I Don't Go To a Restaurant Supply Store for a Heavy Duty Screen Door

Opening the back door of the kitchen is a restaurant tradition, and it’s not hard to see why. As a commercial kitchen heats up, it not only overheats the back of the house, it can also be taxing to keep the front of the house cool.

Trying to keep a restaurant cool and bug-free can be a challenge. The easy solution is to crank up the AC, but with rising energy costs that can get expensive, especially when trying to cool down hotspots in a kitchen. Opening the back door is a quick way to use fresh air to ventilate the kitchen naturally, but insects can quickly become an issue. After all, when you open a commercial kitchen door, you not only open the door to cross-breezes, you may also get bugs, vermin, and even intruders. So, while it’s great to open kitchen doors to cool off, it’s important to choose a solid, commercial-grade screen door that can stand up to rough handling, while still keeping your kitchen staff safe, cool, and secure.

A restaurant-grade screen door is a smart way to allow for open back doors and still keep your food safe from bugs and the deadly diseases they carry. But did you know that a sturdy screen door can actually save you money?

Utility costs are a huge expense in running almost any kind of business, but they’re especially expensive for the food industry. Installing a PCA commercial aluminum screen door allows heat to escape the kitchen in the summer and also lets cool air in during the winter months. Because you’re letting nature cool the hottest part of your building, installing a screen door on your restaurant’s back door can provide tremendous energy savings for commercial buildings.

When the weather is nice, there’s nothing the kitchen staff likes better than leaving the door wide open to let the fresh air cool the kitchen and to help diffuse strong cooking odors. But FDA code requires that any openings “shall be protected against the entry of insects and rodents by 1-inch screen.” PCA commercial screen doors will provide you the ventilation you need without breaking any part of the FDA food code.

Federal food safety standards don’t just ban bugs and mice from your commercial kitchen. They also forbid patrons from wandering into the kitchen. For some restaurants, installing a screen door between the kitchen and dining area allows the owner to open the kitchen up while still maintaining a barrier to keep non-employees out.

NEED IMAGE OF SOMEONE PUSHING OPEN A DOOR WITH HANDCART

If you’re ready to purchase a screen door for your restaurant, it’s important to specify commercial-grade. And while you can get plenty of hard-working equipment at the local restaurant supply store, you should get your screen door from an expert installer. After all, a screen door in a commercial establishment will need to withstand a lot of wear and tear. You need a heavy-duty commercial screen door that is both effective and durable.

Every PCA screen features a EZ-Pull handle with a secure locking feature. For businesses looking for additional security, PCA offers two types security upgrades including deadlocks to effectively deter strangers.

Ready to add a screen door to your location? Make sure it meets these top 4 criteria for a commercial screen door:

When you're selecting a screen door manufacturer, make sure they offer products in the size you need to accommodate a commercial door opening. Most commercial doors are 84" (7 feet) high. Most screen doors on the market today are designed for residential applications that are 80" high (6 feet 7 inches) high. While you may have found a screen door style you like at the local hardware store, it might not fit your commercial door frame.

While there are many attractive wood and vinyl screen doors on the market, these materials are not durable choices. The thin wood on many screen doors is a porous surface that might attract mildew, termite, or even mold. Instead, choose a super-strong, heavy aluminum screen door that can take a beating. Your screen door's aluminum frame should a minimum of .065" thick and feature internal corner keys for added strength and rigidity. Make sure your get a powder coated finish to ensure long-lasting durability.

You already know your staff and vendors can be tough on equipment. High traffic and constant use is business as usual in a restaurant, so flimsy hardware is always a bad choice. Your screen door should use full-length aluminum piano hinge. This large, secure hinge is the best choice to keep the door attached, aligned, and to prevent sagging over time.

One of your screen door's most important jobs is to keep bugs out. So, you need to make sure that your door doesn't have significant gaps that might allow insects in. Make sure your heavy-duty aluminum screen door has a tight-fitting bug sweep. It's the only way to ensure your restaurant screen door will keep pests out.

If you settle for a flimsy bug sweep, it will quickly wear out. For example, a surface mount rubber sweep tends to crack over time and will need to be replaced often. Your best commercial choice is an adjustable sweep that uses commercial grade wool pile. This type of bug sweep provides a tight seal, durability, and even enables the screen door to open and close more easily.

Of course, it's not just restaurant employees and guests who love fresh air and sunshine. Whether you're running a kitchen, a greenhouse, a manufacturing plant, a warehouse, or any other kind of commercial property, it's natural for employees to want to leave the door open when the weather gets nice.

Letting the sun and fresh air in on a nice day is great for employee morale, which means it's also great for your business. However, even opening a door for a few minutes can allow insects, birds, rodents, and curious passing strangers to wander in. So, when you want to protect your employees and valuable inventory, choose a durable screen door.

Find your local specialty building products supplier or contractor to see the full line of PCA commercial grade aluminum screen doors.

If you can't find a dealer in your area, our service representatives will help you fulfill your commercial screen door needs.