I’m shopping for glass fireplace doors for a home I own. So far I’ve been to three local shops to look at their display models. The manufacturers represented are Stoll, Design Specialties and Portland Williamette.
The FP is a manufactured zero-cleareance model, with an air cooled chamber and a front-facing fascia made of metal on all four sides (top, bottom, left, right).
Two of the three the local shops have shown and quoted zero clearance reface doors, which will attach with magnets. The third shop thinks something attached to the existing metal trim will work, but they have to inspect the existing frame geometry to confirm.
For the floor demo/samples I saw, the door framing, finishes and hardware seemed well made and nice.
However I was hugely unimpressed with the alignment of the glass doors in any of the demos. For me this has to be near perfect. But what I saw in three show rooms was one step above just plain sloppy.
After two shops in one day, I left thinking if these guys can’t get their display models to look right, or even look perfect, then what can one expect in a final delivered and installed product? And even worst, what will the door alignment look like after a few years of use.
My questions after this adventure:
- How near to perfect will the glass door alignment be? At the center top, with bi fold doors on a ZC Reface set of doors.
- Will the manufacturers, and their distributor/shops/technicians be able to adjust things? Over the full life of the FP?
- Of the three manufacturers, who will have the closest tolerances, the beefiest frame setup and the better workmanship and alignment on the doors? I’m asking about the center top point where the LH and RH doors meet when closing?
Include are some pictures I made to mimic what I saw. Two pieces of glass represent the top of the doors when they swing closed, and some scrap wood to represents the frame. One of the pics is in perfect alignment, what I want but not what I saw in any of the three shops I want to.
Two pics represent what I saw in every sample I looked at and played with by opening and closing the doors. In fact my pics under estimate how much some of the models were misaligned.
The FP is a manufactured zero-cleareance model, with an air cooled chamber and a front-facing fascia made of metal on all four sides (top, bottom, left, right).
Two of the three the local shops have shown and quoted zero clearance reface doors, which will attach with magnets. The third shop thinks something attached to the existing metal trim will work, but they have to inspect the existing frame geometry to confirm.
For the floor demo/samples I saw, the door framing, finishes and hardware seemed well made and nice.
However I was hugely unimpressed with the alignment of the glass doors in any of the demos. For me this has to be near perfect. But what I saw in three show rooms was one step above just plain sloppy.
After two shops in one day, I left thinking if these guys can’t get their display models to look right, or even look perfect, then what can one expect in a final delivered and installed product? And even worst, what will the door alignment look like after a few years of use.
My questions after this adventure:
- How near to perfect will the glass door alignment be? At the center top, with bi fold doors on a ZC Reface set of doors.
- Will the manufacturers, and their distributor/shops/technicians be able to adjust things? Over the full life of the FP?
- Of the three manufacturers, who will have the closest tolerances, the beefiest frame setup and the better workmanship and alignment on the doors? I’m asking about the center top point where the LH and RH doors meet when closing?
Include are some pictures I made to mimic what I saw. Two pieces of glass represent the top of the doors when they swing closed, and some scrap wood to represents the frame. One of the pics is in perfect alignment, what I want but not what I saw in any of the three shops I want to.
Two pics represent what I saw in every sample I looked at and played with by opening and closing the doors. In fact my pics under estimate how much some of the models were misaligned.
