Panic Hardware
. It’s true! The new Falcon 24/25 device has a 10-year mechanical warranty (1-year electrical). 10 years is a really long time. 10 years ago I was single, living on my own, and working for Reyn and Harris at MPS Sales as the only specwriter in our office. The highlight of my life at that [...]
Yesterday we drove from Front Royal, Virginia to Grassy Cove, Tennessee, which is a VERY long drive. We usually plan on stopping somewhere for the kids to burn off some energy, and yesterday’s stop was at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. I can find an interesting (to me) hardware application just about anywhere, [...]
…Another funky hardware application. When we visited the zoo in Albany, Georgia, I saw this restroom door with applied wood trim and I thought it was pretty cool how they detailed the trim around the push plate and deadbolt. Then I went inside and saw the homemade parallel arm shoe mounting bracket – YUCK! And just [...]
An astragal is a piece of molding used on a pair of doors or between the top and bottom leaves of a Dutch door, to provide security, protect against weather conditions, prevent light or sound transmission, or to retard the passage of smoke, flame, or gases during a fire. On a Dutch door the astragal is [...]
I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing holiday weekend…I have to admit it was really nice to take some time off. I’ve been in Grassy Cove, Tennessee since Friday and there aren’t a whole lot of doors here, but luckily I’ve got some saved up from last week. We’re headed toward home tomorrow so [...]
I am running into more and more all-glass doors on my projects, and in the words of one of the contractors I’m working with, “Doors are being asked to do things they’ve never done before.” I’ve had large glass panels pivoting at the center, glass doors acting as opening protectives in fire-rated walls, and glass doors [...]
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 [...]
I’m in Las Vegas for a meeting that starts in a couple of days, and I’m pretty sure I could find enough cool and creative doors here to last me for a few months. Today we visited Red Rock Canyon (not a lot of doors there), the Hoover Dam (more doors there than you’d think), [...]
A few weeks ago I did a post about egress from an occupied roof, and that reminded me to go back and dig out some courtyard photos I took a while ago. When a courtyard is completely enclosed with no means of egress that leads directly to a public way, the path of egress is [...]
There are almost 600 Cracker Barrel restaurants in the United States and I’ve been to most of them. Well…not most, but a bunch. The kids like the food and there’s a lot of miscellaneous stuff on the walls that we can use to play, “Who can find the _______?” When you drop a whole cup [...]
We’re in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the good news is that the specwriter Chip and I came to see has agreed to include Falcon exit devices in his specifications! Yippee! The bad news is that we arrived a bit early for Bike Week, but I figured it’s still a good place to mention cycle testing. [...]
This post was printed in the May 2011 issue of Doors and Hardware I started studying code requirements related to hardware in the mid-90′s, and I decided to conduct a little “survey” to see if my fellow hardware consultants could benefit from having a resource for code information. The survey question was, “When is panic [...]
This is one of those openings that makes me cringe…yuck! But I can’t let a teachable moment go by. Yesterday I got a call from an architect who asked whether it was acceptable to put a panic device on one leaf of a pair when only that leaf is required for egress width. The codes [...]
Even though I risked being called a weirdo by my colleagues, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try to learn more about the 5″ wide edge channels that are sometimes required on fire-rated wood doors with concealed vertical rod exit devices. When these channels show up on the jobsite without warning, architects tend to [...]
For exterior pairs I prefer to use rim panic devices with a removable mullion, but in some cases surface-mounted vertical rod devices are specified and supplied. When vertical rod devices are used on cross-corridor doors, I often specify them “Less Bottom Rod” (LBR), but on exterior doors I specify them with both top and bottom [...]
When this photo arrived in my inbox, I immediately thought the panic was mounted in that position to be operated by someone’s foot. I couldn’t quite wrap my brain around the latching/unlatching situation…I really think it’s just being used as a pull bar and that there’s no strike installed. On my next road trip maybe [...]
