Archive for March, 2010
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
This building in Calcutta was involved in a fatal fire today, with 24 deaths reported so far and additional people still missing. The top floors of the building had been added illegally, but the building owner paid a fine and all was forgiven. The fire department reportedly had never inspected the building. Each section had [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
I get a little self-conscious when I’m taking photos of doors because I think people are probably wondering why in the world I would be doing that. I haven’t been approached by Security yet, but I’m sure that day will come. Tonight I was at a hotel for the New England Chapter DHI meeting, and [...]
At the Boston Chapter CSI meeting tonight, we had a presentation by the appropriately-named “Woody” Vaughn of Vaughn Woodwork Consultants about the new Architectural Woodwork Standards. (I think I need a hardware-inspired nickname, but that will have to wait for another post.) The 1st edition of the Architectural Woodwork Standards was published on October 1st, [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
It still amazes me when I see visitors from countries who haven’t visited the site before, and the fact that we are now over 100 countries is so exciting! Here are the most recent countries, which pushed us over the 100-country mark: Armenia, Ghana, Qatar, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belize, Malta, Dominican Republic, and… Nepal, [...]
A while back, I had a couple of posts about a door that opened less than 90 degrees. I received a photo of the application that inspired the original question, and I think based on the feedback I received from code officials and the fact that the clear opening width is 32 1/4″, this application [...]
