Q: Hi, I saw you carry a huge number of automatic door bottoms (and I also saw some of your YouTube videos), and was hoping you could help recommend a model? If so, here’s what I’m looking for... I want a fully-mortised model My door is a smidge narrow at 1-5/8” thick, and 41.5” wide I’m in Oakland, California…so no worries about winter elements or anything. We certainly get rain, but there shouldn’t really even be direct rain hitting the door too much. I’d really like the very best quality: I’ve spent 3 years restoring my home and always try to use the best materials and do things the right way. These all seem somewhat similarly priced, so I simply prefer something that’s going to perform well and not break down. Bonus: If possible, I’d like it to look nice. Yes, I know you only see the ends of these and only when the door’s open, but it’s an old 1920s home and I don’t want cheap looking materials if I can avoid. If I had my way I’d prefer unlacquered brass that will age and darken over time, but I’m guessing that’s not an option ;) Again, a nice to have. Thanks so much for your time and help- Robert
A: Robert - giving your unusual door thickness the best in the business is going to be the part number 7053 as seen here:
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In terms of the ends were really going to be relegated to just the standard set of end caps that would be available and they do come in the dark bronze finish and while not unlacquered brass it would certainly compliment better than an aluminum finish.
I would recommend that you order a replacement insert at the same time so that if and when the original seal fatigues you have a replacement ready to go
Q: The description says "Matching #369 End Caps are sold separately". What hardware is included with this ADB? Screws only?
A: While it is true the description states
"Matching #369 End Caps are sold separately" is also true that they are included when you purchase the item - when the factory indicates they are sold separately that means in the future should you need to purchase replacement end caps you can do so without having to purchase the entire automatic door bottom.
The video as seen here we'll detail every nuance of what's included with the
Zero 369AA 36" Sill Protection Automatic Door Bottom with Double Neoprene Insert - Mortised - Heavy Duty - Clear Anodized Aluminum and specifically scrub to minute mark 19:30:
Click Here
Q: Richard, Thanks again for taking the time yesterday to talk through my options for installing an automatic door bottom, astragal, and perimeter seals for a set of double doors Im installing in my home theater. As we discussed, my preference is to do a semi-mortised or full-mortised door bottom. You wisely cued me into the fact that not all solid core doors are the same, so I did a bit of research and discovered that the doors I have are 32" x 80" Reeb Millwork 1-3/4" birch solid particle core. Based on their brochure (p.38), they appear to have a 2" bottom rail and 1" top rail. I like the Zero 369AA automatic door bottom you recommended, but Im not sure whether it would require too deep of a mortise for these doors (it is 1.575" high). Will that work or is there another product you would recommend? We also discussed the Reese 195D astragal. I dont see any reason why that product shouldnt work here. Please let me know if you think otherwise. Lastly, you mentioned using spring bronze weatherstripping and/or perimeter door gaskets. Please let me know what you recommend for this application.
A: David hicken thank you for the email.
It was very good that you investigated the construction details of the door but be mindful that 2” bottom rail is before trim and youre still going to need to determine how much of the door youre going to have to rip off the top and bottom to achieve the specific height meaning you could still run the risk of not having enough lumber there. I have personally trimmed off the both ends of doors and would consider a minimum of 5/8” lumber on the top is where Id like to see that.
I do maintain that the Reese 195D would be a very agreeable solution and I have created a link to the 80” set as seen here:
Click Here
are we guarding the spring bronze its simply used as a way to augment or, belt and suspenders as we discussed on the telephone, regarding your approach to your acoustical project. An example of this material would be the Zero 19WB Bronze Spring Cushion Gasketing - Wide as seen here:
Click Here
you might find beneficial a deep dive into the Zero catalog as seen here and if you were to perform a find function on your keyboard for the letters s t c you will find lots of matches and you can specifically see where the bronze material is used on page 110 the link as seen here:
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What are the questions can I assist with at this time?
Q: Rich, Im thinking of installing three sets of the Precision Lock PLS24PRO-BLK Concealed Magnetic Catches (2 in the header and 1 between the doors). They rate them at 8.8 lbs pull strength, which may alleviate my concern about the automatic door bottoms pushing the doors open. Do you know what the spring force is on the standard Zero 360? They also have the PLS24PROXHD, which I saw you made a video of. Those have 19 lbs pull strength, which seems like too much force to open the doors.
A: Hi Dave - I spoke to Zero and the best answer I could obtain was:
When people use auto door bottoms the opening should have some kind of positive latch. When doors just have push/pull hardware that’s when issues come up with getting door bottoms to stay activated.
My opinion is you go with the PLS24PROXHD, one per door as you can always mortise the strike deeper to lower the holding force as I am convinced, since I assume you are manually closing these doors, that once they are closed the force it would take to actually overcome the weight and width of the door but also the magnets holding force would not exceed the magnets holding force. If you were using door closers or spring hinges I would say you would for sure need the LS option and non-ADA compliant closers.
Hopefully this answer helps. Send me a list of your harwdare and I will email you a summary and total price.