Bank lobby glass door dragging on the threshold. Hotel entry door wandering open on its own at 3am. High-end restaurant pivot door at PGA Plaza leaking hydraulic fluid up through the floor tile. We service overhead concealed closers (Dorma RTS88, ITS96), floor closers (Rixson 27, 28, 1500), and pivot-set closers across PSL commercial accounts. These are the high-end jobs - $580-1,480 typical, but done once and done right.
Concealed door closer repair in Port St. Lucie - overhead concealed (Dorma RTS88, ITS96, Adams Rite 8800), floor closers (Rixson 27, 28, 1500), and integrated pivot-set closers. High-end glass storefronts, banks, hotel lobbies, restaurants.
Way more complex than surface-mount: concrete cutting may be needed (floor closers), header demo on overhead concealed, careful door rehang on glass pivot doors. Typical job $580-1,480 including hardware at MSRP.
Most rebuilds save 40-70% versus full replacement. We rebuild Rixson 27 / 28 / 1500 floor closer cement cases all day - new spindle, seals, fluid, valve pack, retain the existing case in the floor.
An overhead concealed closer or a floor-mount Rixson pivot is hidden inside the frame or the floor - and when it fails you get a heavy glass storefront door that will not close, swings wild on the wind, or sticks open at 90 degrees. Office buildings and restaurant entries at Riverwalk Port Salerno and Tradition Square use these because the closer disappears into the architecture.
A door company will quote you a new door and frame system because they do not service the concealed hardware. The Rixson 27 floor closer, the Dorma BTS80 in-floor pivot, and overhead Rixson 608 concealed units all rebuild with parts we carry. The frame and door stay. Only the cement-box mechanism gets refurbished or swapped.
Concealed closer service runs $240-560 depending on Rixson, Dorma, or pivot rebuild. Call (772) 284-5142.
Rixson 27, 28, 280, 608 overhead, Dorma BTS80 in-floor, ABH 1700-series - the concealed units almost no one services in PSL.
Door companies quote a whole new entry. We fix the buried closer for a fifth of that and your door looks identical.
Worn top pivots, dragging bottom pivots, slipped spindles all rebuild without pulling the door off its mounts in most cases.
We pop the cover plate, evaluate the cement box, quote firm before any rebuild begins.
Tempered glass storefront doors are heavy and unforgiving. We weight-rate the closer and the pivot for the actual door.
Tradition office towers and Riverwalk restaurants get serviced after business hours so foot traffic is not disrupted.
Door companies sell entry systems. When a Rixson floor closer fails their answer is 'we can quote you a new package' for $1,800 to $4,000. Doctor Lockout rebuilds the cement-box mechanism in place for a fraction of that, and your existing glass door keeps swinging.
Floor closers and concealed overheads are specialty work. Most locksmiths and most door companies refuse the call.
Pulling the floor closer means breaking the floor. We rebuild in place 80 percent of the time.
Top pivot, bottom pivot, and intermediate pivot all checked while the cover is off. One trip, full repair.
Tempered glass on a failing pivot is a liability event waiting to happen. We rate the hardware for the door weight.
Overhead concealed (Dorma RTS88, ITS96, Adams Rite 8800). Closer is mortised into the door header above the door. Looks invisible from below - just a polished arm coming down to the door top. Found on high-end retail, restaurants, hotel lobbies (Hilton Garden Inn PSL, Hampton Inn). Failures: hydraulic fluid leaks down the header into the ceiling tile (drips show up as brown stains overhead), arm joint seizes and the door won't open smoothly, closer body cracks from header settling. Rebuild $580-980, replacement $780-1,480 because the install requires removing the header soffit panel and sometimes the entire door.
