Archive for November, 2009
The cool thing about writing a blog from my little office within a very large company is that I write about whatever strikes me at the time. Unlike many corporate bloggers, I am not told what to write about and my posts aren’t approved before they’re posted. I’m grateful that I have that freedom, because [...]
In honor of *Turkey Day*, here are some absolutely gorgeous “Doors of Turkey”: ________________________________________________________________________________________ Photo Credits: Levent Sadik Kucukdaban, Yucel Tellici, Sophia Tsibikaki, Serdar Yagci, Sufi70, Erik deGraaf, Refik Ongan.
This sign is on the OUTSIDE of a door on the gas station I frequent. I can’t think of any reason it would be important to know that nobody will be exiting out of that door (UPDATE: Check out the comments for some interesting insight from a fire marshal.), but it did make me wonder [...]
I ran across this photo today on a network security blog (click the photo to go there). –> Speaking of fire alarms, I had another request today for a lock that ONLY unlocks to allow egress upon fire alarm. In most cases, this is not code-compliant. There may be certain occupancy classifications (like detention and [...]
Here’s another photo from my day at Build Boston. You don’t see this application often – Blumcraft or CR Laurence tubular exit devices on wood doors. I think they look pretty nice. I would have done something different with the closers, and I wouldn’t have specified a key cylinder (the chunky square thing above each [...]
I spent 10 hours yesterday attending seminars (or waiting for the next one to start) at Build Boston, the largest regional convention and trade show for the design and construction industry. There were over 200 workshops and 250 exhibitors, and I saw lots of architect and specifier friends, not to mention enough door and hardware [...]
A couple of months ago I did a post about the new aged bronze finish – BHMA 643e. A local architect commented that he had been looking for a finish similar to the base metal that you see after US10B finish rubs off. I can’t walk away from a challenge, so I called Frascio International [...]
Someone asked me about the requirements for automatic door signage today, and I hadn’t really looked into it before. Most people just use the stickers that come with the operators, don’t they? To find the answer, I referred to ANSI/BHMA A156.19-2007, since the auto operators in question were the low-energy type. I think the reason [...]
Considering that it took 11 years to go from the 6th edition of the Massachusetts State Building Code to the 7th edition, I was surprised when I learned that the 8th edition is due out the beginning of 2010. It is based on the 2009 edition of the International Building Code, which references the 2007 [...]
I know I just mentioned bathroom door hardware yesterday so maybe this will be the start of another series. Almost every week someone asks me about the use of deadbolts on bathroom doors, often because they want to use an indicator deadbolt, like the Falcon D271 (right). I saw an application recently at Harvard, so [...]
A couple of days ago, one of our specwriters asked about a closer on a door with rescue hardware, and another specwriter advised him to use a double-acting closer. I was shocked to learn that they weren’t aware of my FAVORITE LCN special template – ST-1895. In order to explain this special template, I will [...]
It’s funny how some things stick in your mind, and even funnier that I have “hardware memories” from way back. I remember a rumor going around my 7th grade Home Ec class that another class had locked our teacher, Mrs. Cross, out of the classroom, and that she had cried. So sad! I’m sure that’s [...]
When I started working in the hardware industry, we regularly supplied doors with a 10″ x 10″ vision lite (type V in the Steelcraft graphic below), which was typically installed approximately 63″ from the center of the lite to the floor. This configuration would no longer be acceptable according to some current accessibility standards. The [...]
A few weeks ago someone asked me this question and I answered him directly rather than posting about it on the blog, but then yesterday I saw someone arrive at the site searching for the very same information. So, in case you too have been wondering what “CUSH” means in relation to door hardware, here [...]
I’ve heard of a break glass switch in relation to security, but this is a new one from one of my favorite sites to look at when I need a break from doors: www.thereIfixedit.com. The site reminds me of some of my husband’s handiwork.
Name: William “Bill” Lawliss, AHC/CDC, CCPR Company, Location, and Years of Service: Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies – New England, Needham, MA, 5+ years (since May 2004) Current Position: Sales Manager Total Years in the Industry: 21 years (as of 12/2009) Summary of Previous Industry Experience: I began as an estimator/detailer for specialty products with HCI/Craftsmen [...]
Last week I took a trip down to Providence to visit one of my recent projects, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island Headquarters. I had a heckuva time finding it since it was a new address that my GPS didn’t recognize, but I found a shuttle bus driver who not only pondered the [...]
