We were on a mini-vacation earlier in the week, which is my excuse for forgetting two things. First, my pal Zeke Wolfskehl is in search of some research that I remember hearing about but have never been able to find documentation for. Maybe it’s an urban legend, but I know that I heard/read somewhere that a pair of doors with a mullion allows more efficient egress than a pair of doors without a mullion. Do any of you remember where that was written? I need a lead to pursue.
Second, I am just finishing up an article for the Locksmith Ledger, and I need a few photos of mag-locks to go along with it. Not a mag-lock photo from a catalog, but a non-blurry photo of a mag-lock in action. If you have a photo or see a mag-lock and have your camera handy, please send it to me. If LL uses your photo, they will credit you as the photographer.
And finally…I took the kiddies to Maine to visit one of my brothers and his family, and we stopped at the LL Bean Flagship store in Freeport on the way. It was PACKED! On the way out, I asked the kids what was missing on the entrance doors. They figured it out pretty quickly, starting with, “They don’t have those bars,” to “They have a gold plate on the inside,” and then…”They don’t have locks!”
The LL Bean store in Freeport has been open 24 hours/day, 365 days/year since 1951 (except for 2 Sundays in 1962 when Maine’s blue laws changed), and the entrance doors don’t have locks. I was horrified to see that they’re also missing a decent method of stopping the door, as they are using HINGE PIN STOPS for some of the main entrance doors!
I didn’t stop at the LL Bean Home store or the Hunting & Fishing store because the kids were starting to lose it, but there are some very cool door pulls there too.
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Refer him to jake pauls
http://web.mac.com/bldguse/Site/Welcome.html
It maybe a matter of the mullion divides the crowd and allows more people to exit, than without the mullion, using the same exit width
I contacted Jake and we’ll see if he has anything to add. Thanks!
It is written on the Book of Zeke that doors with a mullion allow more efficient egress.
I know…I just can’t find in the bibliography where that statistic came from!
http://physicsbuzz.physicscentral.com/2009/08/for-quick-exit-just-block-fire-door.html?m=1
Hi Charles –
I saw that one a while ago but it doesn’t quite get me to the answer about the mullion. If the research exits that the mullion helps egress, I’m wondering why the new code requirements regarding nightclubs says that the main entrance has to be a 72″ pair with no mullion.
I’ve often seen retailers (in temperate San Francisco) claim that their doors are, literally, always open when the store is open. But I’ve never heard of a retailer that simply doesn’t have locks because the doors are always unlocked! I guess if there were a disaster they’d have to chain the doors?
And I appreciate the pic of the hinge pin stops. I have them on my front door at home (a more reasonable place, I’m sure) and this is a good reminder that when I get a new door or a new paint job I’ll want to take them off so I don’t leave deep dents like those in the pic!
Lori, My reliable source said to check an older NFPA publication. He couldn’t remember which one; green cover. I’m guessing NFPA 101. He said it was back when Bob Bullard and Bob Carroll advised on the writing of the codes. Hope that helps.
Your blog posts are full of wonderful details and information. I can see that you’ve put in many hours understanding hardware and the ways to better our facilities. Thank you for your resources here online.
Try Shawn Mahoney. He presents that an insurance company did this test to prove to architects that mullions do allow similar egress (actually as he states; better) as to double without a mullion. He may be able to bring credibility to this “urban legend”.
I was once called to a local Denny’s, who was open 24/7, when they were closing the restaurant (for good) to add a deadbolt on the front doors because they didn’t have locks on them.