The Christmas season reminds us of the joy and love we are blessed with in our lives, now and throughout the year. Christmas can give us a renewed heart to look for ways we can give of ourselves and serve others. We can forget about our differences and come together to celebrate the good that is in the world.

For many, this celebration will include a visit from that elusive elf Santa Claus. Being in the North Pole, it might be tricky for him to keep his toy factory warm through the winter and all year long. Here are a few recommendations we would have for the doors at St. Nick’s toy workshop.

Commercial Exterior Doors

Commercial exterior doors will face the biggest challenge because these doors will endure the cold as well as moisture. A runaway reindeer may also abuse that door trying to get into the toy factory! So here are some of the recommended solutions to these circumstances.

Hollow metal doors would be the best option at exterior. The metal should be galvannealed to prevent rusting (a minimum of A60 is ideal). Hollow metal faces of the door should be at least 16 gage steel. However, if those reindeer really abuse that door, 14 gage would be a better choice. The thicker gage will be stronger and stand up to greater abuse. Hollow metal frames should also be galvannealed and supplied in 14 gage steel.

Rudolph the red nose reindeer may have bumped that nose into a 14 gage hollow metal door when he was playing those reindeer games.

Hollow Metal Doors in Hollow Metal Frame

Since Santa will want his hard-working elves to stay warm and cozy (and to save on all that hot cocoa they would be drinking to stay warm otherwise) an insulated door core should be used. Polystyrene is the baseline insulated core, especially if fire ratings are a concern. To achieve the best insulation value, though, we would recommend a polyurethane core.

Commercial Interior Doors

Commercial interior doors may face a lot of heavy usage but, depending on where the doors are located, they may not require as much durability as the exterior doors. Hollow metal doors should have a minimum face thickness of 18 gage and be made from cold rolled steel (CRS). Interior doors are not likely to rust, so CRS will be suitable. Honeycomb door cores will be the strongest construction as well as the most cost effective option. Hollow metal frames should be a minimum of 16 gage steel and be made of CRS.

Santa’s little helpers may require interior doors and hardware to meet accessibility requirements or other special conditions. Be aware of the building codes wherever you are, even at the North Pole.

Interior doors could also be wood doors instead of hollow metal. Wood doors provide a beautiful architectural finish to any space. They are very durable and built to withstand typical traffic in a commercial building. Depending on the Big Elf’s budget, the species and finish selected can affect the price in a big way. For instance, wood doors with Cherry veneers will be more costly than wood doors with a more common Red Oak species. Particleboard cores are the most common and are heavy duty enough for most applications.

Conclusion

Providing doors for the North Pole would be an honor and we would want to supply Santa with the best doors we could. We wouldn’t want to end up on the Naughty List! When it comes to providing doors for cold weather or other circumstances, Beacon Commercial Door and Lock will help you in your project to protect your building and the people inside. There are many things to consider when specifying the doors on a building and we will help you get the best options for each application based on your goals and budget. Beacon CDL is Utah’s premier supplier of commercial doors.

Merry Christmas!