Commercial Door and Frame Replacement in a 150-Year-Old Downtown Ottawa Church

This side entrance belongs to a church in downtown Ottawa that is about 150 years old. The building is still in daily use, and this door is one of the ways people come and go. The old steel door and frame had worn out, and the opening is not a simple rectangle: it is a pointed stone arch set in walls that were built long before standard door sizes existed. We replaced the door and frame, installed all of the door hardware and a handicap door operator, and our parent company, Can-Lock Security, installed the access control system.

Four people worked on this entrance: two door technicians, an access control technician and an electrician. Having all of the trades on the job together meant the door, the frame, the operator, the access control and the wiring behind them were installed as one entrance, instead of one trade working around another's leftovers.

The entrance before the work

The old door was a painted steel door with a small window, a push bar exit device and an overhead closer. Years of use and weather had taken their toll. The paint had peeled away along the latch edge and the bottom of the door, the face was scuffed and stained, and the frame had been repainted and patched more than once. The door still opened, but it no longer looked or worked like the main entrance to a building that many people rely on.

Inside, the door opens into a small vestibule with a second door, and there is a push button on the stone wall outside the entrance. A wooden canopy shelters the doorway. All of that had to keep working around the new door, and the building had to stay secure while the old door was out.

Why a 150-year-old opening is different

Modern commercial doors and frames are made for rectangular openings with straight, plumb sides. Older stone buildings rarely give you that. The walls of this church are thick, the stone is uneven, and the top of the opening rises to a point. The previous frame had been set into that opening with filler and trim around it, and the shaped space above the frame was closed with a panel.

That means the job is not just swapping a door. The new frame has to be set plumb, level and square inside an opening that is none of those things, so the door closes evenly, latches every time and works properly with an automatic operator. The space between the straight frame and the curved, uneven stone has to be closed neatly and weather-tight. And all of it has to be done without damaging stonework that cannot be replaced.

Removing the old door and frame

The old door came off first, followed by its closer and hardware. From inside the vestibule, the shape of the opening is clear: rough stone on both sides and a stone arch overhead, with the old frame sitting inside it.

The old frame was then taken out of the opening. With the frame gone, you can see the old filler and the layers of paint where it met the stone. The frame was removed from inside the existing opening, so the stone around it stayed in place.

Setting the new steel frame

The new steel frame was set inside the opening, shimmed until it was plumb and square, and anchored to the structure. Getting the frame right is what decides how well the door works for years afterwards: a frame that is slightly twisted makes a door drag, miss its latch or fight the closer and the operator.

Above the frame, the pointed head of the opening was closed with a new metal infill panel cut to the shape of the arch. Outside, new wood casings were fitted between the frame and the stone on both sides, covering the uneven gap and giving the doorway a clean, finished edge while leaving the original stonework and arch fully visible.

The new door and hardware

The new door is a grey steel door with a vision panel, hung on new hinges and fitted with new locking hardware. It swings outward, as entrance doors used for exiting generally do, and closes evenly against the new frame. We installed all of the door hardware so that the lock, the hinges and the operator work together as one system rather than a mix of old and new parts.

Handicap door operator

For a building that welcomes the public, an entrance that people can use without pulling a heavy door matters. We installed a handicap door operator on the inside, above the new door. The operator opens the door when someone presses the push button beside the entrance, holds it, and lets it close again under control.

The operator was mounted on the header above the frame, and the electrician on the crew handled the electrical work it needs before it was set up on site. Its opening speed, hold-open time and closing force are adjusted to suit the door and the people using it, so the door opens far enough and long enough to get through comfortably and closes without slamming. Because the door, frame, hardware and operator were installed together, the operator was set up on a door that hangs straight and latches cleanly, which is what makes an automatic door reliable.

If you manage an older building and want to add an operator to an existing entrance, see handicap door operators in Ottawa and automatic door installation.

Access control by Can-Lock Security

The access control system for this entrance was installed by Can-Lock Security, our parent company, with its access control technician working alongside our door technicians. Access control lets the building decide who can open the door and when, without handing out and tracking physical keys. Doing it at the same time as the door replacement meant the new door, its locking hardware, the operator and the access control were planned as one entrance instead of being added on one at a time.

For the door side of access control, including electric strikes, maglocks and electrified exit hardware, see access control door hardware in Ottawa.

Finishing inside and out

Inside the vestibule, new trim was fitted around the frame where it meets the stone, and the operator wiring was tidied into place. Outside, the new casings and the arch panel finish the opening. The result is an entrance that works like a modern commercial door while keeping the character of the old stone archway.

Planning door work in an older building

Churches, halls and other older buildings often have entrances that were changed many times over the years. If you are planning work on one, a few things help:

• Look at the whole opening, not just the door. A worn frame or an opening that has moved will make even a new door work badly.
• Plan accessibility and security together. If a handicap operator or access control may be added later, choosing the door, frame and hardware for it now avoids paying twice.
• Keep the stonework. In many cases a new frame can be fitted inside the existing opening, with infill and trim closing the shaped parts, so the masonry is not cut.
• Think about the people using the door. Doors used by the public need hardware that stands up to heavy use and an entrance that everyone can get through.

We also repair doors in older buildings when replacement is not needed; see church door repair and hollow metal door repair.

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