Storefront & Commercial Door Retrofit in Houston, TX
Silverheels Construction retrofits storefront and commercial doors across the Houston area — fitting replacement doors, closers, pivots, panic hardware, and weatherstripping into existing frames and openings, plus ADA operating-force and approach retrofits. This page is retrofit into existing openings; for new door-and-frame installs and general commercial doors, that's our commercial doors page. Free estimates.
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Most commercial door problems don't need a whole new frame — they need the right door and hardware fitted into the opening that's already there. A retrofit keeps the existing frame and glazing where they're sound and replaces the door, the closer, the hardware, and the weatherseal, which is faster and less disruptive than tearing out a storefront. We retrofit storefront and commercial doors across the Houston area, and we keep this work distinct from new installs: here we work into existing openings and hardware.
Retrofitting a storefront door into an existing frame
A retrofit reuses the frame and the opening and replaces what's failed — most often the door leaf itself, worn pivots or hinges, a dead closer, and the weatherstripping. The craft is in the fit: an aluminum storefront frame has specific dimensions, and a replacement door has to be sized and prepped to the frame's stile, rail, and hardware locations so it swings true, latches, and seals without racking.
We measure the existing frame and opening, source or prep a door to match, and set it so it operates like it should. This is the opposite of our new-install work — on the commercial doors page we set new doors and frames into new or reworked openings; here we fit into what you already have.
Aluminum storefront systems: stiles, thresholds, weatherstripping
Aluminum storefront is its own system, and a retrofit lives in its details. Narrow, medium, and wide stiles each take different hardware, so a replacement door's stile has to match what the frame and lock expect. The threshold — often worn, leaking, or no longer flush — gets replaced or reset so it seals and meets the floor cleanly. And the weatherstripping and sweeps that keep conditioned air in and Houston's heat and rain out are replaced as part of the job, because they're usually shot by the time the door is being worked on.
We retrofit the stile, threshold, and seal as a package so the door doesn't just open right but closes tight.
Door closers, pivots, and panic hardware
The hardware is what fails most on a commercial door. A worn closer slams or won't latch; dragging pivots or hinges throw the door out of alignment; a panic device that sticks is both a security and a life-safety problem. A retrofit replaces these without touching the frame: a new surface or concealed closer adjusted to proper sweep and latch speed, fresh pivots or continuous hinges, and panic/exit hardware that releases cleanly and relatches.
We match the hardware to the door and the opening and set it so the door operates and secures the way it's supposed to. Electrified hardware and any wiring are a separate scope we don't take on — we handle the mechanical door and hardware.
ADA approach clearance and operating-force retrofits
An older commercial entrance often falls short on accessibility in ways a retrofit can fix without rebuilding the opening. The most common is operating force — a door closer cranked down so tight the door is too heavy to open easily — which we correct by adjusting or replacing the closer to a lighter, compliant force while still latching. Others are hardware height and type (lever rather than knob, mounted in the reachable range) and the threshold height and bevel at the approach.
We handle the door-and-hardware side of accessibility — operating force, hardware, and threshold — so the entrance meets the approach it's supposed to. Where accessibility depends on the surrounding construction rather than the door, we'll flag that part.
Herculite and all-glass entry doors
Frameless all-glass entrance doors — commonly called Herculite — have no full frame; the thick tempered glass hangs on top and bottom patch fittings and pivots, with rails top and bottom. They go out of adjustment with heavy use: dragging on the floor, not latching, pivots and closers worn.
We retrofit and service all-glass entry doors — replacing patch fittings, pivots, rails, and closers and re-aligning the door so it swings and latches right. Replacing a cracked or shattered glass panel itself is a glazier's specialty; we handle the door's hardware and operation.
Industrial and back-of-house doors
Not every commercial door faces the customer. Back-of-house and industrial doors — hollow metal doors in steel frames on stockrooms, mechanical rooms, loading areas, and service entrances — take abuse and still have to secure the building. Retrofitting them means a new door leaf in the existing frame, heavy-duty hinges and closers, exit and lock hardware rated for the traffic, and weatherseal at exterior openings.
We retrofit hollow metal and industrial doors into their existing frames, matched to how hard the opening gets used, so a back door that no longer latches or secures gets back to doing its job without replacing the whole assembly.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between this and your commercial doors page?
This page is retrofit — fitting a replacement door and hardware into an existing frame and opening. The commercial doors page is new door-and-frame installs and general commercial doors. If your frame is sound and the door or hardware has failed, a retrofit is usually the faster, less disruptive fix.
Can you fit a new door into our existing storefront frame?
Yes — that's the core of a retrofit. We measure the existing aluminum frame and opening, size and prep a replacement door to match the stile, rails, and hardware locations, and set it so it swings true, latches, and seals without a full tear-out.
Our door drags and won't latch — can you retrofit the hardware?
Yes. Usually it's worn pivots or hinges, a dead closer, or a misaligned threshold. We replace the closer, pivots or hinges, and weatherstripping and reset the door so it operates and seals right — all without touching the frame.
Can you make an entrance ADA-compliant without rebuilding it?
Often, yes, on the door-and-hardware side — adjusting or replacing the closer to a compliant operating force, fitting lever hardware at the right height, and correcting the threshold. Where accessibility depends on the surrounding construction rather than the door, we'll flag that part.
Do you work on frameless (Herculite) all-glass doors?
Yes. We retrofit and service all-glass entry doors — replacing patch fittings, pivots, rails, and closers and re-aligning the door so it swings and latches right. Replacing the tempered glass panel itself is a glazier's specialty; we handle the door's hardware and operation.
Do you retrofit back-of-house and industrial doors?
Yes — hollow metal doors in existing steel frames on stockrooms, mechanical rooms, loading areas, and service entrances, with heavy-duty hinges, closers, and lock hardware rated for the traffic, plus weatherseal at exterior openings.
Service areas
- Downtown
- Midtown
- Galleria
- Energy Corridor
- Westchase
- Sugar Land
- The Woodlands
- Katy