A panic bar is the long horizontal push bar you see on the exit doors at stores, schools, churches, and office buildings. Push it and the door opens — no twisting a knob, no fumbling for a key, no thinking about it. That matters most when a room full of people needs to get out fast. If you run a business or manage a building anywhere from Thousand Oaks to Oxnard, the fire marshal expects that hardware to work every single time.
CLS - Chandler Locksmith Services installs, repairs, and replaces panic bars, exit devices, and door closers for commercial buildings across Ventura County and the Conejo Valley. We come to you, check what the door actually needs against current code, and get it working right. We're licensed and insured, CA BSIS #LCO8562, and estimates are free.
- Panic bar and crash bar installation, repair, and full replacement
- Fire-rated exit devices that meet inspection requirements
- Door closer install, adjustment, and replacement so doors shut and latch right
- Rim, mortise, and vertical-rod setups for single and double doors
- Commercial-grade hardware keyed to match your existing system
- Licensed & insured, CA BSIS #LCO8562, with free estimates
What exit devices and panic hardware actually do
"Exit device" is the catch-all term for the hardware that lets people leave through a door in a hurry. The panic bar (some folks call it a crash bar) is the most common type — you lean into it and the latch releases. There are different builds for different doors: rim devices that mount on the surface, mortise and vertical-rod setups for double doors and tall openings, and fire-rated versions that have to stay latched during a fire so the door can hold back smoke. They are not all interchangeable, and putting the wrong one on a door is how buildings fail inspection.
A door closer is the arm at the top of the door that pulls it shut on its own. On a fire-rated opening that's not optional — the door has to close and latch by itself, every time, with no one holding it. The closer and the exit device work as a pair: one lets people out fast, the other makes sure the door seals back up behind them. When either one is dragging, slamming, or sticking, both the safety and the everyday wear-and-tear get worse.
When Conejo Valley businesses call us about it
Most calls come down to a few situations. You're opening or remodeling a storefront in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall area or a suite off Westlake Boulevard and the building inspector flagged the exit doors. A panic bar finally wore out and now it sticks, rattles, or won't latch. A door closer is slamming hard enough to scare customers, or it's so weak the door drifts open and won't lock. Or a property manager is getting a strip mall up to code before a new tenant moves in.
We also get the after-hours version: a broken exit device that's left a back door unsecured overnight, or one jammed shut so the door won't open at all. We handle those same-day during business hours and get the door safe to use and lock again.
What CLS does on an exit device job
We start by looking at the door — the type, whether it's fire-rated, how it's used, and what code applies. From there we tell you straight what it needs: a repair, a new device, a matching closer, or all of it. We carry and install commercial-grade hardware from the brands building inspectors recognize, not the cheap stuff that fails in a year of daily pushing. If your doors need to match across a building or work with your existing key system, we sort that out too so one key still runs the place.
Commercial door hardware by door type
The right lock depends on the door it goes on. This is how commercial hardware is typically matched to the three most common door types in Conejo Valley and Ventura County offices, shops, and suites.
| Door type | Recommended hardware grade | Common brands & product families | Typical commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hollow metal door in a steel frame | ANSI/BHMA Grade 1 | Schlage ND Series or Sargent 10 Line cylindrical levers; Schlage L9000 or Corbin Russwin ML2000 mortise locks; Von Duprin 99 Series rim exit devices | Back and service doors, stairwells, warehouse doors, suite entries |
| Narrow-stile aluminum storefront door | Grade 1 narrow-stile hardware, sized to the door's stile and backset | Adams Rite MS1850 deadbolts and Adams Rite deadlatches; Von Duprin 33A/35A Series narrow-stile exit devices | Retail storefronts, restaurants, glass office-lobby doors |
| Solid-core wood door | Grade 1 for high-traffic doors; Grade 2 for light-traffic interior doors | Schlage ND (Grade 1) or AL (Grade 2) Series levers; Sargent or Corbin Russwin mortise locks on heavy-use doors | Interior office suites, medical and dental exam rooms, conference rooms |
Grades are ANSI/BHMA ratings (A156.2 covers bored/cylindrical locks, A156.13 mortise locks, A156.3 exit devices). Grade 1 is the heaviest-duty rating.