Architects, Contractors & Engineers
Dear Valued Customer,
We work with architects, contractors and building suppliers to make sure the door you
order will fit your clear opening and building. We will answer your questions and assist
you with shop drawings to make sure that your "Automatic Bi-fold" door will fit your new
or existing building. Available are the door weights, loadings, hinge locations, specs
and fine details.
Important Messages:
The customer, contractor/owner and the building manufacturer are responsible to
ensure that the building's structural design is capable of handling all the imposed
loads that the bi-fold door exerts on your door header, endwall, and building. When
your bi-fold door is in a full open position, the bi-fold door tends to pull away from the
building at the hinge line exerting considerable horizontal loads on the building
structure in the open position. Your building header design must meet standard
deflection and strength criteria, both in vertical and horizontal directions to support the
bi-fold door in all positions.
A1, A2, A3 & A4 Spec Sheets
Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors will provide you with those loads that are applied to your
building and door. We will provide you with our A-1, A-2, A-3, and A-4 Spec sheets for
your actual measurements, movements, weights, and hinge locations. If you have
any questions about bi-fold doors or need technical assistance, feel free to call us at
(507) 426-8273.
Schweiss Doors
Architects, Contractors & Engineers
Upgrade features
Schweiss strongly recommends that upgrade equipment be used on every door
WARNING: Without the proper upgrade equipment,the door could cause property
damage,personal injury or death.
The Schweiss Handbook has information on:
The many different ways to attach a bi-fold door to your new or existing building
structure (wood, steel, quonset, sidewalls, etc.) Detailed illustrations to help you
further understand how to prepare your building for a bi-fold door, without changing
the design of your steel or wood building. Many different applications of an optional
Freestanding Header. The Schweiss Handbook should be read by anyone involved in
the design, specifications,selection or purchase of an industrial bi-fold door operator
or automated bi-fold door system.
Architects, Contractors & Engineers
A. ___ Clear Opening between building Side Columns - Finished Opening.
B. ___ Clear opening from bottom of truss to finished floor - or total clear height
opening.
C. ___ Distance from finished floor to the very top of door hinge. B+D=C.
D. ___ Distance from top of clear height to top of single hinge. This distance will vary
on different size doors. The distance above your clear opening will be
12"-24"-30"-36"-48"-Other_______. Circle One.
E. ___ Distance from top of clear height to center of mounting hole for single hinges.
F. ___ Distance from finished floor to beginning of top building sheeting.
H. ___ The distance from the finished floor to the center of the mounting hole for
the hinges.
CUSTOMER'S CHOICE OF TRUSS:
___Internal ___External
Architects, Contractors & Engineers
Door starting to open
Door fully opened
Placement of Bi-Fold Door onto the Steel Building
Face Mount
Door shall be mounted on the exterior walls of building. - Select one
Steel
Side
Column
Steel Wall
Girt
Inside of
Building
Top View
Building
Line
Sheeting is offset
Outside of
Building
Door Frame Width
Door frame overlaps 1" on each side
Side rails overlap the side columns 3" to 4"
AA - Distance to stay back with the sheeting
Standard Door - Layout
Bi-fold Doors Overlay The Side Columns On The Face Of The Steel Building.
Architects, Contractors & Engineers
WRITTEN SPECS
1. QUANTITY
1.1 Doors for this project will consist of (___) bi-fold doors
2. SIZE OF DOOR - Clear Open Width & Height
2.1 Hanger door with door in up position, shall have a minimum clear opening width of (___'___") as
shown in the plans and a minimum clear height of (___'___") above finished floor elevation.
3. PLACEMENT of the Bi-Fold Door onto the building - Choose One
3.1 Door shall be mounted on the exterior walls of building. Now
3.2 Door shall be mounted flush with exterior walls of building.
4. GENERAL / CONTRACTORS REQUIREMENTS: - DESIGN CRITERIA
4.1 The bi-fold hangar doors shall be designed to the same loading requirements for live, dead and wind
loads as the hangar building.
4.2 The doors shall be engineered to resist all anticipated loads without sagging, bowing or conflicting with
its smooth and efficient operation.
4.3 Design for wind load as required by UBC, 1996 BOCA building code. (Example) Wind Load (___)
mph. Exposure (___)
4.4 The design shall be furnished, approved and sealed by a professional engineer registered in the state
where the project is located
4.5 The building header shall be designed to accommodate horizontal and vertical building deflections to
support the bi-fold door in all positions (with the proper lateral bracing).
4.6 The building's door columns shall be framed of the proper design and size to reinforce the opening (with
lateral bracing) and to carry all loads and vibrations imposed thereon.
4.7 The Bi-fold should have solid footing with sill directly underneath the door frame and extending outward
from the door to provide a base for the door's weather seal. This also prevents flow of water into, or
under, the door installation.
4.8 The finished floor of the building should be designed to prevent flow of water under the door installation.
Sills shall have a slight slope outward of the bi-fold door to prevent water flow under the door installation
These Specifications Can Be Customized For Your Door!
When building our doors, we do not skimp on material! The door frames are
made out of heavy square tubing with a truss in the center and bottom of the
door for extra strength. We have our doors engineered and designed so our
metal is in the right places to give you a good, strong, clean door that will
stand up and work for you! This super construction lets us offer you the best
warranty in the business. We have four different models of bi-fold doors, each
at a very competitive price.
Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors reserves the right to change specifications without any requirement
to change or modify past or existing doors. Copyrighted © 2008 Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without
permission.
