't perfectly square or level. How could this impact installing the acoustic door and what adjustments are possible in the field?

Mike Sirna

Basically, we get in and we check with the laser, we make sure it's plumb and true. If it's not, depending on the size of the air, we can add shims or we can cheat the frame a little bit. But by cheating the frame, we allow a possibility of a flanking path because the frame is designed to sit tight against the wall system that it's being plugged into. And if it's not, then it just introduces the possibility of the door not performing in its intended specifications.

Lisa Morrow

Thank you. And Grace, what are some installation mistakes that can be avoided with fully factory assembled doors?

Grace Jacob

Well, I think that one of the key things to think about when you're getting hardware included with your doors is that if the factory is installing them, not only are they going to be installed correctly, but they'll use the correct hardware. So sometimes if you get a prep only door that opens up the, it kind of opens up the door, am I right? To mistakes to be made and incorrect hardware being applied where it doesn't fit and field modifications being done to make it work, such as cutting seals and maybe cutting too many holes and things like that, or having strikes that interfere with those seals. It takes away a lot of the variables that can cause issues with performance.

Plus, when they're factory assembled, they're hung and swung and adjusted so that everything is going to be in alignment before they arrive at the job site. So as long as that rough opening is square, plumb and true, everything should go pretty well.

Lisa Morrow

And now back to you, Mike. Are there any installation mistakes that can permanently affect acoustic performance?

Mike Sirna

We always try and tell the end user, one of the biggest things that happens in the field that people are all guilty of, depending on the timing of the project, our timing in the project, like we'll install doors and then we basically set them to be, this is how they're going to be used. But if the project is still in construction, people will prop the doors open. One of the things that they do is they want to like stick a doorstop or stick something underneath the door.

[If]you do that, you're going to damage the Teflon cartridge underneath. Or you're going to, if it sits there for long enough time, you're going to basically mount form the cartridge. So when it closes, now you've got a gap where the wedge was, and the wedge is going to allow noise to transit through. That's the only way to fix that is to remove the door and remove the cartridge, install a new cartridge. And so we beat the drum on that one. We tell people, do not put anything in front of these doors.

People go well then I'm gonna up up up at a door stop in there. We shy away from that because now you're penetrating the outer shell of the door. It could be a possible flanking path. It depends on our school of thought, but we are basically the ones that say don't do anything to their don't do any kind of modifications. We had a door recently that was failing at the hinge point. And the accreditation officer said, there's something wrong with the hinge pock.

And so I said, okay, so I've gone out there a week later and it was a door to a server room, and they had taken a block of steel and stuck it between the seal and the door to kind of prop it open. And I took a picture of it. said, here's your problem. We took it out. The seals luckily were not permanently damaged, but we had to apply a little bit of heat to kind of get the bellow seal to kind of go back into shape. And it was fine, but it was one of those things where people are quick to blame the manufacturer for a deficiency or something for a non-performance issue. And a lot of times it's environmental. It's something that they've done in the field, not thinking like, if I do this, it could possibly affect the seal. The seal is one of the critical components of what makes that door operate the way it does.

Lisa Morrow

Grace, from the sales side, what can be done earlier in a project to avoid some of these installation challenges?

Grace Jacob

I'd say welcoming me or my representatives to the job site before any material arrives to ensure that those rough openings are ready. The rough opening dimensions are so critical. We want to make sure that they're square, plumb, and the correct size because these are the most Goldilocks acting things of all time. If the hole is too small...then the frames will twist and nothing will align right and none of the seals will make contact the way they're supposed to, and this might as well be a regular hollow metal door. If it's too big, then that just offers more flanking paths that we can't even see with the naked eye anymore. And while yes, they can oftentimes be infilled with some insulation, insulation isn't going to block sound, it only absorbs it. So,

We don't want to rely on a bunch of insulation in those extra spaces around the door. And so we really want it to be just right. Just like Goldilocks. Just right.

Lisa Morrow

I'm sure both of you have seen or heard some interesting situations in the field. Mike, are there any real-world examples that stand out, maybe a project where installation challenges had to be solved on the fly?

Mike Sirna

We had just performed a large exterior door. It was an STC-55 door at a university. And it was an exterior door to their south stage. And when we got there, they had put in a cover over the door. So that means that we couldn't hang the door like we normally did. We also shot the door with the laser.

The threshold over 12 feet was out three quarters of an inch to one side. It was low. And then the low side of that door, the wall was out three quarters of an inch, almost an inch out of plumb top to bottom. So if you can imagine the top of the header of the door was zero and the bottom of the door was minus an inch to the inside. So we shimmed the door with wood and we told the end user, hey, this is a problem.

And they were like, you know, okay, so we got it. We got it to work. It was perfect. And then about a month later, they called and said, your door's not working. So we had looked and seen where they had touched our stuff and them touching our perfectly set door created a situation.

And we had a project in Florida where they had framed a studio and instead of doing full length studs from deck to deck, they had split it in the middle. The way to the door slinging open caused the wall to flex outward and the door to drag. The fix for that was we had them go in with structural plywood and put structural plywood on the entire inside of that door wall to try and firm up the door. Because like I said, people are really surprised with the weight of these doors. I mean, these doors, when they're closed, they still weigh the same, but when they are swinging and they're at 90 degrees or 105 degrees, the weight is literally pulling that door. That wants to pull that door out of the opening. That's why it's critical that when we install, we use the right fasteners, we make sure that it's shimmed, we make sure that there's no any kind of slop or play in it because that will, over time, that will just magnify.

Lisa Morrow

Mike, if you could give one piece of advice to contractors or specifiers working with acoustic doors, what would it be?

Mike Sirna

So, this is where I have this thing where I call it the three P's. You plan, you prepare, and then I pray that you got it right. By planning, say, make sure that your opening is perfect. We had projects where the rough opening was 87 and a half and the clear opening was 86. And we get there to do the opening and the rough opening is 86. And the framer goes, yeah, it says here it's 36 by 86. And they go, that's our clear opening. Preparation is key. Make sure that the people that are doing the opening are qualified to do it because anything that they do that's wrong translates into time lost for us. And time lost for us translates into a discussion that we're going to have to have at a later time.

Lisa Morrow

Anything you'd like to add, Grace?

Grace Jacob

For contractors, I just again would say, let me or my reps inspect the openings before anything arrives. We're on your team. We want to see a successful install, and that all starts with the perfect opening. For specifiers, I'd say spec the factory fit and finish with hardware, fully assembled doors. It takes away any sort of variables that you could have in the field. If there's going to be a window in the door, make sure that glazing is included so that you're having the proper infills for all of that.

And then to PMs and GCs I'd say trust the acoustical consultant's advice. They were hired to do this, they did the math, they took into account all kinds of factors that you may not even realize affect sound performance and so they've chosen a very specific STC, they've chosen a certain assembly with the wall and they've also chosen a trusted manufacturer that they think will be able to deliver on what the end user is really hoping for.

Lisa Morrow

Thank you both for your time today and thank you to our listeners for tuning in. For more on IAC doors, visit iacacoustics.com. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to subscribe or share this episode with a colleague. Until next time.