Monthly Archives: March 2010

Doors of the Hurva

It has been a while since I've received a new batch of photos from Israel but these were worth the wait.  The Hurva is a reconstructed synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem, with a long, storied history.  Construction on the original synagogue began in the early 1700's, but the unfinished building was destroyed in 1721.   It was rebuilt in 1864 and destroyed again in 1948.  The most recent reconstruction began in 2005, and the reconstructed synagogue was officially opened on March 15, 2010.

By |2016-01-06T11:18:38-05:00March 29th, 2010|Beautiful Doors, Reader Photos|0 Comments
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Stats

As I've said before, I often look at my stats and see how people arrived at my blog.  I see a lot of people searching for information about fire door inspection and other information about fire doors, when to use panic hardware and various egress questions, and plenty of accessibility questions.  Sometimes people arrive searching for something a little different, so I thought it would be fun to share these requests on occasion.

By |2012-01-27T22:07:35-05:00March 27th, 2010|General Info|3 Comments
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Triangle Factory Fire – 99 Years Ago Today

The fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City on March 25th, 1911, claimed 146 lives - mostly young immigrant women.  Building owners locked the exit doors to keep the workers in and the union organizers out, so when a fire broke out on the 8th floor it was impossible for some of the 600+ workers on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors to escape.  The fire escape was not sufficient to hold the number of fleeing occupants, and collapsed.  Firefighters' ladders were several stories too short, and water from the fire hoses could not reach the upper floors of the building.  Sixty workers jumped to their deaths.

By |2021-06-07T14:56:08-04:00March 25th, 2010|FDAI, Fire Doors, Historical, Videos|0 Comments
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Full Height Pulls

No matter how much time I spend thinking about doors and hardware (that's so sad), there's always someone waiting in the wings with a question or problem I haven't thought of yet.  When I worked for a hardware distributor, that usually meant that because I had never thought about that particular issue before, I had doors on a jobsite that were going to cost us time and money to fix.  Now that most of my work is earlier in the process (spec-writing), there's usually plenty of time to catch any coordination issues before the doors are actually fabricated.

By |2013-02-08T21:42:02-05:00March 23rd, 2010|Push/Pull|2 Comments
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Interlocks

I went to see an architect on Friday, for what I thought would be a 2-hour meeting to discuss the security requirements for a new project.  3 1/2 hours later (time flies when you're talking about hardware!) I emerged to the sunlight (and the parking ticket), after literally resorting to cheerleading to get the architect through one more floor of the building (Her: "Lori, my brain hurts."  Me: "Come on!  You can do it!!").

By |2014-10-08T09:11:50-04:00March 21st, 2010|Electrified Hardware, Videos|3 Comments
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Spring Hinges

After my post about the Parkside West fire, a couple of people have asked me what I have against spring hinges.  I'm not one to discriminate against hardware of any function, style, or finish, but I also like things to do what they're supposed to do.  If I could get my kids to act more like cast iron door closers, I'd be a happy camper.  I'm not picking on spring hinges here - Ives makes spring hinges and is also one of the brands that keeps a roof over my head.  They just need to be used for the right applications.

By |2014-01-08T23:55:59-05:00March 17th, 2010|Accessibility, Hinges & Pivots|8 Comments
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Tomb Doors

Last week I attended a security meeting for a new horticulture building at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  I've written hardware specs for hundreds of projects but never a building for a cemetery.  I had never been to Mt. Auburn, so I looked it up on Google Maps, my first clue that this was not your typical cemetery.

By |2016-04-05T20:31:44-04:00March 15th, 2010|Beautiful Doors|3 Comments
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Parkside West Fire

Last Tuesday night, approximately fifty people were left homeless by a fire at the Parkside West Apartments in New London, Connecticut, which apparently began on a stove in a 3rd-story apartment.  One of the newspaper accounts of the fire investigation reported that the fire marshal stated "in the third-floor apartment where the fire is believed to have started, a weatherstrip prevented the door from closing, allowing smoke to spread."

By |2013-02-08T21:40:33-05:00March 13th, 2010|FDAI, Fire Doors, Videos|1 Comment
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Museum Hardware

Two of my defining projects as a hardware consultant have been the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  One of our other specwriters, Greg Thomson, currently has two museum projects in progress - the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard.

By |2014-11-25T23:21:47-05:00March 8th, 2010|Funky Applications|3 Comments
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Help Wanted

Someone emailed me last week to ask if Ingersoll Rand was hiring.  Good question - it's been a really long time since I've perused the want ads.  Back in 1987, I was laid off from my job as a draftsman for an aluminum storefront supplier and had to go on the hunt for a new job, but since then the jobs have usually found me.  The hardware business is very small, which is great because we all know each other, but sometimes it can be a little awkward.  About 10 years ago a recruiter called to ask if I was interested in a job, and not only did I know the person who currently held the job, he didn't know he was leaving yet!  Yikes!

By |2016-07-20T10:57:09-04:00March 7th, 2010|General Info|0 Comments
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Anti-Ligature Knob

I got a call this week from a facility that needed to replace existing locksets with an anti-ligature product.  If you're not familiar with anti-ligature hardware, it's designed for use in mental health or detention facilities, to help protect patients or inmates from self-harm by minimizing the attachment points on the hardware.  Anti-ligature hardware is just one part of a safe environment for facilities with special needs, along with tamper-proof plumbing, mechanical, and electrical devices, break-away shower rods and bars, impact-resistant glass and mirrors, etc.

By |2012-01-27T22:08:02-05:00March 4th, 2010|Locks & Keys|16 Comments
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Photo Gallery

In case you haven't noticed, there's a new photo gallery tab at the top of the page.  The gallery includes thumbnails of some of the photos I've used in previous posts, and when you click on the thumbnail it will take you to the applicable post.  (If any of them take you to the wrong post, let me know!)

By |2012-01-27T22:08:02-05:00March 3rd, 2010|General Info|1 Comment
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