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HYDRAULIC DOORS
BIFOLD DOORS
DESIGNER DOORS:
PROJECTS

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Hydraulic Hinge
On Steroids

Stand-Alone Doors

Locations

Steel Buildings

FREESTANDING HEADER

Need Extra Building Support

Fast & easy way to add extra support

Can be used on older building

Easy to position and layout on the building

All-in-one

Self-supporting

Attaches to your building

Includes - Endwall girts/wind bracing

on round roof building

Top Flash

Steel Siding

Base Trim

Rubber

Building Roof

Weld

Rubber

Horizontal Support

Lateral Bracing

SIDE VIEW OF FLASHING

BEHIND THE HEADER

SIDE VIEW OF
BRACING

on brick or concrete building

Steel Plates for added strength

SIDE VIEW

Plate
bolted
to bldg.

talk about free standing headers

Talk About Freestanding Headers

Schweiss Bifold Doors manufactures the entire freestanding header. You may retrofit it to your building endwall or sidewall. The freestanding header is a quick and easy way to prepare your building for a bifold door. It consists of two side columns and the main header frame.

The freestanding header must be attached to the building and the building must be able to support the vertical and horizontal weights of the bifold door. You must tie the header and side columns to your building and provide a solid footing under the legs of the freestanding header.

WHY USE A FREESTANDING HEADER?

  1. It's a nice easy way to prepare an existing building for a bifold door.
  2. It provides a clean, flat, flush surface to attach your bifold door too.
  3. The freestanding header will offer extra strength.
  4. It provides a nice straight and level place to attach your door to, especially on those older buildings.
  5. It's a quick fix - It's easier than remodeling the existing end wall for a bifold and many times cost effective!
  6. It's a trade-off. You would have to build a header up to your existing end wall and that's not free (labor and material?)
  7. Freestanding headers are made out of 4"x 4"x11 gauge tubes (2 across the full width, 2 legs and base plates).
  8. Larger freestanding headers are made out of larger member sizes.
  9. The header comes all welded together. You must field-weld or bolt both of the legs on.

INSTALLATION OF THE FREESTANDING HEADER

  1. Installation is easy; attach the legs to your side columns and tie the header back into your existing building.
  2. Anchor the base plates to your concrete footing with anchor bolts.
  3. If there are no footings for smaller doors, just attach the side columns to your building posts or columns.
  4. We provide a step-by-step installation manual that is very easy to follow.
  5. If you want to build your own header we will provide you drawings on how to build it yourself.
  6. Take pictures to send to the factory of your large opening, especially for larger header questions.

IMPORTANT:

  1. 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 bifold door exerts to your door header, endwall, and building.
  2. When your bifold door is in the full open position,the bifold door tends to pull away from the building at the hinge line; exerting considerable horizontal loads on the building structure in the open position.
  3. Your building header design must meet standard deflection and strength criteria, both in vertical and horizontal directions to support the bifold door in all positions.
  4. Schweiss Bifold 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.
talk about free standing headers

Freestanding Header

bifold door is attached

Freestanding Header

Lateral Bracing

Freestanding Header

Clear
Opening

Bracing Back the Free Standing Header

Building Purlins

2nd Building Mainframe

Lateral Bracing

Freestanding
Header

Building Endwall
Mainframe

to left header leg

to finished floor

Offset Building Endwall

Freestanding Header

Lateral Bracing back to Building

finished look after assembly

This is the way your freestanding header should look after you assemble it

Field-Drill
these Holes

Header Mainframe

Specs / Measurements

Leg

Leg

Base Plate

Base Plate

Bracing Back to the Building

How to tie your freestanding header back into the building.

Lateral bracing and side plates aren't furnished by Schweiss Bifold Doors.
The customer must supply these methods of tying the header with the building.

Lateral Bracing
Tied to the building
mainframe or endwall
(Not Included -
customer
must supply)

Side Plates (Clips)
Tie onto the building's side columns
Not Included
CUSTOMER MUST SUPPLY
*Fast and easy way to add extra strength
*Can be used on existing buildings
*Easy to position and layout on the building.

assembly

Slide each leg against the header mainframe, it is very important that the legs be
straight, flush, and flat with the header mainframe.

Header Mainframe

Angles are pre-welded onto the header

Leg

Leg

Weld all around the tube
and the angle irons

Base Plate pre-welded to
the leg bottom

Base Plate
pre-welded to
the leg bottom

Header Mainframe must be Flush with the Legs

It is very important that the legs be straight, flush, and flat with the header mainframe.

CORRECT

Header mainframe
is flush with the legs

WRONG!!

Legs aren't resting flush
with the header mainframe

WRONG!!

Header mainframe
is twisted

CORRECT

Header
mainframe
is flush with
the legs

Header main-
frame is flush
with the legs

Straight,
Flush, and Flat

attaching the legs to concrete flooring

Existing Building Post

Freestanding Header

Bifold Door

Doorframe

Door Sheeting

Bottom Trim

Bottom Rubber Seal

Base Plate

Inside
Building

Freestanding
Header Leg

Door rolls up
on here

Floor Level

Footing

goes below
frost line

Anchor
Bolts

Should be flush with the
inside floor or where door
will be sitting on

Anchor Bolt - by customer

Footing - by customer goes below frost line

Not Included -
Customer Must Supply The
Anchor Bolts And Concrete Footing

Schweiss Does it Better!