Breaking Tradition
This post was printed in the May 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Fire & Egress Doors in the News
Theodore Firedoor...my hero! And I'm going to start using the word "dodgy" whenever possible. :D
WW and WWYD: Panic Hardware Lockdown
Andrew Harris of Willis Klein sent me these photos of doors in a school district. He had been called in to solve the problems that caused the school to resort to these locking measures.
Boston Public Library
Many of you know that I live just outside of Boston and I consider the city my home (and I really appreciate those of you who emailed me to make sure I was ok). I love this city, the architecture, the history, the vibe given off by the people. For me, downtown Boston isn't an area to be avoided because of traffic, crime, or parking difficulties. It's a place I frequent - with my family and friends, for work, or on my own. I have never worried about my safety.
Decoded: Fusible Links and Smoke-Activated Hold-Opens
I’m asked quite often if fusible link arms are still allowed to be used on fire doors. The logical place to start is NFPA 80 – Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives...
Secret Passageway Doors
The next time an architect wants to do something crazy like attach a bookcase to a sliding door or face a swinging door with masonry, I know right where to send them! No...not there, HERE:
The Grand Canal Shoppes
This morning I went over to the Grand Canal Shoppes before the stores opened, to get photos of the unusual door pulls. I'm pretty sure Security was tracking my every move, but apparently they decided I was harmless.
Public House
As always when I travel, I've been on the lookout for interesting doors during my trip to Las Vegas. I saw these last night at dinner. They're beautiful (and huge!) carved wood panels, hung on center pivots which are offset from the edge. When the doors are closed (see below), there is a gap at the hinge edge.
On the Road Again
On Monday I'm headed to ISC-West in Las Vegas for a few days...will I see any of you there? And in a few weeks I'm making my first-ever trip to Missouri AND Kansas! If you're in the area, I'll be playing Code Jeopardy with the MO KAN Chapter of DHI on April 25th in Kansas City, and debuting my new game-show presentation - Decoded: 1 vs. 100, on April 26th in Overland Park, Kansas.
WWYD? High Winds
Many of us have experienced a project where the doors were subjected to unexpected wind loads, causing problems with the hardware and the operation of the door. I'm not talking about the occasional wind that comes with a hurricane, tornado, or tropical storm - I mean the everyday wind gusts due to the building location or other factors.
WW: April Fools
This article left me wordless: Fire Alarm Causes Panic in Housing Facilities
Best Closer Kludge Ever?
Yesterday I went to see my old friends at New England Door Closer (photos of the purpose of my trip to follow!), and they showed me this little beauty. Classic!
“What’s good about it?”
I couldn't wait until another Wordless Wednesday rolled around to post this one.
Operational Force for Hardware
The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, effective in March of 2012, included an unexpected change regarding the maximum allowable force to operate door hardware. This modification to the standards was made as an "editorial change," which is typically used to address errors or make clarifications that do not affect the scope or application of the code requirements. Editorial changes do not go through the normal code development process including committee hearings and opportunities for public comment.
WW: Wreckreation
This post did start out as a Wordless Wednesday post but I got a little carried away.
Closed Fire Door Saves the Day!
There's nothing like a fire at a television news station to make sure that it gets complete coverage. After a 2-alarm fire at News 4 WOAI in San Antonio, Fire Chief Charles Hood said that the closed 20-minute fire door saved the building.
WW: 5 Motions to Release the Latch
As most of you know, a required egress door must typically operate with only one motion to release the latch. The common exception is dwelling unit entry doors in hotels and apartment buildings, which can have one additional locking device if the occupant load of the unit is 10 or less. Take a look at this door, sent to me by Jeff Strangio of Maffey's Security Group. Do you think you could figure out how to open it in smoky conditions?
Q&A: Continuous Hinge Retrofit
Question: I have a hollow metal fire door that is sagging due to failure of the top hinge reinforcement. Is it acceptable to remove the butt hinges and install a continuous hinge on the existing door and frame?
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City
I hope you had a wonderful Saint Patrick's Day, complete with the green beverage of your choice!
The Station Movie
Last month I wrote about the first episode of The Station Movie, a video series posted online in segments about the Station Nightclub fire that occurred 10 years ago and took the lives of 100 people and injured more than 200 others. The pain of the survivors is a reminder of why we need to continue to be vigilant about code requirements, including those pertaining to egress and fire protection. Here are the next 3 episodes:
Solution for Oversized Undercuts
Last year as one of my projects neared completion, the architect called me to say that the bottom latches of the fire exit hardware were not long enough to reach the floor-mounted strikes. This is a pretty common problem because that clearance needs to be very tight for the latch/strike templating - sometimes as little as 1/4" between the bottom of the door and the surface where the strike is mounted.
WW: Dead Battery – No Problem!
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo was submitted by Joy Davis of the Construction Specifications Institute (@CSIConstruction on Twitter). Thanks Joy!
Effects of Earthquake Damage on Fire Safety
While this test report was not heavy on door-related data, I thought some of you would enjoy reading about this groundbreaking study which looked at how a test building was affected by several simulated earthquakes, and then how the damaged building's fire safety systems performed in a series of fire tests. I found the video below fascinating:
Everywhere I Go – Church Edition
My husband has grown accustomed to me yelling, "Stop the car!" when I see a door of interest. We actually had to circle the block and come back to this one in Nashville, Tennessee. Judging from the entrance, I thought there might be some nice doors...I couldn't process what I was seeing in time to get him to pull over. This is not code-compliant, people! The elevator door was purty though.
Code Requirements for Doors with Access Control
This article was published in the March 2013 issue of Construction Specifier.
WW: Cut here to exit.
