If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that our annual Fathers Day tradition is to go to Ogunquit, Maine, walk along the Marginal Way, do some shopping, have lunch, and then play on the beach (here are some photos from last year).
While we were there yesterday I saw the doors below, and started thinking about them from an obstruction standpoint. I was shocked when I noticed that they were fire-rated doors! If there were ever fire doors that would not properly close in a fire, these are the ones!
My next thought was, “Why are these fire doors anyway?” There was an exterior door which led to a display area, and then these two pairs of doors leading to one store. Sometimes labeled doors end up where they’re not required because that’s what someone had in stock, but these doors had electromagnetic hold-opens and fire exit hardware. I’m not saying that they definitely don’t need to be rated…it just seemed unusual. Anybody have a theory as to why rated doors would be required here?
Happy Fathers Day to all of the fathers out there, and the future fathers! 😉
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If these were originally 2 different stores, with a fire wall between them, then they would need the fire rated doors to separate the spaces.
That’s an excellent theory, Rachel!
We went out to dinner Sat. night and I noticed some chairs at the restaurant blocking the exit doors. I mentioned it in passing to my husband, and my son looked and knew right away what the problem was. Now I know that I have influenced him regarding his knowledge of means of egress (even if he doesn’t want to enter the industry!).
Someday it will be considered COOL to join the movement! 😀
Same thought as above
Also maybe the building was used for something else in the past, that required them
Or how many sq ft would you say the building was?? Maybe fire wall to cut down sq ft???
I don’t know the square footage but next time we go I’ll get an estimate. I will also check to see if there’s a fire door between the two sides of the store. They make popcorn there so I wonder if that has something to do with the rating requirement.
Wait? Is it not cool already?
I think we’re reaching the tipping point where everyone else realizes what we’ve known all along. 🙂
Well not sure it is strange but both doors appear to swing in direction to another exit.
Clue???
We all know that “panic” bars (code word) are only required in Assembly, Education and some Hazardous occupancies. And judging from the photos none of those apply (unless some of the bottles contain something hazardous, and the shoes look suspicious. And electrical rooms – any hidden panels?. And the occupant limit of 50 doesn’t look like it has been exceeded (remember when the number was 100!) So I’m guessing these doors came from somewhere else. Do the mag holds actually work or are there floor wedges also hidden behind the display racks?
Even though panic hardware would not be required for a Mercantile occupancy, the alternative for a pair (auto flush bolts and a coordinator) would be very problematic in this type of location. I suppose since the doors are held open that application might be ok, but I would default to panics just for durability, ease of use, and reduced maintenance. If the rating wasn’t required I would prefer push/pull hardware, but if the doors needed to lock, technically manual flush bolts wouldn’t be allowed because of egress, so we’re back to square 1. I didn’t check to see if the mag holders were working. The clerk looked like she was ready to call the authorities on me. 🙂
If you return there, and it’s still them same condition, and the authorities are called, ask to have them send the fire inspector out. You could have an interesting chat.