I’m sure that some of you remember the family road trip I took last summer, and the fact that I took along a Falcon exit device, nicknamed Chip Falcon. If you missed it, or if you just want to see the Doors of Colonial Williamsburg again, here’s a link to the series. Since we returned [...]
We had planned to get on the road early yesterday afternoon but we ended up leaving Williamsburg around 5 p.m., about the same time everyone else coming home from everywhere decided to leave. The traffic was terrible, and after 6 hours of driving we had gone as far as Elkton, Maryland and couldn’t stay in [...]
I spend a lot of time with architects, and sometimes I’m put in the awkward position of having to talk them out of trying to do something with doors that hasn’t been successfully done before. Many times this involves glass doors, which are becoming more common, yet still have very few options for hardware. It’s [...]
We’re on our way home today, and barring any surprises we’ll arrive tomorrow. For the first time we’re hitting the road without knowing where we’ll be sleeping tonight, but I’m sure we’ll find a hotel and if not, I’ll be calling my Mid-Atlantic or Metro New York SSC buddies to see who has room at [...]
I think this photo speaks for itself. I just love the creativity and the lengths people will go to with these modifications. It’s kind of sad that I get my kicks from looking at doors gone wrong, but admit it…you do too! I’ve had this picture for a really long time and I can’t remember [...]
This article was written by Carl Prinzler, one of the creators of the original exit device, at the end of the 1930′s. I think it’s an interesting insight into the development of the first exit device and the code requirements at that time. How It All Began A rambling story of the birth of Von [...]
I was just thinking to myself how nice it would be to have a night off…actually, since it’s already 8:30 p.m. it’s more like a half-night. Then I remembered that last week I received an article from a “guest blogger.” Woohoo! Thanks TJ! IT’S A DOG EAT DOG WORLD By: T.J. Gottwalt, AHC, CDC, CSI, [...]
Last week I posted a photo of a double egress pair I saw on a recent site visit, and asked “What’s Wrong With This Picture?” regarding the photo on the bottom right. I received quite a few correct answers and some good guesses. The plastic on the armor plates, while distracting and ugly, is not [...]
I recently received this photo of a door in a hospital with the question, “What does the code prescribe for lock/panic protectors on fire-rated and non-rated doors?” I know some of you will point out that the exit device is not fire-rated (evident because of the dogging hole), and others will note that the glass [...]
This post was printed in the October 2011 issue of Doors & Hardware New requirements were added to the 2009 editions of the International Building Code, the International Fire Code, and NFPA 101 – The Life Safety Code, regarding luminous egress path markings (NFPA 101 calls them “Exit Stair Path Markings”). These markings on stairs, [...]
Last night I went to a presentation at one of our 3 local middle schools, which I’m guessing was built in the 70′s. What struck me right away was that the exterior doors are all about 10′ tall, and the interiors are about 9′ with a transom panel above. What a strange application for a [...]
Last weekend I put together the annual family photo album so I could order copies for the grandparents. Mixed in with all of the vacation photos were a ton of doors. Someday my grown-up kids will be on the psychiatrist’s couch…“My mother always took us places just so she could look for interesting doors…I’m scarred [...]
These ALL came from Jeff Tock, one of our national trainers who spends most weeks traveling around conducting classes and sees a lot of doors in the process. Jeff will be here in New England in a few weeks conducting the “Preparing for a Fire Door Inspection” class for facilities. If you work for a [...]
Way back in hardware school we were taught that rim panic hardware with a removable mullion is the most secure and maintenance-free application for a pair of doors. Most facilities prefer mullions instead of vertical rod panic hardware, which can be difficult to install and to keep properly adjusted. On the other hand, most architects [...]
In the Good Old Days when I was a more frequent nightclub visitor, I remember trying to exit through a club’s main entrance at closing time and encountering a locked door. The manager had locked the door to prevent more people from coming in. The vestibule was dark, and the dark bronze storefront door had [...]
