The unique design of the Maiman Thermal Fused door has raised many concerns about the strength of the hinge dowels.  The hinge does have to hold up the entire weight of the door.  This dowel design has been tested to the WDMA’s TM-8 test.  This test is designed to check the strength of an attached hinge.  To meet the WDMA Extra Heavy Duty level, the hinge must be able to withstand 550 lbs. of force.  A typical engineered composite lumber stile commonly used on flush wood doors will test to the 725-750 lbs range.  The Maiman Thermal Fused door tested to an amazing 1239 lbs of hinge load!  A great feature in this design is how easy it is to repair the door in the rare case of a dowel failure.  As you will see with this video, it is rather simple to do with common hand tools.

 

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