Communal front door

[elisa123]

Our communal front door will only close/open by giving it a hard push. Apparently, the door was repaired yesterday but is no better. The middle hinge is now bent.
Contractor suggests having an aluminium door fitted (surprise, surprise). Could anybody advise, please. We think that the contractor is taking us for a ride.
Thanks

 

[ronniecabers]

You say communal.. how many people use it? Reason being the average Upvc door is considered ' Residential ' , so if traffic is heavy then the door is really not up to it without regular ' servicing/repairs ' . Having said that , I know of Upvc doors on Doctors surgeries and garages/petrol stations that get used a lot and are perfectly fine or have had repairs ( like new handles or locks ) over a 10 year period but are still very usable doors. The hinge looks like a trojan Patriot ( @crank39 will be able to correct me ), which were superceded by the Patriot Plus. Hole positions are marginally different but if you replaced all 3 hinges it shouldn't be a problem. Is it a Upvc specialist repairing the door or a general handy man, because it could be the glass needed ' toe and heeling ' , or correct adjustment of the door closer but that hinge needs dealing with first

 

[crank39]

Yes it's a Trojan Patriot hinge though a mk1, superceded by the Patriot Plus, decent hinges to be fair and always my go to hinge when quoting for replacement upgrades. In terms of the door I have mixed feelings on upvc communal doors especially ones with closers because of the slight resistance when opening the door it always puts a bit of strain on the hinges and I've found on some it can work the screws out or pull them through if not a reinforced frame, as Ronnie mentioned residential is a world away from communal due to the nature and high traffic environment and IMO can get abused and become tired very quickly so in that respect I would prefer to see commercial spec aluminium with a concealed overhead closer, just a much stronger door that can stand some abuse, here's one i went to last year, apparently hinges kept coming loose