WW: No power? No problem!
When I'm teaching about the code-compliant ways to hold open a fire door, I always say that my preference is to use a wall-mounted magnetic holder because there are no moving parts, and not much can go wrong if it's installed correctly. But if there's no power to the magnetic holder, it won't hold the door open. And if the door won't stay open, someone will always come along with a creative solution.
More News
It's one of my favorite times of the year..."Back to School!", and school security is all over the news. How do we keep our kids safe at school?
Casa del Mayorazgo de Canal – San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
The most ornate pair of doors that I saw in San Miguel was the entrance to la Casa del Mayorazgo de Canal. The historic home was once owned by the de la Canal family, one of the richest families in New Spain. This building is now occupied by a bank, as well as la Casa de Cultura de Banamex (Banamex Cultural Center) which houses a collection of historic paintings and hosts special art exhibitions.
Recent News
Georgia school shooting: A hero emerges - Christian Science Monitor
WW: Low Narrow Lite
I received today's photo from Brenda Dove of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies. I wonder if that glass is impact-resistant...
The Ballad of Carl Prinzler
Do you know who Carl Prinzler was? Does the name ring a bell? Carl worked in the door hardware industry back in the early 20th century, and was instrumental in developing the first exit device along with his employer, Vonnegut Hardware Company and his neighbor, Henry DuPont. Recently Peter Wilson of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies came across a poem by Misha Burnett called The Ballad of Carl Prinzler, and sent me the link. I couldn't imagine who (besides me) would write a poem about Carl Prinzler, so I emailed Misha. He is a university locksmith and while taking a poetry class he also attended a Von Duprin training class and learned about the invention of the first panic hardware after the tragic fire at the Iroquois Theater, which inspired him to write the Ballad of Carl Prinzler.
La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel
For some of you, this story will confirm my nerdiness. I'm ok with that. My trip to San Miguel de Allende is almost over - we're flying home on Saturday. I have hundreds of door photos to sort through, and I will post some in the coming weeks. But there was one pair of doors that I had not been able to photograph properly - the doors of La Parroquia, the beautiful church on the south side of el Jardin, which is the garden at the heart of San Miguel. I have visited the church MANY times during my stay, at all times of the day and night, hoping to find the doors closed. I've asked several people what time the doors open in the morning, but so far, no luck. I couldn't go home without photographing the doors of the unofficial symbol of SMA, right?
WW: Egreso en México
As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm in Mexico taking in all of the lovely doors of San Miguel de Allende. I haven't seen much evidence of building / life safety codes, but we did go to a popular museum in Guanajuato and I saw this exit stair...I guess you could call it a form of delayed egress.
Decoded: Elevator Lobby Egress
This post was printed in the October 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Decoded: Actuators for Low Energy Operators
This post was printed in the September 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Decoded: NFPA 80 – 2013 FDAI Changes (August 2013)
This post was printed in the August 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Sneak Peek – San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
When I began planning a trip to San Miguel de Allende, I had no idea that the city was known for its beautiful doors...there's even a book about them! I have a lot more door photos to post (and even an egress problem!), but for now, here's a sneak peek...
WW: Duct Tape
From Vince Black of Black Hawk Doors, a restaurant owner's solution to a closer arm stripped off the shaft, with the arm screw broken off in the closer body:
The Palladium – Carmel, Indiana (July 2013)
This article was printed in the July 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Impact of Citizen Involvement
I love it when people take action to rectify a code issue - especially when it's a door problem. Two articles landed on my desk in the last few days about just that - citizens who saw a deficiency and didn't let it drop until it got some attention. Both stories are from the UK and both involve high-rise apartment buildings - maybe Theodore Firedoor is helping to educate people about code-compliant fire doors.
WW: Deadlocking Latch
Tim Kaye of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me this photo of a required egress door in a school, which truly left me wordless. :(
Reader Photos – What’s wrong with this picture?