Within one week I received two requests for help regarding old Von Duprin panic devices. I know that somebody out there has a dusty old file cabinet with information on these products. Ideally, we’d like to find exploded parts diagrams, installation instructions, or any other relevant information. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Sent in by Peter Schifferli, [...]
A couple of weeks ago one of my coworkers, Rich Conroy, took a phone call from someone with questions about open back strikes. Rich asked me to write a post that he could refer people to, and the hold-up was that I had to find a photo. Not the photo you see in a catalog [...]
I tend to notice hardware on TV and movies (just ask my family!), but this video is probably the best (worst) example I’ve seen of doors gone bad for the sake of TV production. It was sent in by Eyal Bedrik of Entry Systems Ltd. in Israel. The commercial is in Hebrew but the panic [...]
Last week, someone asked me about code requirements related to panic hardware on balanced doors. (If you’re not sure what a balanced door is, there’s a good explanation here.) The project in question is in Israel, and apparently the code requirements there do not include any specific requirements for panic hardware on balanced doors. However, [...]
Beginning with the 2002 edition, the National Electric Code (NFPA 70) requires that certain types of electric rooms have doors that open in the direction of egress and are “equipped with panic bars, pressure plates, or other devices that are normally latched but open under simple pressure.” According to an engineer I spoke with at [...]
If you went to hardware school, then you were taught (like me) that egress doors have to be visible and have an obvious method of operation, right? Well, every so often the question comes up regarding visibility of panic hardware, usually because someone wants to match the finish of a Von Duprin Inpact device to [...]
When I need inspiration for what to write about and nobody has sent me a good code question that day, all I have to do is look back at my photos from family outings. That’s sad, I know. During the summer I took the kids to a children’s museum that had a planetarium. The first [...]
I recently received this photo from an architect who wanted to use the Von Duprin Inpact devices pictured here on another museum I’m working on. I’ve used these several times when an architect wanted the panic device powder coated a similar color to the door. As with LCN closers, Von Duprin panic hardware can be powder coated in [...]
<— You know what that’s a photo of??? Rain – torrential rain, at our Relay for Life event this weekend. It rained on and off for most of the relay, but it was REALLY bad at night. Even the die-hard high school kids in the campsite next to ours ended up sleeping in a friend’s [...]
The good news is that these doors are being replaced, presumably with doors that will provide security without jeopardizing life safety. The bad news is that this is a popular restaurant and their main entrance doesn’t come close to meeting the requirements for egress. I usually see cane bolts like this used to hold the [...]
My inbox is overflowing with reader photos again. Thanks everyone! From Jerry Heid of Advantage Lites and Louvers / Zero International, a gravity closer on a restaurant entrance: From Adam King of Vulcan Lock, a reminder of why closers shouldn’t be installed on the exterior: From Nolan Thrope of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies – Metro-NY, [...]
All of today’s reader photos came from my compañeros at Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies: From Tim Weller, a door which requires 3 motions (and a key!) to exit…a knob, an exit alarm, and a key-operated deadbolt. If this is a required means of egress, the codes require a single motion and no prior knowledge to [...]
Here’s the latest batch of reader photos…don’t forget to send me any interesting doors you see on your summer vacations! From Mary Hinton of Mulhaupt’s Inc., a McDonald’s bathroom door that would provide a convenient peephole for Kidzilla. Amazingly, this is not the first time we’ve seen this creative resolution to the problem. This photo [...]
How about some reader photos to ease you into the weekend? Jim Lenox of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies found a rescue hardware application I had never seen before. Instead of a cased opening frame, the door is mounted on the stop. Is this how they used to do a rescue hardware door in the good [...]
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 [...]
I’d be rich if I had a dime for every time I explained that panic hardware is required for Assembly and Educational occupancies with an occupant load of more than 100 people (per IBC 2000 or 2003, NFPA 101) or more than 50 people (per IBC 2006 or 2009). Well, maybe I’d just have a bunch of [...]
