Webster Groves Schools District Gets Style plus Durability With Wood-Grained Metal Fire Doors

WEBSTER GROVES, Missouri--February 20, 2001

The need to upgrade the doors on a school building with a 100-year history to achieve greater durability without diminishing its historic architecture led to new and improved door standards being implemented throughout the Webster Groves School District. Using Steelcraft's GrainTech™ wood-grained metal doors, the district is meeting fire codes while also enhancing the appearance of its buildings and protecting against damage and wear.

Keeping History In Step With Today

Webster Groves, a community of slightly more than 25,000, is a part of the greater St. Louis area. The Webster Groves School District also serves parts of several surrounding communities, with a total of nine schools plus administrative facilities.

One large building, the Webster Groves High School, is nearing 100 years old and has a student population of approximately 1,350. Beginning with a building built in 1906, it has been expanded by several additions, the most recent in 1966. As with any school building, the doors are heavily used and require constant maintenance and upgrading to protect their security and appearance functions. Like many school buildings today, its usage goes beyond the typical school day, with evening classes, dances, and other programs. Typically, it is in use up to 16 hours per day, six days per week.

"Originally, the building had standard fire-rated wood doors," explains Rick Ernst, director of operations for the district. "With kids carrying backpacks and cases that have keys or buckles attached, the door surfaces take a lot of abuse. Our kids are busy getting from class to class and socializing, and the heavy traffic is rough on all of our interior fixtures." Add to that the occasional door that is damaged by vandalism or horseplay, and it didn't take long for the building's wood doors to look tired.

"All the fire doors at the high school were in extremely bad condition and needed to be replaced," Ernst points out. "Our fire department worked with us very closely to determine what type of door would be an acceptable replacement. We also needed to develop a program of going through and systematically replacing the doors to keep costs in line with budgets."

Metal Durability with Wood's Warmth

To improve both the durability and appearance of the school's interior doors, some of the worst corridor and stairwell doors were replaced with Steelcraft's GrainTech™doors, which provide not only the warmth and appearance of wood, but also the enhanced strength and fire resistance of steel. Fire-rated at 1-1/2 hrs., the doors feature wood grain surfaces that are embossed into the metal, then painted with a factory-baked, specially formulated stainable primer and stained to closely resemble wood.

To ensure optimal longevity and functionality, Ernst chose doors with options that include heavier 16-gauge steel, as well as a lower thermal conductivity. He says the doors will not exceed a safe temperature level for up to 20 minutes during a fire, while the school can be evacuated in less than 10 minutes. "Our local codes currently don't call for temperature rise protection," he notes," but the added protection ensures the safety of our children. The cost is low if specified with the new doors, and while existing doors without this option would probably be grandfathered in, I prefer to stay ahead of the curve."

Despite the doors' sturdy steel construction, their embossed wood graining and traditional appearance help maintain the historical aesthetics of the building. Ernst says, "We tried to match closely to existing architectural features while maintaining a timeless look and feel."

A total of 48 pairs of stairwell and corridor doors have already been replaced. To provide the required combination of security and life safety protection, they are equipped with Von Duprin 99 Series exit devices. LCN door closers keep the doors closed when required, to provide fire protection. Continuous fire-rated hinges help ensure longer service life and prevent excess wear or damage.

Nearing the end of the first school year after the new doors were installed, Ernst noted, "We've had them in the building for nine months, and they've held up beautifully. By now, the previous doors would have been scratched and marred, and typically one of the doors would have been broken. In one incident, a door was undamaged after a student was seen pushing a metal library cart into it. I think metal GrainTech™series doors will be the last doors that will have to go into this building."

Expanding to Other Facilities

Gradually, Ernst is moving other schools in the district in the same direction by replacing wood doors there with the wood-grained metal. "We have metal GrainTech™ doors at Avery Elementary School too," he reports. "We have a primary pod at Avery, and we wanted to brighten up the area and get a nice, fresh look with different lighting and floor tiles. The new doors were a natural addition." As new construction develops, the Steelcraft doors also will be specified there, according to Ernst. He is hoping to replace many more doors throughout the district as part of a major remodeling and upgrading project to be funded by a pending bond issue.

"Our Board of Education is very progressive about safety and security issues at all our schools," says Ernst, " and we've accelerated our installation program considerably."