I've received lots of photos lately that illustrated problems with how products were specified, supplied, or installed. So let's play...what's wrong with this picture???
LCN Closers in the News!
At the risk of sounding like a hardware nerd, I'll admit that I think door closers are really cool. Most of the people walking around in the world don't give them a second thought. But on Monday, July 29th, between 9:35 and 9:45 pm EDT, LCN Closers will be profiled on The Fox Business Network in the "Manufacturing Marvels" series. The two-minute profile will spotlight the LCN brand, its products and its commitment to quality, and hopefully make more people aware of what an important purpose door closers serve.
WW: Emergency Exit – Do Not Enter
Andy Lindenberg of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me this one. I'm a little confused. Should I use this door in an emergency, or not?
Reader Photos
Time to clean out the inbox! Here's the first batch:
WW: Voided Label
This photo was sent to me by Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, who reported that there were numerous fire doors like this in the same hotel. Personally, if I did something and saw VOID, I would probably stop and consider what was causing that to happen.
Fire and Egress Doors in the News
Here are a few articles that have crossed my desk recently (and some not-so-recently but I'm cleaning house). If you find an article that you'd like to share, send it along!
WWYD? – Folding Partition Closet
I have specified hardware for this application several times in the past, but when it came up again today I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some feedback from all of you and come up with the best way to handle this type of opening. It's a storage closet for a large folding partition to divide a room. When the folding partition is stored in the closet, both leaves of the door are in the same plane to fill the opening. When the folding partition is out of storage and dividing the room, it still extends into the closet so the small leaf of the pair folds back against the larger leaf, to leave space for the folding partition.
WW: New and Improved Fire Door Hold-Open
It's Wednesday, and you know what that means! Another application that leaves me wordless! Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me these photos of the integral stop on a door closer being used to hold the fire door open. Y'all know that's not ok - right?
Science Lab Doors
Several questions have come up lately regarding the door and hardware requirements for science labs in schools. When a short article about a chemical fire in a lab storage cabinet came across my desk, I decided to do a little digging. I found that fires in school science labs are not uncommon, in fact, the number of injuries to students has grown - in part because of changing educational requirements which advocate more hands-on science instruction. In the event of a lab fire, building code requirements can help to limit the damage to the lab and prevent the fire and smoke from spreading.
WW: Stove Top Stuffing
I was just looking for a particular discussion on the Building Code Forum, and I ran across this photo which I forgot to post. I was probably saving it for the WW before Thanksgiving. :) The fire inspector had been called back to reinspect this exit, which was missing the panic hardware.
WWYD: Help Wanted
I answer A LOT of questions every day, and I love doing it. I'm so glad to be able to provide this resource for our staff and customers, and anyone else who comes across my site. But sometimes I get questions that I don't have a good answer for, and that's where you come in. Please leave a comment if you have any insight on ANY of these questions...
Bob Harder, Key Contributor to our Success
A few months ago I got the bittersweet news that one of my favorite people in our industry, Bob Harder, was retiring. I'm not afraid to say...I got a little misty.
Colorado Convention Center
I've had dozens of architects ask me to specify hardware for doors with something "unusual" applied to them...sheetrock, wood, stone...one of our hardware consultants even had an architect propose full-sized brick covering the entire face of the door. I always try to talk them out of it, but I have to admit it's pretty cool when I see doors where the architect didn't take "no" for an answer.
Big and Beautiful Denver Door
It's been a busy couple of weeks that didn't leave me a lot of time for blogging - last week I went to LCN to have dinner with some of my favorite customers from Israel, witnessed a fire test at UL, then spent the rest of the week at the AIA conference in Denver where I played Code Jeopardy with the Denver chapter of DHI, played a mini version with LOTS of AIA attendees, and taught a class at the conference with Bill Lawliss. We're spending this week with our new group of specwriter apprentices, as well as the previous group - they have already learned enough to help us with the instructing! I have been amazed at how quickly they picked up the product information, code requirements, and specification techniques. Here's a group photo from our field trip to Harvard yesterday:
WW: Cut it Out
Yes, this is a fire door. Anyone see a problem here?
