Door Kit Makes Ceiling Access Easy

Door Kit Makes Ceiling Access Easy AJ Manufacturing sells about 6,000 Ceiling Access Door (CAD) kits a year. Competitors make their share as well. Had Todd Carlson not helped his dad, Gary, a retired carpenter, with a shop update, they might not exist. “My dad had moved to a new place, and I was helping set up his woodshop,” recalls Carlson of AJ Manufacturing. “We assembled an access door for the attic. While taking a break, we discussed how nice a pre-hung, preassembled, self-trimming, gasketed door would be to install.” Carlson took the concept back to the company where he works. It took several months to develop a commercial product. The first version was only 1 in. thick because of the design’s geometry. It measured 24 by 36 in. to fit between framed trusses 24 in. on-center. It featured a prepainted, assembled aluminum frame, a gasket, and a 1-in. polyurethane foam core R6 panel with prepainted white metal skins. The door opened into the attic on hinges, with a handle on the top side for egress.  “The product value for builders or installers was saving time and cost to install an access door with a consistent and predictable appearance and sealing,” says Carlson. “The gasket ensures the door is sealed to minimize leakage of heated or cooled air.” While the CAD kits saw rapid adoption, customers requested higher insulation values. The challenge with thicker door panels is that the door swings within a fixed space. A recent breakthrough in hinge design by the company’s engineers made 4-in. (R28) and 6-in. (R32) thick doors possible.  “Several patent-pending features allow the thicker panels to operate smoothly within the frame,” says Carlson. “The doors feature a hold-open device, and our 24 by 48-in. panel has a bifold geometry for enhanced operator safety.” Carlson notes that working with his father, Gary, led to the development of the innovative CAD product in the first place. “After selling over 100,000 of these doors, he deserves to be recognized for his contribution,” says Carlson. Innovation at AJ Manufacturing isn’t limited to doors and windows. Loose attic insulation is an ongoing problem with attic access doors. One solution is for builders to install a wooden dam around the door. AJ Manufacturing stumbled on an innovative solution to this problem when a 35,000-lb. shipment of mis-coated sheet metal was rejected for its intended use. “The supplier issued a credit and suggested we recycle it,” says Carlson. “We don’t like to do that, so we had a contest among employees for ways we could use it where appearance didn’t matter. The winning idea was a sheet metal insulation dam.” The new product ships flat to the customer, with a hem folded at the top edge. It features perforated fold lines, end tabs and receiving slits for closure. “It’s 20 in. tall, accommodating up to an R60 insulation depth,” says Carlson. “With the perforations, it’s easy for an installer to bend it at 90-degree corners with bare hands, quick and easy and perfectly straight.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, AJ Manufacturing, 1217 Oak St., Bloomer, Wis. 54724 (ph 800-328-9448; info@ajdoor.com; www.ajdoor.com; www.discountdoorsandwindows.com).

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