I’ve spent several phone calls this week discussing “dogging” with one of my favorite clients. I guess it is kind of hard to keep straight if you’re not a hardware person. The term “dogging” refers to holding the latch(es) of a panic device retracted to create a push/pull function. When the panic device is dogged, [...]
I’ve seen lots of creative ways of dogging fire exit hardware, but this one gets an “E” for Effort (along with an “F” for Fail). These devices are on fire doors in a hotel ballroom, and while someone went to great lengths on this modification, these doors are supposed to be self-latching to compartmentalize the [...]
I’m a big fan of creative hardware applications like these PVC rod guards on an exterior pair in a high school, but I think they should have considered adding some bottom latch guards. The latches don’t even have their covers! FYI…Von Duprin does manufacture rod and latch guards – the RG-27, also available as a rod [...]
This is a very unusual door – stone clad and an exterior opening only about 100 feet from the ocean. The door and panic hardware were installed by Entry Systems Ltd., the stone, mag-lock, and wood surround were added by someone else. The photos were sent to me by Eyal Bedrik of Entry Systems Ltd., [...]
Last week I posted photos of some very old Von Duprin exit devices which were originally installed on the entrance doors to the Shatford Centre in Penticton, British Columbia. I later communicated with the millworker, Plexus Woodworks, who built the new doors, and several people from the Shatford Centre, as well as other blog readers [...]
I have been amazed and touched by the number of people who actually read my Good News/Bad News post all the way to the end and took the time to call or email me about my daughter’s surgery. Thank you so much for your care and concern. It has been a tough week and an [...]
Back to business after a brief vacation in Costa Rica… This is the 5th post in a series about fire doors and the results of a recent (unscientific) survey. Rule #2 – A fire door must be SELF-LATCHING. This means that when a fire door closes, it latches, typically with either a lockset/latchset or fire [...]
I got a Tweet today from @GinnyPowell, who was attending a Von Duprin training. She was surprised that the fire truck video is still around, and once she mentioned it I just had to go back and watch it again. It’s a classic! I love the fire test engineer…”I am now checking the device…” I [...]
Remember the old video of the various types of exit devices being run over by a fire truck? It’s a classic, and I still get the urge to watch it every so often…“I am examining the [flattened] device. It is not working.” You could make the case that a panic device doesn’t need to withstand [...]
Today I went to a performance at a theater on a local college campus. The theater has 650 seats, so all of the required egress doors are supposed to have panic hardware. There are 4 pairs in the main lobby, all equipped with paddle devices which don’t qualify as panic hardware. One of the requirements [...]
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 [...]
When I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago for the IAPSC conference, it also happened to be school vacation week so I brought the kids along for a visit to my parents’ house. They all survived while I was in Miami Beach, so when I got back from the conference I took them [...]
Since we seem to be on an antique doors and hardware run, I thought you’d like to see these oldies but goodies. They were spotted at the Shatford Centre in Penticton, British Columbia. The building was recently renovated and the main entrance doors and hardware were replaced, and the process was chronicled in detail on [...]
I visited a jobsite today and saw some QEL devices in action. If you’re not familiar with the QEL device, it is a *quiet* version of the electric latch retraction exit device. When the access control system (card reader, key fob, etc.) signals the door to unlock, the latch(es) retract to allow someone to pull [...]
If you regularly check this site to find out what’s new and exciting in the world of doors and hardware, you may have occasionally experienced a server error. Yesterday I asked the web hosting company to move the site to a more stable server to avoid these errors, which they agreed to do at midnight. I [...]
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted one of these “quiz” photos but I want to see if you’ve been paying attention. This pair is at the Hoover Dam…right near the touchpad devices with the carpet modification. So, take a good look and leave a comment telling me what the problem is. I’ll hold [...]
It’s been 40 days since I’ve mentioned a ladies room, and I just saw an application that I can’t resist posting about. I played hooky today with my daughter and a friend to go see a production of Wicked at the Providence Performing Arts Center. We arrived as the show was about to start, but [...]