Floor closer (Rixson 27, 28, 1500, Dorma BTS). Closer is buried in a cement case in the concrete floor. The door pivots on a spindle coming up out of the floor closer. The most common high-end install in PSL - banks (PNC, Bank of America at Tradition, Chase at PGA Plaza), hotel revolving entry vestibules, glass storefronts at Riverwalk and the higher-end restaurant pivot doors. Failures: spindle wear (door drops 1/2 inch), hydraulic fluid leaks up through the floor cover plate (you'll see oil staining on the tile around the closer), valve pack failure (door slams or won't close fully). Rebuild $580-1,180 retaining the floor case; full replacement $1,180-1,880 if the cement case is cracked and needs to be re-cast.
Pivot-set closer (Rixson L19, Dorma BTS80). Closer is integrated with the top and bottom pivots. Door swings on the closer itself - no separate pivots. Common on heavy glass storefronts and high-end commercial entry doors. Failures usually mean full closer replacement because the pivot wear and the closer wear are entwined. $880-1,480.
The diagnostic for any of these is 30-60 minutes on-site - pull the cover plate, inspect the closer body, check for fluid level and spindle play, verify the door alignment isn't the actual cause of what looks like a closer problem.
The Rixson 27, 28, and 1500 floor closer cement cases are some of the longest-lasting commercial hardware ever made. The case itself (the steel housing buried in the concrete floor) routinely survives 40-60 years. What fails is the internal cartridge: spindle, valve pack, seals, hydraulic fluid. Replacement Rixson cartridges fit the existing cement case and run $280-580 in hardware. Total rebuild $580-1,180 versus full closer replacement at $1,180-1,880. We rebuild before replace whenever the case is intact and the door is the original size.
When we CAN'T rebuild: Cement case cracked (visible at the cover plate or by spindle wobble); cement case settled (door has dropped 1+ inch in original floor); discontinued specialty closer (older Rixson L19 with proprietary cartridge no longer made); door has been replaced with a heavier door that exceeds the case rating. For those, full replacement is required - which means concrete cutting on the floor to accept a new case, then re-casting in the floor with quick-set concrete. 1-2 day job, sometimes scheduled overnight on bank and hotel accounts.
Specialty / discontinued cartridges. Some 1970s-1980s Rixson floor closers (L19, original Rixson 27 pre-1985) have cartridges that are no longer manufactured. We can sometimes adapt a modern cartridge with a custom spindle adapter, sometimes have to do full replacement. We tell you which on diagnostic. Specialty order-in is 2-5 day, $880-1,680 hardware.
Heat and fluid degradation. Same PSL heat story as surface-mount closers - hydraulic fluid degrades faster than spec assumes. On a floor closer, the cement case acts as a heat sink, so the closer runs cooler than a surface-mount, but the fluid still degrades. Rebuild interval in PSL is realistically 12-18 years for indoor floor closers, 8-12 years for exterior or vestibule applications.
Honest scope limit: if the door itself is heavily damaged (cracked glass on a glass pivot door, bent stile on an aluminum door, sagged welds on a steel door) the job becomes a glazier or commercial door company job, not a locksmith one. We coordinate the closer scope and refer the door scope.
| Service | Typical Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rixson 27 / 28 / 1500 cartridge rebuild (case retained) | $580 - $1,180 | New cartridge, spindle, seals, fluid. Retains floor case. |
| Rixson 27 / 28 / 1500 full replacement (cement cutting + new case) | $1,180 - $1,880 | When cement case is cracked or settled. 1-2 day job. |
| Dorma RTS88 / ITS96 overhead concealed rebuild | $580 - $980 | Closer body retained, internal rebuild. |
| Dorma RTS88 / ITS96 full replacement | $780 - $1,480 | Including header soffit work. |
| Rixson L19 / pivot-set closer replacement | $880 - $1,480 | Integrated pivot-set, full closer replacement. |
| Specialty / discontinued cartridge order-in (2-5 day) | $1,080 - $1,880 | Older Rixson L19, custom spindle adapters. |
| Diagnostic only (no repair, fee applies if you don't proceed) | $140 - $220 | Waived if you proceed with repair. |
| Decision | Doctor Lockout | Hardware distributor | General contractor | Let the door wander shut forever |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Same-day diagnostic | Yes | Schedule out 1-2 weeks | 3-7 day site visit | N/A |
| Rebuild Rixson cartridge before replacing case | Yes (saves $600-700) | Sells full replacement | Replaces the door | N/A |
| Hardware at MSRP | Yes | 20-40% markup | Stacked markups | N/A |
| Coordinates overnight bank / hotel work | Yes | Yes - usually 2-3x cost | Rarely | N/A |
| Total cost on Rixson 1500 rebuild | $580-1,180 | $1,400-2,200 | $2,800-4,400 | $3,800-6,400 (door + closer + concrete) |
| Honest about glazier-scope versus locksmith-scope | Yes | Sells you what they sell | Sells the bigger job | N/A |
Real person on the phone in under 2 rings. Locksmith on-site in 15-30 minutes. Honest price before any tools come out.
