Resilience Treatments & Strategies
Doors
Description
Panels that fill openings between spaces, typically mounted on hinges. Exterior doors are often character-defining features of historic buildings. However, they can also be a vulnerability depending on the strength of their hardware and the door slabs themselves. The condition of the door frames and threshold, including good weather-stripping, also impact their overall resilience. Doors are often coated (e.g., with varnish or paint) for both protection and aesthetics.
Typical risk factor of this component:
Moderate
Exterior doors have a high exposure to elements such as wind and rain. Their importance to the structure’s stability and the impact that failure might have on other assemblies are both low.
Typical Damages from Floods or Hurricanes
- Mold growth
- Metal lintels over doors oxidizing
- Peeling paint or otherwise deteriorating finish
- Deteriorating or otherwise damaged threshold
Other common conditions contributing to vulnerability towards floods or hurricanes
- Untempered glazing in doors
- Poor seal or weather tightness (e.g., noticeable draft or light visible in gaps)
- Lower interior floor level than exterior grade
Resilience Treatments and Strategies
In-house
Apply safety/security window film to untempered glazing in door.
Install or improve weather-stripping (e.g., door sweeps) around perimeter of door slabs.
Refinish door (see also NPS Preservation Brief #10).
Repair or replace damaged or insufficient thresholds.
Professional needed [type]
Repair, coat (e.g., paint, varnish, wax), or replace damaged metal components (e.g., steel lintels) with similar assemblies that will resist oxidation [architect]. If they only need a new coating (are not damaging other assemblies), this can be done in-house.
Reconfigure or regrade entry so that exterior finished surface or grade is below interior finished floor. Keep in mind these alterations may negatively impact character-defining features [architect or landscape architect].
Conduct a blower door test to ascertain the building envelope tightness and reveal the leakages within the building [specialist trade].
Doors
Description
Panels that fill openings between spaces, typically mounted on hinges. Exterior doors are often character-defining features of historic buildings. However, they can also be a vulnerability depending on the strength of their hardware and the door slabs themselves. The condition of the door frames and threshold, including good weather-stripping, also impact their overall resilience. Doors are often coated (e.g., with varnish or paint) for both protection and aesthetics.
Typical risk factor of this component:
Moderate
Exterior doors have a high exposure to elements such as wind and rain. Their importance to the structure’s stability and the impact that failure might have on other assemblies are both low.
Typical Damages from Floods or Hurricanes
- Mold growth
- Metal lintels over doors oxidizing
- Peeling paint or otherwise deteriorating finish
- Deteriorating or otherwise damaged threshold
Other common conditions contributing to vulnerability towards floods or hurricanes
- Untempered glazing in doors
- Poor seal or weather tightness (e.g., noticeable draft or light visible in gaps)
- Lower interior floor level than exterior grade
Resilience Treatments and Strategies
In-house
Apply safety/security window film to untempered glazing in door.
Install or improve weather-stripping (e.g., door sweeps) around perimeter of door slabs.
Refinish door (see also NPS Preservation Brief #10).
Repair or replace damaged or insufficient thresholds.
Professional needed [type]
Repair, coat (e.g., paint, varnish, wax), or replace damaged metal components (e.g., steel lintels) with similar assemblies that will resist oxidation [architect]. If they only need a new coating (are not damaging other assemblies), this can be done in-house.
Reconfigure or regrade entry so that exterior finished surface or grade is below interior finished floor. Keep in mind these alterations may negatively impact character-defining features [architect or landscape architect].
Conduct a blower door test to ascertain the building envelope tightness and reveal the leakages within the building [specialist trade].