What are Kick Plates and How Can They Help?

Over time, commercial doors can take quite a beating. Employees and customers can sometimes be careless when they walk into the building, kicking the bottom of the door in the process. Delivery workers often need to push open doors while their hands are full, especially if they're pulling products with a hand truck.

The bottom edges of commercial doors take a pounding from feet, hand trucks, dollies and more. The damage sustained at the bottom of the doors is typically much worse than it is on the rest of the door. Unfortunately, if a commercial door has significant dents or holes at the bottom, you may need to replace the entire door. 

Luckily, there's a way to prevent your doors from suffering this damage and extend their life in the meantime:  Installing kick plates. 

What are Kick Plates?

A kick plate is a strip of metal installed at the bottom of commercial doors to help protect the door from typical damage. The plate is generally made with stainless steel, although it can be aluminum instead. There are even kick plates made of vinyl or plastic that can blend in with the door's color.

The kick plate will cover the entire width of the door and stretch up about 10 to 16 inches from the bottom on average. This will help to prevent damage from feet, hand trucks, and other items that typically make contact with the bottom of the door.

A kick plate should always be installed on the "push side" of the door, as that is the side where people will literally kick the door to open it. On the "pull side," people aren't typically making contact with the bottom of the door. When they have to pull the door, people will often kick the bottom of the “push” side with their heel to hold the door open.

How Can Kick Plates Help?

Commercial doors have to absorb a lot of pressure day in and day out. Commercial doors can last for years if you take care of them properly. 

Of course, the challenge is that the way that people handle the door is entirely out of your control. It doesn't matter whether you run a small retail store or own a large office building; people will be in and out of your commercial doors all day, every day. 

When people are going into your building, they aren't going to be concerned about the health of your doors, either. They are only going to be worried about entering in the easiest way possible.

Your employees may have many things in their hands and need to kick open the door to enter. Delivery drivers may have a stack of packages and need to push open the door with a hand truck. 

It's almost a guarantee that these people won't care much about the health of your door as you might. They're only going to be concerned about getting into the building without dropping everything they're carrying.

Kick plates will prevent the door from sustaining unnecessary damage. The stainless steel, aluminum, plastic, or vinyl material installed at the bottom of the door will absorb the contact.

The kick plate will be a barrier to the actual door, preventing the door from sustaining dings, dents and even holes. In time, if the commercial door kick plate gets damaged too much, you can easily replace the kick plate with a new one. 

Installing a kick plate will extend the life of your commercial door. It serves as the armor for your door, absorbing all the contact and damage that are bound to happen. In the end, kick plates not only keep your doors looking good and functioning correctly, but they also significantly reduce your costs. Instead of having to replace a commercial door every few years, you can just replace the kick plate to keep your door working correctly.

Customized Kick Plates for Your Business

CDF Distributors is the #1 online commercial door supplier. In addition to providing a wide selection of commercial doors made from various materials, we can also offer customizable kick plates to protect the health and extend the life of your doors. Contact our team today by calling 855-769-9895.