I was working on a different post but that one will have to wait. I just received these photos, it’s Wordless Wednesday, and I am wordless (yes, again). This is an exit for a hockey rink, sent in by an anonymous reader. Hockey rinks are notoriously tough on their doors and hardware, but this “solution” [...]
I received a lot of vacation photos this summer, including these from my pal Eyal Bedrik of Entry Systems Ltd in Israel, who apparently spent 5 weeks in the U.S. but didn’t stop by to visit me.
Today’s Wordless Wednesday photo was sent in by David Sochaczevski, an architect with the Soltron Group in Montreal. David saw this door near the Stitch ride in Disney’s Magic Kingdom. At first glance this application clearly looks like a code problem, but I just couldn’t imagine Disney purposely installing hardware that would require two motions [...]
This photo was sent in by Kathi Frelk of Anderson Lock (check out their blog!). It’s perfect for Wordless Wednesday because I have no words for this application. Well, I guess I could say that two rim devices with a removable mullion would have been a much more secure application, but would anyone listen? Thanks Kathi!
This photo was sent in by Pat Bond of Shanahan’s in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Thanks Pat!
If you’re not familiar with Wordless Wednesday (WW), it’s when bloggers post a photo which speaks for itself, without any words to gum up the experience. This post isn’t technically wordless, but here’s the first WW photo: Photo courtesy of Robot_Cowboy, via Flickr. Permission granted 1/13/11.
Wow! Feast your eyes on this retrofit 994L lever trim for a Von Duprin 98/99 device. It was made by Cirecast, for the Kansas Statehouse. Gorgeous! Photos submitted by Andy Buse of Von Duprin, posted with permission from Peter Morenstein of Cirecast, Inc.
These buildings were ALL OCCUPIED when these photos were taken. Depressing. From Jeff Bruno of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies: From Brendan Daley of Surveillance Specialties: From Wayne Ficklin of the Clark County Department of Aviation: From Nolan Thrope of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies: From Darren Patton of Isenhour Door: From Cliff Cohen of Armstrong Lock [...]
These photos were sent in by Morriss Johnson of CMA, the architectural firm working on the renovation of the Ridglea Theater. The first two photos are nice, but I LOVE the one of the pair. And YES, it is a required egress door. Thanks Morriss!!
This is on the front door of the elementary school where Kidzilla has her summer program. I guess they don’t know about the Quiet Doorman.
By the time most of you read this it will be Thursday, but right now it’s Wordless Wednesday! Sent in by Steve Turner of Precision Doors and Hardware…a fairly common but definitely not code-compliant retrofit: Sent in by Steve Monroe of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies…the sign does not make this ok! Anybody know why not?
Thank goodness it’s Wordless Wednesday because I have no words for these photos. Well, no words other than – deadbolts aren’t allowed on double-egress doors, and UL listed hardware can’t be modified. Believe it or not, these exit devices actually work (as long as the deadbolt isn’t engaged!). Do you know someone who would like [...]
One of my favorite job-related activities is going into a facility and helping with their hardware problems. This week I was called into a police station to look at a door that had allowed several escapes, as well as the main entrance. I thought it would be fun to see what you all would recommend [...]
I’d love to know who did this, so I can give them a good talking-to (maybe they’ll read this and track me down like the semi-concealed closer installer). This photo was taken in a restaurant by one of my coworkers. The tables and chairs are blocking the door, and someone trying to exit would have [...]
Last week I got a compliment about this site from a security consultant, and I asked him if there were any topics he’d like me to do a post about. He said that a post on electrified lever trim (E) vs. electric latch retraction (EL) would be helpful since he spends a lot of time [...]
Wait a minute - WHAT??? For several months I’ve been trying to find out more about the research that was conducted years ago regarding the use of a mullion on a pair of doors. It could be one of those urban legends of door hardware, but as the story goes, when a university tested egress through a [...]
