If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that in the summer I usually post some photos from various road trips and vacation days that I take with my family while working a somewhat flexible schedule. We have a big trip coming up that I will tell you more about once we get underway, but meanwhile check out these doors that I saw on a recent errand in Boston:
Some of you might be thinking…”Doors can’t be disguised like that!” but this mural is on the access or ingress side of the door, not the egress side. The model codes require means of egress doors to be readily distinguishable and easily recognizable as doors, but this requirement is typically applied to the egress side of the door. One argument might be that the fire department may not immediately recognize these doors as a way into the space, but that’s one of the reasons for firefighters to periodically visit the buildings in their area of coverage so they know what to expect when a fire occurs.
The use of adhesive vinyl advertising is on the rise (have you seen some of the buses with full wraps?) so we will see more of this on doors – hopefully not on the egress side! Here’s one that I saw way back in 2010 that incorporates see-through graphics over the glass. If you see a door with adhesive vinyl graphics, I’d love a photo!
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Yeah, I’m pretty sure you don’t have to twist the fire department’s arm to get them to visit the Garden to let them familiarize themselves to its layout.
Amazing the things they are doing with vinyl graphics these days! Can vinyl graphics be added to fire rated doors, especially to the entire door? Wouldn’t the vinyl add to the combustible material near/on the door? Sorry if this question has been raised before!
Good point, Aaron!
I thought signs on Fire Doors were limited to a maximum of 5% of the door’s area. Is that only for the egress side?
No, the limitation is definitely not just for the egress side.
Aaron, I had a project where the architect was calling for a vinyl wall covering to completely cover the outside of some fire doors and I raised the issue that an unlisted material could not be applied to the fire doors. I never received any response so I assume they just did it anyway. I don’t know if there are any listed types of vinyl but I couldn’t find any information on them.
NFPA 80 Annex E allows for listed “plant-ons” which would presumably cover this stuff.
Hi Ryan –
I just replied to your comment but it’s not showing up so I’m sorry if you get this twice. I don’t think the vinyl would be a plant-on, and UL told me that it does need to be listed if used on a fire door. The only listing I’ve found for a product like this is for material used for luminous egress path markings.
– Lori
Very cool!
I would like to see some signage about not blocking the exit. People will stand in front of the wall, but may at least think about being hit by a door if it looked like a door. I can even imagine a table or other temporary item in front of this “non door” space for an event