USBP tours the Supa Doors manufacturing facility in Universal City, TX

Our friends at Supa Doors in Universal City, TX (outside of San Antonio) were gracious enough to give us a tour of their manufacturing facility last week.

 

[from company website] Supa Doors are stile & rail solid MDF doors that are built to order. Ideal for high-end single family homes, large scale residential, hospitality, assisted living, and religious institutions across North America, Supa Doors can be found in prestigious projects including the Plaza Hotel NYC, 15 Central Park West, The Hotel Bel-Air, The Austonian, Trump Chicago, Ritz Carlton Montreal, Four Seasons Residences – Austin among others.

 

Sheets of MDF are brought into the plant and cut depending on the customer’s specification.

 

SUPA-MDF-Cuts
Sheets of MDF cut and staged

 

After being cut, parts of the door are sent through a machine that routers the desired profile edges.

 

SUPA-Routed-Profiles
Creating the desired profiled edges
SUPA-Routed-Profiles
Supa Doors profiler
SUPA-Routed-Profiles
Supa Doors profiled edge…

 

If a particular run requires glass, glass is then installed into the doors.

 

SUPA-Glass-Installation
Glass installation in a Supa Door

 

The rails and stiles are assembled into a half door.  Then two half door frames are then glued together and assembled for final sanding and trimming.

 

SUPA-Glue-Assembly
Half door prior to glue up
SUPA-Glue-Assembly
Half door pieces during glue up
SUPA-Glue-Assembly
Final glue up prior to pressing, sanding, and finishing…

 

After assembly, the door goes through a press to ensure everything stays together prior to painting and/or finishing.

 

SUPA-Door-Press
Preparing the door for the press to ensure everything stays together prior to painting and/or finishing.

 

EVERY door goes through quality control.  Here, two carpenters look at each door and make any necessary last minute adjustments.

SUPA-Quality-Control
Two carpenters inspect a door

 

Supa Doors also manufactures fire-rated doors that can either withstand 45 or 90 minutes.  The inside of the door, pictured below, contains special material to allow that to happen, thus protecting the home or commercial property in the event of a fire.

 

SUPA-Fire-Rated
The inside of a fire rated door contains special material to provide additional protection to a structure in the event of a fire.
SUPA-Fire-Rated
Supa Doors manufactures fire-rated doors rated to either 45 or 90 minutes.

 

Doors for a particular job are stacked up and moved over to the finish area.

 

Supa-Stacked-Doors
Supa Doors staged in the finish area of the manufacturing facility

 

Sanding is next up.  Doors are sanded to remove any rough edges.

 

SUPA-Sanding
‘Supa smooth’ sanded Supa Door
SUPA-Sanding
Sanded Supa Doors

 

Next up is the priming chamber.

 

SUPA-Priming-Chamber
The priming chamber

 

A finished product!  If desired Supa Doors can also provide pre-finished doors with a durable baked on paint finish.

 

SUPA-Pre-Finished-Door
A Supa pre-finished door with a durable baked on paint finish
SUPA-Pre-Finished-Door
A pre-finished door with a durable baked on paint finish