This photo was taken in a health care facility and was sent to me by both Jim Jensen and Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies. :-(
School Security Seminars with Paul Timm
Last month I mentioned a PBS special on school security called The Path to Violence. This show is currently available on PBS.org for online viewing (embedded below). Paul Timm is a board certified Physical Security Professional (PSP), the president of RETA Security, Inc., and one of the nation's leading experts in school and campus safety, and appears in this PBS special as well as one of the news stories I posted previously.
Code-Compliant Doors: What to Look For
This article was published in the February 2013 issue of the Locksmith Ledger:
Q&A: Permits for Access Control (March 2013)
This post was printed in the March 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Kolkata Market Fire
This post should have been on Wordless Wednesday, because I'm not sure what to say that I haven't already said. For the 8th time in 3 years, a major fire in Kolkata, India, has resulted in multiple fatalities. At least 19 people were killed (one news report says 28) with 50 people injured, when an "illegal" market burned. This market has been in existence for over 25 years, and the building is 5 stories tall, so I don't know how the government can claim ignorance of the problems.
WW: Exit in Disguise, Fire Door with Accessories
Chuck Noble of Certified Fire Door sent me these Wordless Wednesday photos. At the risk of stating the obvious, exits have to be visible and can't be concealed by decorations, and items attached to a fire door must be listed for that use.
IDH-IHH is 4 years old!
I can hardly believe that it has been 4 years since I wrote the very first post on this site. What's most amazing to me is that even though I have posted at least 3 times per week, for a total of 759 published posts to date, I still have a long list of topics to write about. We've always known that hardware is complicated, but who knew I could write about it 759 times and still have something to say?
Are you a CDT yet?
I have quite a few letters after my name. They won't all fit on my business card, and my email signature looks silly if I include all of them. There are some that I can use just for joining an organization and paying my annual membership fee, which seems too easy. But I proudly display the designations for the certifications I've achieved, because they all represent many years of experience, hours of studying, and rigorous tests. When someone sees my business card or email signature for the first time, they often key in on the designations they're familiar with. Those certifications immediately communicate that I have some level of knowledge about the topic - that I made the investment to achieve the certification. Obviously the letters don't say everything about who I am, but they help with the first impression and then it's up to me.
PBS: The Path to Violence
Paul Timm, from the independent school security consulting firm, Reta Security, appears on the PBS special The Path to Violence, which premiers tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 20th). Check your local listings to find out when to watch.
Remembering the Station Nightclub Fire
I can't believe it has been 10 years since the morning I woke up, turned on the TV, and saw the aftermath of the deadly fire that killed 100 people and injured 200 others at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The recent news story below shocks me but it also underscores the fact that although we react when tragedy strikes, we often let our guard down as time goes on. We have to remain vigilant or history will repeat itself again and again.
Doors Around Boston
On a weekend trip to Family Science Day, I saw these super-tall doors at the convention center:
For the Love of Doors
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
WW: What’s this?
On the right of the photo is the jamb, on the left is the face of the door.
School Security Follow-Up
In the months since the tragedy at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, there have been renewed efforts on the part of many schools to improve their security and better protect students, staff, and visitors. While I'm very glad to see the focus on these improvements, I'm also very concerned about some well-meaning but misguided efforts that I've come across. This post is not meant as an attack on any particular product or idea, but a reminder that as we secure these facilities, we must not forget about the other codes affecting the same doors that are being addressed.
The Tampa Bay Hotel (Interior) – Tampa, Florida
I'm back in the snowy north, hunkered down while the snow piles up. This is my last post from my trip to Tampa. For next week I'm working on another post about glass (yes, there's more!), as well as a post about school security - particularly the "creative" and often non-code-compliant methods I've seen a lot of lately. If you've run into any interesting security modifications for schools, send them along! Have a great weekend all!
The Tampa Bay Hotel (Exterior) – Tampa, Florida
The Tampa Bay Hotel (although no longer a hotel) is an amazing building, especially once you hear about its history. If you've got 15 minutes, check out this video:
The Tampa Theatre – Tampa, Florida
This is a travel week for me - I'm in Tampa, Florida for the winter meeting of the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA - check out their new website!). I have more posts in the works on school security and wired glass, but while I'm on the road, you know that I like to share the cool doors that I see with all of you. I'll get back to the code-related posts next week.
Decoded: What do you know? (February 2013)
This post was printed in the February 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Glazing Identification
Photo: Johnathan D Anderson
WW: The Art of Wired Glass
The jagged edges and shards formed by broken wired glass create hauntingly beautiful images, but may also leave life-long scars. All of these images are published with permission from the artists. Please do not duplicate them.
IBC Requirements for Safety Glazing – Impact Resistance
In a previous post, I talked about where safety glazing is required, but what IS safety glazing? More from the 2009 IBC:
More Wired Glass in the News
A couple of weeks ago I started a series of blog posts about the hazards of traditional wired glass. I showed you some examples of traditional wired glass installed where it shouldn't be, and linked to some news reports which described incidents involving traditional wired glass. In case those didn't convince you that we have a problem, here are a couple more:
Kiss Nightclub – Santa Maria, Brazil
I woke up this morning to yet another nightclub tragedy - this time in Santa Maria, Brazil. This fire shared common issues with many of the past nightclub fires - a high occupant load, ignition of flammable foam or decorations, no working sprinklers, insufficient or unmarked exits, and a heartbreakingly-high loss of life. The death toll currently stands at 233. I can't help but imagine the bodies of the young people lined up in the make-shift morgue, with their cell phones ringing and ringing as their friends and family search for them.
Pool Gate Panic Hardware
I love hardware ingenuity, especially when it's code-driven. I've spent this week in Orlando with 500+ of my coworkers, and although we haven't had a whole lot of time to hang out by the pool, I had to go check out an application that was spotted by one of our specwriters - Matt Wildman.