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Author Topic: Hollow metal door frames  (Read 2333 times)

Ryan Massey

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Hollow metal door frames
« on: December 27, 2008, 05:11:21 PM »

Hey Folks-
I just finished building a number of new rehearsal studios at my facility.  I had originally spec'd heavy, solid core exterior doors in equally solid wood frames.  Unfortunately, at some point in the project, the city demanded that my lovely open hallways (with 20 ft ceilings and skylights) be covered to make a 1 hour rated fire exit.  With the hallway in place, I was also no longer allowed to use the wood door frames, and had to use fire rated metal ones.  

I find myself dealing with one of those "weakest link" moments. We used double stud construction, multiple layers of sheetrock, caulk, etc., and the sound transmission from room to room is damn good.  The hallways, however, are horribly loud, due (I believe) to these hollow metal door frames.  The contractor did backfill the frames with fiberglass, but I'm wondering if there is anything else I can do to quiet these assemblies down, or if I am going to have to rip out all of the frames and re-install the doors with proper, solid wood ones.  It would be a heck of a lot of work, and I may be circumventing code, which I am not anxious to do.  

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Ryan
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rankus

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Re: Hollow metal door frames
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2009, 02:10:29 PM »



Hi Ryan,

Not only are the frames hollow on those suckers but often the door itself is hollow.

In the past I have glued carpet to them to knock down sound a little.  But I wonder what that would do to the fire rating?

cheers rick

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Ryan Massey

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Re: Hollow metal door frames
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2009, 04:20:44 PM »

Hey Rick-
Thanks for the response...

No, the doors are a fire rated, solid core MDF.  

There are currently so many issues with the doors, that I'm having a hard time discerning how major of an issue the frames are.  The contractor did a BS job on the door seals and sweeps, so nothing is even remotely airtight right now.  We are meeting tomorrow and I will be pointing all of this out to him.  I've put my ear close to the door and moved around looking for the loudest spots, and I'm still concerned.  

I'm thinking I will have the contractor get one door "right" and then I will make some decision on whether I need to go back to the drawing board with the frames, or if things will be ok.

Thanks again, Rick!
Ryan
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franman

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Re: Hollow metal door frames
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2009, 12:48:39 PM »

In this type of situation we would typically specify that the hollow metal door frames be filled with pre-mixed grout before they are installed. This will make them solid (no longer hollow) and get rid of the metallic 'ring'.. It's a big step in improving performance on a standard metal door fram.

FM
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