The benefits of using Beacon’s pre-installation seem obvious to most construction industry experts. You get a product that is prepared as much as possible for quick finishing on the job site to finalize the install. Onsite install time is reduced dramatically, by over 75% in many cases! That means a door that used to take 1 hour to install would now only take about 15 minutes. That’s 45 minutes saved per door. For a project of 100 doors, that means a time savings of 75 working hours, potentially more. Imagine all the other work that can get done in that amount of time.

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As people catch the vision of what pre-installed door hardware allows you to do on a project, there are some who are still hesitant to adopt this service on every project.

In this Halloween special article, we’re going to address some of the pain points that pre-install solves so that you don’t make the mistake of turning down door hardware pre-install.

Pre-installed Door Hardware Prevents Shortages

Imagine a project where a contractor rejects pre-install (or uses a subcontractor who doesn’t offer it!) and wants all the doors and hardware delivered on separate pallets to be distributed throughout the building for installation.

  • The doors and hardware arrive and have to be stored for the night in one location since it will take a while to sort through.
  • The next day, someone has to pull the hardware off the pallets and organize it to make sure it is all accounted. If anything is missing, the contractor has to call the distributor and figure out what happened. Then someone has to do the same with the doors.
  • Next, as workers carry the doors and hardware to their respective openings, items are left behind on the pallet. So the worker has to return to the pallet to find the items to finish the install.
  • Then they move on to the next door and repeat this process: find the right hardware, carry it to the opening, open each box, read the instructions to install the hardware, then install each piece of the door hardware and make adjustments.
  • Hopefully all the hardware ended up on the door and that it was the right hardware!

Now imagine a project where a contractor gets to use Beacon’s pre-install service.

  • The doors and hardware arrive at Beacon’s facility direct from the manufacturers factory.
  • Beacon organizes the material using our standard process and procedures by project.
  • Doors flow through our pre-install workshop where the hardware is installed efficiently.
  • If anything is missing all the hardware is located nearby so picking hardware items to install is a simple task. Shortages are caught well in advance of when the door needs to be onsite.
  • The hardware schedule is checked to ensure material is accounted for, functioning, and in proper order.
  • Then the doors are shipped to the job site.
  • Now when the doors are distributed to their openings and all that is required is a few screws to attach the hinges and closer arms to the frame and the door is complete.

What used to take an onsite logistics expert now requires a short distance from pallet, to frame, to completion in a fraction of the time.

 

 

Pre-installed Door Hardware Saves Time and Money

Imagine a construction project that has a tight deadline and a tight budget and installs door hardware the old fashion way (on site, one opening at a time).

  • Each trade has a lot of work to do and scheduling them so they don’t work on top of each other is a mess, including all the boxes of door hardware and doors around the job site.
  • Trade damage hurts the schedule because one group that should have come last is schedule too soon and one group that should have come earlier comes late and has to tip toe around the building.
  • Punch list items drag on and on while everyone on the project begins to lose their patience
  • What should have moved smoothly has now lost all semblance of organized construction work and will cost extra

Now imagine a construction project that has a tight deadline and a tight budget and uses Beacon’s Pre-installation service

  • While other trades are on site, Beacon is working on installing the door hardware in our pre-install workshop getting them ready for a quick install on site
  • Trade damage doesn’t reach Beacon’s warehouse where the pre-installed doors are clean and protected
  • All hardware items are checked off as they are installed in Beacon’s warehouse
  • Once the project is ready, doors can be delivered, installed, and completed the same day in many cases requiring no punch list items

Less working time is required on site and money is saved by preventing trade damage or time spent cleaning up boxes and garbage

Pre-Installed Door Hardware Helps Relieve Stress

Imagine a construction project where the contractor is going to do all the install by themselves

  • On top of everything else the contractor is working on, they have to schedule time to spend on installing the doors and hardware
  • Once they get to the hardware, they find some things that are time consuming to install and take some troubleshooting once they are installed
  • After trying their best to get the hardware to work, they still have to call the distributor to figure out a solution
  • Until a solution is found, there may be some down time until help arrives
  • Hopefully the installed hardware lasts as long as it is supposed to!

Now imagine construction project where the contractor accepts the pre-installed hardware service

  • Hardware is installed by experienced technicians who are dedicated to pre-install
  • Beacon’s team of in-house experts work together to solve hardware application questions and troubleshoot issues directly through established manufacturer relationships
  • Doors are delivered to the job site and only require a few screws to finalize the installation

Conclusion

Halloween may be spooky this year, but your construction project doesn’t have to be when you use Beacon’s pre-install services. The benefits are obvious and the results speak for themselves. Beacon has been innovating in commercial doors and hardware services for over 50 years and we will continue to deliver high quality solutions for our clients. Contact a sales representative today to ask about pre-install services.

Happy Halloween!