A break-in at an automatic entrance leaves you with two problems at once: an opening anyone can walk through, and a piece of powered equipment that may no longer be safe to run. Most owners in Little Rock and Conway call us the morning after, standing in front of a sliding door held together with pallet wrap. Here is the order the work actually goes in, and what a technician looks at that you cannot see from the sidewalk.
Secure the Opening First: Board-Up or Same-Day Glass
The first decision is whether to board the opening or replace the glass immediately. Both are legitimate — it depends on what the door is made of and what your day looks like.
- Board-up makes sense when the panel is tempered safety glass that shattered completely, when the frame or stile is bent and has to be measured or ordered, or when it is after hours and you need the building closed up now.
- Same-day glass makes sense when the panel size is a common one we can source locally, the frame is straight, and you are a retail, restaurant, or clinic entrance that cannot open tomorrow with plywood across the front.
Automatic entrance glass is not window glass. Sliders and swing doors carry tempered or laminated safety glazing, and the panel is structural — it stiffens the whole leaf. Filling the hole with the wrong glass, or leaving a bent stile in service, turns a security problem into a safety problem.
The Damage You Cannot See: Operator, Track, and Rollers
Burglars force automatic doors sideways. On a sliding entrance that means the panel gets driven along or off its track, and the load goes straight back into the belt, the carrier rollers, and the operator itself. On a swing door, prying at the leading edge loads the arm and the gearbox.
So even when the glass is the only obvious damage, these need to be inspected before the door is put back in service:
- Track and threshold — dents, debris, and any spot where the panel no longer rides smoothly
- Carrier rollers and anti-riser hardware, which is what keeps the panel from being lifted out
- Belt or drive tension, and the operator's mounting to the header
- Sensors and their alignment — an activation or presence sensor knocked out of aim is a pedestrian hazard, not a nuisance
- Wiring inside the header, which is commonly pulled or pinched during a forced entry
Force, speed, timing, sensor, and operator adjustments belong to a certified AAADM technician with the right testing equipment. This is the part we ask owners not to attempt after a break-in. A door that opens and closes is not the same as a door that stops when someone is standing in it, and getting the checkout wrong on a public entrance is a liability you do not want on your building.
Locks and Break-Out Hardware
The lock is usually where the damage tells the story. Look for a sprung or bent hook bolt on a slider, a cylinder that was punched or drilled, a bottom pivot pushed out of its pocket, or a frame that no longer pulls tight when the door is locked.
Break-out hardware deserves its own look. On swing-and-slide entrances, the panels are designed to swing outward under pressure for egress — and a forced entry can leave that break-out mechanism sitting loose, out of adjustment, or holding when it should release. Both failure directions are wrong: too loose and the door is not secure, too tight and you have compromised your emergency exit. It gets reset and tested, not eyeballed.
Documenting the Loss for Your Insurer
Take the photos before anyone cleans up. Your claim goes much easier with:
- Wide shots of the whole entrance plus close-ups of the lock, frame, track, and header
- Photos of the broken glass where it landed, before sweeping
- The police report number
- Any camera or access-control footage, pulled and saved before it overwrites itself
- Written repair documentation — what was boarded, what was replaced, and the results of the safety inspection on the repaired door
That last item matters more than owners expect. A dated inspection record on a public automatic entrance is useful to your insurer and useful to you if anyone later questions whether the door was safe after the repair.
Call CSC Automatic Doors
Commercial Service Company has served central Arkansas businesses since 1976, and our automatic-door division handles break-in repairs across Little Rock, Conway, North Little Rock, Benton, Bryant, Maumelle, Jacksonville, Searcy, Russellville, Cabot, Sherwood, and Hot Springs. If your entrance was hit, call us at 501-548-2374 and we will get you secured and back to a door that is safe to run.
Frequently asked questions
Should I board up the door or replace the glass right away?
It depends on the panel and the frame. If the glass is a common size and the frame is straight, same-day glass is often possible. If the stile or frame is bent, or the panel has to be ordered, boarding up secures the building while the correct part comes in.
The glass broke but the door still opens. Do I still need it inspected?
Yes. Forcing an automatic door loads the track, rollers, belt, and operator, and often knocks sensors out of alignment. A door that moves is not necessarily a door that stops safely for a pedestrian, so it needs a certified AAADM technician to check and document it before it goes back in service.
What should I photograph before cleanup for my insurance claim?
Wide shots of the entrance, close-ups of the lock, frame, track, and header, and the broken glass where it fell before sweeping. Add the police report number, any saved camera footage, and the written repair and safety-inspection documentation.