Call (772) 284-5142Cartridge rebuild retaining the cement case in the floor: $580-1,180. Full replacement when the cement case is cracked or settled (requires concrete cutting and re-casting): $1,180-1,880. The rebuild is the right call about 70% of the time - the Rixson 27, 28, and 1500 cement cases routinely last 40-60 years, it's the internal cartridge that wears in 12-18 years. We tell you on diagnostic which scope you need.
Almost certainly the floor closer spindle has worn and the door has dropped 1/4 to 1/2 inch. The spindle is what the door pivots on, mounted in the floor closer. As it wears, the door sinks toward the threshold. Cartridge rebuild restores the spindle and the door lifts back to original height. $580-1,180. If the cement case is cracked it's a bigger job ($1,180-1,880) but that's less common.
Closer hardware itself is locksmith / commercial hardware specialist scope - we own it. We rebuild and replace Rixson 27 / 28 / 1500 floor closers and Dorma RTS88 / ITS96 overhead concealed closers. Where it becomes a glazier job: cracked glass on a glass pivot door, bent stile on an aluminum framed door, or sagged welds on a steel door. About 85% of PSL concealed closer calls are hardware-only and we close them in 1 visit. The 15% glazier-scope jobs we diagnose and refer.
Internal cartridge: 12-18 years for indoor installs, 8-12 years for vestibule or exterior applications. Cement case: 40-60+ years. PSL heat slightly accelerates cartridge fluid degradation versus a Northern install (10-15 years would be typical), but the cement case acts as a heat sink so it's not as harsh as a surface-mount closer in the same exposure. Most Tradition / PGA Plaza bank lobbies see one cartridge rebuild and that's it for 30 years.
Cartridge rebuild (case retained) - 90-180 minutes, door out of service that time, no concrete work. Most accounts schedule us pre-open or between lunch and dinner. Full replacement with concrete cutting and re-cast - 1-2 day job, door out of service overnight while concrete sets. We coordinate overnight for banks (PNC, BoA, Chase) and hotels (Hilton Garden Inn PSL, Hampton Inn). Quick-set concrete is service-ready in 6-8 hours, full-cure in 24-48.
Most likely yes. On overhead concealed closers (Dorma RTS88, ITS96) the back-check valve is what holds the door from drifting open in a wind gust or HVAC pressure. When the back-check valve seal fails, the door no longer resists opening force and slowly wanders. Rebuild restores the back-check, $580-980. Sometimes it's an HVAC pressure issue (door is being pushed open by building pressure) - we'll diagnose both because the closer rebuild won't fix a pressure problem.
Concealed and floor closer work is concentrated at the higher-end PSL commercial accounts - bank lobbies (PNC, Bank of America, Chase at Tradition and PGA Plaza), hotel lobbies (Hilton Garden Inn PSL, Hampton Inn), the all-glass storefronts at Riverwalk Center and Tradition Square, and the high-end restaurant pivot doors along Tradition Centre Drive. Coastal accounts on Hutchinson Island get the corrosion-resistant cartridge package.
Last updated: 2026-05-18
