Iron Door and Window up keep tips

Cleaning your decorative iron door or window is very important, once or even twice a year depending on your location. Most decorative iron doors and windows are coated with a clear lacquer over the faux paint. The degree it is applied will very a great deal from one manufacturer to another. The ideal cleaner seems to be Murphy's Oil Soap, but any mild detergent used sparingly with lots of water will work. Most scuffs and scratches are easily wiped away with your solution and cloth, but the most important step is drying with a dry cloth immediately after cleaning. This would be the "wipe on, wipe off" move as you go. Missing this step leaves a streaky mess.

If you have grease fittings on your hinges, you must inspect very carefully before applying grease. Remember that a hinge is an open unsealed mechanism and will readily leak grease all over the place. You should see rust, hear a squeak (locate the squeaky hinge), or feel a resistance when opening before you decide to grease up your iron door. If necessary, you can purchase grease guns at your local auto parts dealer or even Wal Mart. Once you've loaded your grease gun, and you have pumped it until the grease is at the end of the nozzle, push the grease nozzle onto the grease fitting. In most cases you will hear a snap, but not always. Only pump one or two at most before operating the door back and forth to work in the grease. If you pump enough that you see grease coming from you hinge, you've used to much.

Door bottoms, or sweeps, are consumable and will ware out over time depending on the use of the door. You can pick up replacements at your local hardware store for around $5 a piece. The problem is going to be gathering enough friends to lift the door panels off, lay them on their side, remove and replace the sweep, and re-setting the panel. When purchasing a door bottom, you will look for a 1 3/4" size. Try to find one that does not have a connector rib to fit into a groove, or also avoid sweeps with tall mounting legs to be screwed to the face of the door. You will probably need to have some new self tapping 1/4" sheet metal screws to re-attach. Run a continuous bead of silicone across the bottom of the door panel before applying the new sweep. Attach with screws about 6" to 8" apart.

For more tips and tricks, or to view some American Made Iron Doors, go to www.irondoorsofatlanta.com

Decorative Wrought Iron Doors (brake down)

The modern replacement iron entry door is composed of:

• Steel tube foam filled jamb
• Steel tube foam filled door panels
• Solid steel scroll/bar
• Glass panel, or glass stop

Though advertised as 1/8" steel; most out of country manufacturers use 12 gauge steel tubing for their components which is thinner than 1/8". The same tubing produced in the U.S. is more readily 11 gauge, this is a true 1/8". Doesn't sound like much, but it is the difference between denting with a hammer blow or not.

The iron scroll is almost always a solid square or round bar, size determined by design. The "status Que" has been simple tapered scroll ends instead of decorative ends such as fish tail or spiral due to cost cuts and the commercialization of the decorative iron door. Even now some manufacturers are cutting corners using a CNC plasma to cut instead of bend their scroll. Needless to say, the quality is obviously below average.

Glass panels are the "crown jewels" to any iron salesman or woman. This feature does have advantages over conventional doors in that it allows you to answer the door with limited exposure, and it makes glass cleaning a breeze. The problem however is the seal around the glass panel. This seal is a compression seal based on how tight the window latches are adjusted. To little and you see leakage, to much and something goes SNAP! It seams that all the manufactures use a simple flat cast aluminium cam latch. This latch type has proven problematic for both the China and Mexico doors, breakage is common. Using a cast iron or forged iron window latch is a much safer and beneficial upgrade.

There are hundreds of types of hinges on the market used for iron doors, windows, and gates. The most common is the grease fitted barrel hing, also the welded strap, and turned steel bushed hinges. Of all the choices the steel bushed hinge offers longevity and is more user friendly than any of the rest. It requires no more lubrication than your typical front door, and has a service life twice that of strap or butt weld on hinges.

When searching for an iron door or window, be sure to check out:

• Where the door or window is made
• What is the true thickness of the steel
• How thier scroll is made (cut vs. bend)
• What type of glass panels or glass prep is offered
• What is included in the ticket price
• How long will it take to ship
• Warranties comparison

Take a look at www.irondoorsofatlanta.com to see some American Made Iron Doors.