Decoded: Tactile Warning
This post was printed in the June 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Beautiful Doors of Denver
I'm in Denver for the AIA conference, and this afternoon I played a rousing game of Code Jeopardy with the Denver Chapter of DHI. If you're at the AIA conference this week, stop at our booth (#530) to play a short version of Code Jeopardy and your name will be entered to win an iPad Mini! You can enter whether you get the questions right or not, and you'll probably learn something about a new code requirement in the process.
WW: Are the kids to blame?
Last Friday I posted an article about a school district settlement with a student, after a severe injury due to impact with traditional wired glass. The article mentioned that a "15-year-old high school student fell while climbing atop a stack of rolled up wrestling mats." What the article didn't say was that the mats had been rolled up between practices, and the student was helping to set up - the mats were stuck together and he climbed up to help free the mat and slipped, impacting the glass. His injury was horrific, and he's lucky to be alive.
School District Settles for $2 Million and Apologizes
I've gotten in the habit of looking at wired glass to see if it has a certification mark for impact-resistance. Almost none of the existing wired glass that I've seen has the mark, which means that unless it has field-applied film (I haven't spotted any film yet), it is extremely hazardous. When I see kids running down the school corridors or swarming the exit at the end of the school day, I worry about impact with the glass, and the resulting injuries. Our kids are supposed to be safe at school, but the majority of schools have traditional wired glass in place. And if administrators think they are protected from liability, a precedent is being set that indicates otherwise...
WW: Powerbolts
This opening is secured by power bolts, which are released via the wall switch. The panic hardware is just for show...there's no way for the devices to latch without a mullion. :(
The Clock is Ticking
Last month I posted an article by Kenneth T. Lumb about the liability that schools carry with regard to non-impact-resistant wired glass. I received a comment from former Oregon State Senator Vicki Walker, who has been an instrumental and passionate force in removing traditional wired glass from Oregon schools. With her permission, I have posted her comment below (or click here to download a PDF version).
Online Code Resources
I've compiled some of the code resources I currently use, in hopes that some of them might be helpful to you. If there are other websites that you visit for code information, please leave a comment and I'll add them to the list.
New York City – Part 2
Here are some more photos from my weekend in NYC...these are all about taking a closer look.
Fire & Egress Doors in the News
Fire in China poultry plant kills more than 100 people - Al Jazeera (vide0)
WW: New York City
This photo is from one of the fine establishments we visited in NYC. You can tell it's *fine* because of the champagne buckets.
New York City – Part 1
Over the weekend I spent some time in New York with my friends, and as you can probably imagine I saw A LOT of doors of interest. Here are some of them...
Fire and Egress Doors in the News
I have read this first article several times and asked my codey friends for their thoughts. None of us could come up with any national building code requirement for a closer on a non-fire-rated exterior door. But then again...I try to avoid arguing with a building official. What say you?
WW: Manufacturer’s Standard Fasteners
This photo of a hospital corridor door was sent by Hyun Myung Kang. I'm pretty sure this installation doesn't comply with NFPA 80.
Even More Reader Photos
OK...who knows what's wrong with the door in this photo, sent in by Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies?
More Reader Photos
I know it's not Wordless Wednesday, but this photo from Alec Walsh of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies definitely left me wordless!
Tornado Safety in Schools
When tragedy strikes, a common reaction is to examine what went wrong...what could have been done to affect a better outcome? In many cases throughout history, codes were changed because of tragic events. For the door and hardware industry, fires at the Iroquios Theater, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Cocoanut Grove Nightclub, Our Lady of Angels School, and the Station Nightclub come to mind as catalysts for code change.
WW: Venetian Fire Exit
Yes, I know it's Thursday, but this just arrived in my email box and I have to share.