Archive for April, 2011
Feeling the Heat: Fire Doors – Building.co.uk “Incorrectly specified fire doors could, at worst, cost lives. Now a landmark legal case could mean that it’s the contractor and specifier who will end up in court.” Ten dead in Delhi factory fire, all exits were blocked – Indo-Asian News Service “Prima facie it appears that the [...]
I saw both of these doors today, in two different facilities. Yes, they are both fire rated. One is a cross-corridor pair and one is a stair door.
I was recently elected as a town meeting member for my town (a pretty large town - 68,000 people), and tonight I attended my first-ever town meeting. It was pretty interesting to see government in action, but I also found time to hunt down some old doors for you all. You don’t see these old leather-wrapped [...]
On our way home we had great weather while we were in the DC area, so we decided to stop at the zoo and let the kids get some of the crazies out. The lions were my favorite…a pride of 2 lionesses, 1 lion, and 7 cubs – just gorgeous. I could have watched them [...]
I guess the blog’s subscriber system decided to go on vacation too, and I just realized that you weren’t receiving notification emails! There are a couple of posts waiting for you, and I’d also like to announce the winners of the “A Penny for Your Thoughts” contest! The 1,000th comment was left by CDA, a [...]
We’re still on vacation and saw almost no doors today, but we did meet our neighbor. Creepy!
I’ve been looking at this building on paper for at least 5 years, and although there were days when I wished for the fun to end, I knew it was going to be something special. Since we were in DC today, I took the opportunity to see the new headquarters for the United States Institute [...]
I wrote this post on Saturday but because of technical difficulties I couldn’t get it uploaded until now. Sorry! We headed south on our road trip today, and after hours of traffic and extremely heavy rain we stopped at a mall in New Jersey to let the kids get out of the car for a [...]
The kids’ spring break begins tomorrow, so I’ve got my earplugs packed (literally) and we’re headed south on another road trip. We’re planning to stop in DC Sunday morning to burn some energy and so I can check on the United States Institute of Peace. I wrote the hardware spec quite a few years ago [...]
Here’s the second batch of reader photos. My emailbox is empty now. Not. From Steve Poe of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, a hospital pair that was wrong from the start. The gravity coordinator doesn’t work, which is why they want people to use the lever handle. From Hal Kelton of DoorData Solutions, some photos of [...]
I’ve received lots of reader photos lately…thank you, and keep ‘em coming! From Kurt Roeper of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, taken on his recent trip to China. In the facility’s defense, iDigHardware seems to be blocked by the Great Firewall of China, so it’s no wonder they have hardware problems. The first photo is of [...]
Photo submitted by Nolan Thrope of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies.
Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I’m a helper. I like to help. I’m always organizing collection efforts for one thing or another, donating items for our local schools, pitching in when I can. There are so many people in need, and if we all help a little, the world will be a better [...]
A penny won’t get you too far these days…I have to bribe my kids with at least a dollar to get them to do anything. So I’m going to up the ante. I’m offering a chance to win 10,000 PENNIES! It’s hard to believe, but almost 1,000 comments have been left on this blog. The [...]
This post was printed in the April 2011 issue of: I had heard the rumors about a change to the Life Safety Code that would exempt classroom doors from needing closers, but I finally had time to track it down. Here’s the scoop: According to the 2009 edition of NFPA 101, corridor walls must have [...]
I got this text message this morning, and alas, I’m not at the ISC West show in Las Vegas. If you’re not at the show either, you can still visit the Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies booth there. Tour Our Booth with Sean Leonard: Other Videos from ISC-West bright blue Web-based Access Control System – Jason [...]
Since I started this blog I’ve often thought how great it would be if JQP (John Q Public) knew the basic requirements of fire and egress doors. What if everyone who saw a locked egress door or a propped-open fire door had a way to change the situation? Imagine the effect this could have on [...]
View through window in door of seclusion room – Middletown State Hospital. Photo by Richard Nickel, Jr. To see more of Richard’s amazing photos of the effects of time on many gorgeous abandoned buildings, please visit his blog: The Kingston Lounge. If you’d like to learn more about present-day recommendations for behavioral healthcare, there’s a [...]
I love photography and I’ve always wanted to learn how to use all the fancy buttons and dials on my camera. My “big” camera (a Canon T1i) takes great photos but I knew it could do so much more if I only knew what all those settings meant. Well, today I finally took a class. [...]
