Most commercial door problems get reported as lock problems. The key is stiff, the door will not latch, the handle has to be lifted — so the lock gets replaced, and three weeks later the new lock is doing the same thing. The underlying fault is nearly always geometry: the door, the frame or the hinges have moved, and the lock is simply the component where the misalignment becomes noticeable.
Typical range: $275–$2400 CAD. Ranges are typical for the GTA and depend on the door, the hardware and the time of day. We confirm the price before dispatching.
How we diagnose a door
We check the reveal — the gap between door and frame — along all four edges. An even gap means the door is hanging correctly; a gap that tapers tells you immediately which way the door has moved and usually why. We check the hinges for wear and for screws that have pulled out of the jamb, the frame for racking or rot at the base, the threshold and sill, and only then the lock and strike alignment.
This order matters. Fitting new hardware to a door that is out of square transfers the load onto the new lock, and it will wear out on the same schedule as the old one.
Repairs we carry out
- Hinge replacement, including continuous geared hinges where conventional butt hinges keep tearing out
- Hinge reinforcement and jamb repair where screws have stripped out of the frame
- Door and frame realignment, including shimming and re-anchoring
- Strike plate and keeper adjustment or replacement
- Aluminium storefront door repair — pivots, corner assemblies, bottom rails and stiles
- Hollow metal door and frame repair, including rusted-out bottom sections
- Threshold, sweep and weatherstripping replacement
- Astragal and meeting-stile repair on pairs of doors
- Latch guards and wrap-around reinforcement plates
Aluminium storefront doors
Narrow-stile aluminium doors are the most common commercial entrance in the GTA, and they fail in predictable places. The bottom corner assembly works loose, which lets the door rack out of square — you can usually see it as a diagonal gap opening at the top. The pivots wear, so the door drops. And the Adams Rite deadlatch in the stile gets out of alignment with its strike.
Corner assemblies can often be re-tightened and re-squared rather than replaced, which is a substantially cheaper outcome. Where the stile itself has torn, the door section has to be replaced, and matching an older extrusion profile is the part of the job that takes time. We keep reference data on common GTA profiles for this reason.
Hollow metal doors and frames
Steel doors in steel frames are the workhorse of GTA industrial buildings and they last a long time, but the bottom six to twelve inches of the frame is exposed to salt, slush and meltwater every winter. Once the frame corrodes through, the lock strike and the hinge anchorage lose their fixing, and no hardware will work correctly.
Depending on the extent, the fix is either a welded repair section, a subframe wrap over the damaged area, or frame replacement. A wrap is considerably less disruptive than cutting out a frame that is grouted into masonry, and on many buildings it is the right call.
Frequently Asked Questions
My door will not latch in summer but is fine in winter. Why?
On a wood door, that is moisture — the door absorbs humidity and swells, and it binds. On a metal door in a metal frame it is more likely thermal expansion combined with a latch that already has almost no margin. Either way, the correct fix is to create the clearance the door needs rather than to force the latch, because a latch operating with no margin will fail at some point regardless of season.
Is it cheaper to repair or replace a commercial door?
Repair is usually cheaper and often lasts as long, provided the door slab itself is sound. When the door is structurally compromised — a torn stile on an aluminium door, corrosion through a steel skin, a delaminated fire door — repair stops making sense. We give you the honest comparison, including the caveat that on a labelled fire door your repair options are constrained by the listing.
Can you fix a door the same day?
Alignment work, hinge replacement, strike adjustment, closer service and most lock work are same-day. Anything needing a matched extrusion, a replacement frame section or a specific legacy part depends on availability, and we will tell you at the assessment which category your door falls into rather than discovering it later. Where a door cannot be made secure the same day, we can secure the opening temporarily.
Who is responsible for door repair in a leased unit, me or my landlord?
That depends entirely on your lease, and it varies widely — some leases put the entire building envelope on the landlord, others make the tenant responsible for everything from the demising walls in, including the entrance door. It is worth reading before you authorise work. We invoice whoever engages us and can provide documentation suitable for passing through to a landlord or an insurer.
Commercial Door Repair across the GTA
We provide commercial door repair throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Pick your city for local detail, or call and we will tell you straight away whether you are in range.
Related services
Door Closers
Surface, concealed and floor-spring closers supplied, adjusted and replaced — including the fire-rated assemblies that have to self-close and positively latch to pass inspection.
Break-In Repair
Same-day repair and re-securing after a forced entry — doors, frames, locks and hardware, with documentation for your insurance claim.
Door Frame Repair
Split jambs, corroded steel frames and torn-out strikes repaired and reinforced — because no lock is stronger than the frame holding it.
Storefront Doors
Narrow-stile aluminium entrances — deadlatches, pivots, corner assemblies, closers and complete door sections.