Exit Devices and Panic Hardware, Fitted and Repaired in Austin, TX
Getting in is a choice you make. Getting out is not. Exit hardware is the part of an access control system that has to work every single time, including when everything else has failed.
The Basics
The Way Out of a Controlled Door
The moment you put access control on a door, you have created a door that will not open. Exit hardware is what makes sure that is only ever true from one side.
Some of it is mechanical. A push bar or a paddle that physically retracts the latch when someone pushes it, with no power, no electronics and nothing to fail. Some of it is electronic. A request to exit sensor that detects someone approaching, a push button by the door, or a bar wired to drop the lock and log the exit.
Most controlled doors end up with a combination, because the mechanical route is the one that still works in a power cut and the electronic route is the one that keeps the alarm quiet and the records straight.
What Goes on the Door
Mechanical and Electronic Exit Hardware
Push Bars and Panic Hardware
Full width bars that release the latch under pressure anywhere along their length. Designed to work when people are moving fast and not reading signs.
Exit Paddles and Push Pads
Simpler mechanical release for doors that need a straightforward way out without full panic hardware.
Request to Exit Sensors
Motion or infrared sensors mounted above the door that release the lock and tell the system the exit was legitimate, so a door opening from the inside does not read as a forced entry.
Exit Buttons and Electric Push Bars
A button by the door or a bar wired into the system, dropping the lock on demand and recording that it happened.
The Part That Cannot Be Wrong
Where Exit Hardware Gets Overlooked
The two situations we get called to most often are a door that has been secured without anyone thinking about the way out, and a door where the exit hardware was fitted years ago and nobody has tested it since.
Magnetic locks make this especially important, because a maglock holds with real force and releases only when power is cut or the exit device tells it to. Fit one without a properly specified release and you have a door that people cannot open. Doors running on electric strikes usually retain a mechanical way out through the existing lever, but that still has to be checked rather than assumed.
Fire code, occupancy type and your local authority all have a say in what a given door needs, and requirements are different for an office, an assembly space, a school and a warehouse. That call belongs to you and whoever signs off your building, but we will tell you plainly what a door is currently capable of and what we think it needs, and we will not fit hardware that leaves someone stuck behind a door.
The Service
Fitted, Wired and Tested on Every Door
We install and repair exit hardware across Austin and Central Texas, on new access control installations and on doors that already have hardware fitted. That covers specifying the right device for the door, fitting it, wiring electronic devices into the access control system, integrating request to exit with the lock and the alarm, and testing the release on every door before we hand it back.
Repairs are a large part of this work. Bars that have gone stiff, dogged hardware that no longer holds, sensors that have stopped detecting, buttons that release intermittently, doors that alarm every time someone leaves. All of it is fixable, and none of it should be left running.
Emergency service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are not sure what your doors are fitted with, book a free security audit and we will go through every one.
Common Questions
Exit Device FAQs
It is a sensor, usually mounted above the door on the inside, that detects someone approaching and tells the access control system the exit is legitimate. It releases the lock and stops the door opening from registering as a forced entry. Without one, every trip out of the building can look like a break in to the system.
That depends on the type of building, how it is occupied, how many people use the door and what your local fire authority requires. It is genuinely different for an office, a restaurant, a school and a warehouse. We will tell you what your doors currently have and what we think they need, and the final call sits with you and whoever signs off your building.
Usually yes. Constant nuisance alarms are normally a request to exit device that has failed, drifted out of alignment or was never wired in properly, so the system is treating a normal exit as a forced door. It is worth fixing rather than living with, because an alarm everyone ignores is not doing anything useful.
Yes, and it is often exactly what a maglock door is missing. The exit device has to be wired to cut power to the magnet so the door releases when someone pushes it. We check the whole arrangement, including what happens in a power failure, before quoting.
It depends on the door, the type of device, whether it is mechanical or electronic, and what it needs to be wired into. A push button on an existing system is a very different job to full panic hardware on a pair of exterior doors. We quote per door after a free site audit, with clear pricing and no hidden fees.
"We had several contractors coming to fix our electrical lock but they did not know how to fix it. When he came he managed everything and explained everything step by step! We have him in our list for trusted contractors for the church."
Melissa La Chilanga PVG, Google review
Ready to Secure Your Doors?
Tell us about your property and what you need. We will put together a clear, no-obligation quote. There is no charge and no pressure.