September 2017

Gary Deter, the owner of Architectural Door Consultants, in Laguna Miguel, Calif., is helping to drive the western expansion of Total Door. As the company’s representative for Southern California, Arizona and southern Nevada, Gary has been a key force in identifying and signing on well-respected distributors in a vital part of the country.

“Projects are booming on the west coast,” Gary says, adding that he’s excited to bring Total Door Systems into more of them.

Gary has been in the door and hardware industry for 36 years and added Total Door to his product list two years ago. He said the addition of Total Door products allows him to compete with some of the largest firms on the west coast for every project.

His process of working with distributors is to emphasize direct contact with distributors to foster relationships and a deeper understanding of their specific needs. Gary works with a complete customer-centric approach, which means ensuring that distributors have the right training and support to understand new products, how they relate to their specific markets, and the full spectrum of support options available to them through Total Door.

As part of Total Door’s inaugural Advisory Council, Gary is interested in candid feedback from distributors on the tools and support that would help them work more successfully with Total Door Systems.

“Communication is a two-way street at Total Door,” Gary says, “It’s an important value that we share.”

The old axiom about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure holds true in an emerging issue regarding pressure parameters in our industry. The lack of a standard pressure parameter for doors that protect elevator shafts during a fire has meant that many doors are subject to as much as 30 – 40 pounds of pressure, an unsustainable amount for nearly any door.

The problem presented itself during a recent project audit in California. Doors were slamming with too much force because the elevator shafts were pressurized twice as high as necessary. Elevator shafts are pressurized to contain smoke and prevent it from spreading to different floors.

Smoke evacuation design is important, but all too often overlooked. The teams in charge of HVAC and door specifications can operate in silos. The lack of communication means that while there are general suggestions on the pressure, the range is too broad to be meaningful, and no standard parameter has emerged to guide the process.

Beyond identifying the right specification, bridging the communication gap and inviting more collaboration with HVAC is the goal. The right spec will maximize door protection and safety, and maintain Total Door’s reputation for excellence – before and after installation.

While Total Door is at the front end of confronting this issue, we will keep you informed of our progress in upcoming newsletters.