Door closers · Greater Manchester
The closer is the only thing making it a fire door.
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- Fitted £65-140
- Adjust £35-70
- 30-60 min
- Invoiced accounts
A fire door that is open is a doorway. Everything the door is certified to do, the thirty or sixty minutes of resistance, the intumescent strip, the whole compartmentation strategy the building depends on, requires one thing first: that the door is shut when the fire starts. The closer is the only component that makes that happen at 3am with nobody in the building.
Which makes it the cheapest, most ignored, most consequential thing on this website.
What goes wrong, in order of how often
| What you see | What it means | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Wedged open with a bin | Not a fault. A decision. And it fails inspection. | free advice |
| Door stops an inch short | Closing force too low, or the latch is binding | £35-70 |
| Door slams | Latching speed wrong. It will break the frame and the closer. | £35-70 |
| Oil on the door face | Seal gone. It is dying and cannot be repaired. | £65-140 |
| Nobody can open it | Force too high. Fails accessibility, and staff will wedge it. | £35-70 |
| Arm bent or unscrewed | Somebody has fought it. Usually because of the row above. | £65-140 |
The wedge is a symptom, not a crime
People wedge fire doors because the closer is set too heavy and the door is a fight. Then the building manager takes the wedge away, and the next day there is a bin there instead.
Removing wedges does not work. Adjusting the closer does. A closer set correctly is one somebody can open with a shopping bag in one hand, and a door people can open easily is a door people stop propping. £35-70 solves a problem that a poster on the wall will never solve.
If the door genuinely has to stay open during the day, the answer is a hold-open device linked to the fire alarm: it holds the door back, and the moment the alarm sounds it releases and the door closes. That is legal, it is what those doors want, and it is what the wedge is badly imitating.
Two numbers that matter
Closing force has to be enough to shut the door against the latch and any air pressure, and low enough that a person can open it. Those pull in opposite directions and the setting is a compromise, which is why closers need adjusting rather than just fitting.
Latching speed is the last few degrees. Too slow and the door rests against the latch without engaging, so it looks shut and is not. Too fast and it slams, which destroys the frame, the closer and everybody's patience.
Oil on the door means it's over
A closer is a hydraulic damper. When the seal goes, the oil comes out, and once the oil is out there is nothing controlling the door: it either slams or does not close at all. It cannot be refilled and it cannot be repaired. If you can see oil streaks below the closer, budget for a new one now rather than after it fails on a fire door.
What it costs
| Job | Price |
|---|---|
| Adjust force and latching speed | £35-70 |
| Overhead closer, supplied and fitted | £65-140 |
| Heavy-duty / high-traffic closer | £110-220 |
| Concealed or floor-spring closer | £180-400 |
| Hold-open device, fire alarm linked | £140-280 |
| Whole building survey before inspection | quoted |
Out of hours at the same price, so a communal block or an office can be done when it is empty.
Panic bars · Commercial door repair · Access control
Questions people actually ask
People keep wedging our fire doors open. How do we stop it?
Adjust the closers, not the people. Doors get wedged because the closer is set too heavy and the door is a fight, especially with your hands full, so taking the wedge away just means a bin appears there tomorrow. A correctly adjusted closer is one somebody can open with a shopping bag in one hand, and a door people can open easily is a door people stop propping. That is £35 to £70 and it solves a problem that a poster on the wall never will. If a door genuinely has to stay open in the day, fit a hold-open device linked to the fire alarm, which releases the moment the alarm sounds.
There's oil on the door under the closer. Can it be repaired?
No. A door closer is a hydraulic damper, and when the seal fails the oil comes out and there is nothing left controlling the door: it either slams or stops closing altogether. It cannot be refilled and it cannot be resealed. If you can see oil streaks, budget for a replacement now rather than after it fails, and if it is on a fire door treat that as urgent, because an uncontrolled fire door is a fire door that will be found open.
Our fire door stops about an inch short of closing. Does that matter?
Yes, and it is one of the most common failures we find. A fire door that is not fully latched is not a fire door: the intumescent strip cannot seal a gap that is being held open, and the whole compartmentation strategy assumes the door is shut. It usually means the closing force is set too low or the latch is binding against the keep. Adjusting it is £35 to £70 and takes half an hour. It is the cheapest thing on this page and the one most likely to matter.
How much does a door closer cost fitted?
A standard overhead closer supplied and fitted is £65 to £140. A heavy-duty one for a high-traffic door is £110 to £220. A concealed or floor-spring closer is £180 to £400 because of the work involved. Adjusting an existing closer that is set wrong is £35 to £70. A hold-open device linked to your fire alarm is £140 to £280. We work out of hours at the same price, so a communal block or an office can be done when it is empty.