One of the most common reasons people hesitate to install security doors is that they don’t want to make their building look like a “fortress.”
At one time, you either had an attractive building or a bulletproof one. With many off-the-shelf ballistic doors and windows, that’s often still the case. But at TSS, we specialize in ballistic security solutions that match your building’s design and aesthetic, including custom security doors. We take into account risks and threat profiles to bring together the right materials, framing, and locking mechanisms. We also factor in your design goals, budget, timeline, and operational needs. That’s the only way to ensure that you can keep people safe and look good while doing so.
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Every true security door is independently tested and rated against a variety of standards, but the most important is its bullet-resistance rating. This is based on the UL 752 Standard for Bullet Resisting Equipment, and goes from Level 1 (confirmed to stop three shots from a 9mm pistol) to Level 8 (confirmed to stop at least five shots from a large-caliber tactical rifle). In general, UL Levels 1 through 3 are for pistols, while Levels 4 through 8 are for rifles.
Broadly speaking, there are five types of ballistic security doors:
These doors are all available in a range of sizes, including oversized doors, such as those used in medical facilities that need to easily facilitate patients.
Every style of door can be configured as single or double doors, with many options for integrated high-security windows, view-ports, finishes, framing, and hardware.
Because every door is custom made, we can configure them to work with advanced locking systems or sensors you want to integrate with your existing building-wide security system and technology.
These are classic “storefront” doors, designed with rugged aluminum frames with large panes of ballistic glazing. They look like the entryway or vestibule doors at most offices, schools, and retail businesses but offer protection against a range of firearms. Bullet-resistant aluminum doors are available in UL Levels 1 through 8, and are suitable for interior or exterior applications.
These look like any other wood door, but they are constructed entirely differently, with integrated interior layers of ballistic fiberglass and ballistic glazing for any built-in windows.
Ballistic wood doors are common in corporate offices, government offices, courthouses, and university buildings. We regularly create wood ballistic doors that precisely match existing decor, even in historic buildings, so the added security doesn’t distract from the original architectural aesthetic.
These interior doors are available in UL Levels 1 through 8. We can also use them to create “transaction doors”, or ballistic doors that integrate with a transaction window and counter. Transaction doors are especially popular for securing payment offices.
Standard ballistic steel doors are robust interior or exterior doors, available with or without viewport or window, or as a transaction door.
Thick enough plates of hardened steel can stop bullets on their own, but they aren’t always practical. Instead, steel doors like ours most often rely on interior layers of ballistic fiberglass to stop bullets, just like their wooden counterparts.
Ballistic steel doors are available in UL Levels 1 through 8 and are available with a range of finishes or in traditional primer gray, ready to paint on site.
TSS makes full-visibility interior office doors that can blend into any setting. These are available in either monolithic ballistic acrylic or glass-clad polycarbonate (a laminated material composed of layers of tempered glass and bullet-stopping polycarbonate). They can be crafted as single doors, although double doors are more popular, especially for entrances and conference rooms.
Full-visibility ballistic glass doors are available in UL Levels 1 through 3, suitable for stopping rounds fired from the most common pistol calibers.
Over the last few years, we’ve expanded our line of ballistic doors to include heavy-duty specialty security doors that offer enhanced protection against fire and serious attempts at forced entry.
These doors deliver proven protection and are ideal for high-profile locations like sensitive government facilities and data centers. They are available with a narrower range of options for windows and configuration but are tested and rated to withstand more extreme threats, including prolonged coordinated attempts to break in, large scale attacks, civil unrest, and major structural fires.
We launched our line of specialty security doors with two products focused on distinct threat profiles: Forced-Entry Bullet-Resistant (FEBR) doors and Fire-Rated Bullet-Resistant (FRBR) doors.
Both FEBR and FRBR doors are heavy-duty interior/exterior steel doors with added security layers for fire resistance and forced entry protection, in addition to bullet resistance.
In many cases, these look like any other steel security door. They’re great for organizations that need enhanced security but want discretion in the process.
FEBR and FRBR doors are tested against a series of strict standards set by government and independent agencies, confirming that the door reliably withstands a range of adverse conditions while protecting building occupants.
Fire-Rated Bullet-Resistant (FRBR) doors can carry 20-, 45-, 60-, 90-, or 180-minute fire ratings. They are tested against positive-and negative-pressure, as well as erosion/breach due to cold water during firefighting efforts. FRBR doors are among the most popular heavy-duty security doors we offer.
They meet both safety and security needs and comply with nationwide building codes, regulations, and guidelines.
Our Forced-Entry Bullet-Resistant (FEBR) doors are tested separately for bullet resistance, forced entry resistance, and fire resistance. They reliably stop bullets and can withstand the efforts of an organized team of well-equipped, armed attackers. During testing, a team of up to six people works to breach the door using hammers, sledgehammers, an ax, crowbars, a battering ram, a propane torch, and other tools. Our FEBR doors can be rated against coordinated mob attacks in durations of five-, 15-, 30-, or 60-minutes.
FEBR and FRBR doors are available in UL Levels 1 through 8, and in most styles (windowless flush assembly with or without viewport, large full-vision window, a smaller half-vision window, a narrow side-lite window, or a small view-lite window). We can configure specialty security doors as either single or double doors.
At TSS, we appreciate how important it is to balance safety and aesthetics.
Yes, you need a door that can stop a bullet, angry mob, or raging fire, but that is also a door you will look at and use every day.
To achieve that balance, we rely on our proven process. Early in the design and specification process, we collaborate with clients and their chosen architects, general contractors, and security integrators.
We proceed with an assessment and design process, repeating consultations as needed to get input from all the important stakeholders. Only after that design has been revised and approved does our in-house fabrication team go into action. Most importantly, we don’t simply ship you a system and leave you to figure it out from there. We support installation teams covering all 50 states and complete 90% of our installations in a single day.
Every door we make—even the most basic steel slab—is individually crafted in our Michigan facility.
We offer a wide range of veneers for wooden doors and can perfectly match existing design choices. We continue to expand our ballistic glazing selection to include more tinted, frosted, and patterned options, for doors that need both privacy and light transmission. In recent months, we’ve added new products and treatments to help accommodate policy updates and building code changes in major cities like New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. That includes offering ballistically rated ORNILUX® mikado bird-friendly technology, so our customers can meet local building requirements and protect wildlife without compromising safety.
We’re always proud when we get the opportunity to shine by creating attractive high-end doors. But the real value of our focus on customization is the ability to provide customers with exactly what they need to keep operating smoothly, no matter what may happen.
TSS custom security doors deliver real protection without compromising your building’s look, accessibility, or functionality. Every door is made to order, engineered to your threat level, and installed by experts.
We have decades of experience in the bullet-resistant glass and physical security industries and are eager to share what we know.
Our Ballistic Door Solutions Guide is a great place to get a better understanding of what you should consider when upgrading your doors and what we have available.
If you have questions or are ready to discuss security upgrades to your facility, please reach out anytime. We look forward to speaking with you.