Erich Russ of Jeske Hardware sent me today’s Fixed-it Friday photos and I’ll admit, at first I thought this was just another pair of fire doors with kick-down stops. But take a closer look…
Here we see a pair of cross-corridor doors in a hotel corridor. They are fire doors with fire exit hardware and magnetic holders. These hold-open devices will keep the doors in the open position until the fire alarm system is activated, and then they will release so the doors close and latch, helping to prevent the spread of smoke and fire. It’s obvious from the position of the doors that the magnetic holders are not working, as the armatures are not contacting the electromagnets.
The kick-down stops have been added, to hold the doors in the open position. If you’re new around here, this is not compliant with the codes and standards, as these fire doors will not automatically close and latch if a fire occurs.
Here’s where the closer look comes in. Check out the magnetic holders. When the electromagnets failed (probably due to an open signal from the fire alarm panel), someone attempted a creative fix. When this didn’t work, I’m guessing that’s when the kick-down stops were added.
Happy Fixed-it Friday!
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Ok Lori, you need to do top ten fix it’s , and WW, towards the end of the year!!!
This one would be in it. There is just a whole lot of wrong going on with these doors.
I think that’s a great suggestion, Charles!
– Lori
Also note the thru-bolts added because the top latches were probably ripped off the doors. YIKES!
I don’t see preps for the fire bolts on the edges of these LBR fire-doors.
Also, are these cross corridor as mentioned?
OK. Seeing the glued magnets made me laugh.
Along that line, in looking at the opening I am sure it is rated. These are LBR, and I do not see a fire pin… if not rated, OK.
I only see $$’s when I see this problem in the field. I would venture to say there are more like this in the building. Besides what was mentioned above, it appears the thru bolted latches were facilitated due to the delamination of the skin of the door. The armatures have wood blocks instead of arm extensions. I bet we could find more if we were standing in front of the doors. I trust Erich Russ of Jeske Hardware has made some money solving the self inflicted misery in this building
Oh my gosh! The glued-on dot magnets are… a choice! Stories like this one make me wish so very much that there were a way to do a “where are they now” retrospective on some of these spaces to see what kinds of changes they have made, or haven’t made!
The Exit Trim is using a Thumb Piece to unlatch the SVR.
Not ADA must be a lever.