A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about Urban Exploration - the art/hobby of exploring abandoned or off-limits buildings, tunnels, etc. One of the urban explorers that I struck up a conversation with sent me a link to these photos which I thought were pretty interesting.
I'm sure that some of you remember the family road trip I took last summer, and the fact that I took along a Falcon exit device, nicknamed Chip Falcon. If you missed it, or if you just want to see the Doors of Colonial Williamsburg again, here's a link to the series.
I recently received my copy of the 2010 edition of NFPA 80 - Standard for Fire Doors & Other Opening Protectives, and I spent some time today perusing the changes (indicated by a vertical line to the left of the revised text).
I guess it's a sign of the times. In the old days, if you were lucky enough to get your name in the newspaper, that was a very big event (unless you were in the police blotter). One time I was on TV and I had my whole family standing by to press *record* on the VCR at just the right moment. My friend's elderly grandfather saw me on the news and almost knocked over his oxygen tank in his excitement. But with the advent of social media - Facebook, Youtube, blogging, etc., appearing in the media is a daily or weekly occurrence for many of us.
It seems like I should know all about myself now that I'm in my (early!) 40's, but I recently learned that the way I learn best is from a live demonstration or a video. As soon as I start trying to read about something, my mind is off in a hundred directions, but put the same information in a video and I'm right there.
I think I may have found the perfect hobby for myself. Not that I need anything else to keep me busy, but I recently discovered the art of Urban Exploration, which combines my love of photography, architecture, and adventure. According to Wikipedia, Urban Exploration (AKA urbex or UE) is "the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of urban areas or industrial facilities."
Once again, failure to follow fire safety and egress code requirements in a nightclub has resulted in a fire with multiple fatalities. The death toll from the December 4th fire at the Lame Horse in Perm, Russia currently stands at 112 with more than 100 people severely injured.
I was walking down the street the other day, and I noticed that all of the entrance doors on the building I was passing had A LOT of intermediate pivots. I didn't have much time to investigate, but I took a picture in case I decided to do a blog post about it someday. Well, someday is today because I just got an email from one of our specwriters about how to determine the required quantity of intermediate pivots.
UPDATE: I wanted to preserve this original post but the recommended specification section on fire and egress door assembly inspections has been updated and is available HERE.
The cool thing about writing a blog from my little office within a very large company is that I write about whatever strikes me at the time. Unlike many corporate bloggers, I am not told what to write about and my posts aren't approved before they're posted. I'm grateful that I have that freedom, because I use this forum to teach people about doors and hardware, and my favorite topic - codes related to openings. At the same time, I am constantly learning by answering questions, looking at applications, and researching new requirements.
In honor of *Turkey Day*, here are some absolutely gorgeous "Doors of Turkey":
This sign is on the OUTSIDE of a door on the gas station I frequent. I can't think of any reason it would be important to know that nobody will be exiting out of that door (UPDATE: Check out the comments for some interesting insight from a fire marshal.), but it did make me wonder when a sign like this IS required.
I ran across this photo today on a network security blog (click the photo to go there). -->
Here's another photo from my day at Build Boston. You don't see this application often - Blumcraft or CR Laurence tubular exit devices on wood doors. I think they look pretty nice. I would have done something different with the closers, and I wouldn't have specified a key cylinder (the chunky square thing above each pull) for each of the 4 leaves, but hindsight is 20/20.
I spent 10 hours yesterday attending seminars (or waiting for the next one to start) at Build Boston, the largest regional convention and trade show for the design and construction industry. There were over 200 workshops and 250 exhibitors, and I saw lots of architect and specifier friends, not to mention enough door and hardware applications to get me through the next week of blog posts.
A couple of months ago I did a post about the new aged bronze finish - BHMA 643e. A local architect commented that he had been looking for a finish similar to the base metal that you see after US10B finish rubs off. I can't walk away from a challenge, so I called Frascio International to see what they could do.
Considering that it took 11 years to go from the 6th edition of the Massachusetts State Building Code to the 7th edition, I was surprised when I learned that the 8th edition is due out the beginning of 2010. It is based on the 2009 edition of the International Building Code, which references the 2007 edition of NFPA 80 (and includes the requirement for the annual inspection of fire doors).
A couple of days ago, one of our specwriters asked about a closer on a door with rescue hardware, and another specwriter advised him to use a double-acting closer. I was surprised to learn that they weren't aware of my FAVORITE LCN special template - ST-1895.
It's funny how some things stick in your mind, and even funnier that I have "hardware memories" from way back. I remember a rumor going around my 7th grade Home Ec class that another class had locked our teacher, Mrs. Cross, out of the classroom, and that she had cried. So sad!
When I started working in the hardware industry, we regularly supplied doors with a 10" x 10" vision lite (type V in the Steelcraft graphic below), which was typically installed approximately 63" from the center of the lite to the floor. This configuration would no longer be acceptable according to some current accessibility standards. The 2003 edition of ICC/ANSI A117.1 states that if a door has a vision lite or an adjacent sidelite which permits viewing, at least one lite in the door or the sidelite has to be located with its bottom edge not more than 43" above the floor. There is an exception for lites with their bottom edge more than 66" above the floor, which would apply to transom lites or residential entry doors with lites at the top.
A few weeks ago someone asked me this question and I answered him directly rather than posting about it on the blog, but then yesterday I saw someone arrive at the site searching for the very same information. So, in case you too have been wondering what "CUSH" means in relation to door hardware, here you go...
I've heard of a break glass switch in relation to security, but this is a new one from one of my favorite sites to look at when I need a break from doors: www.thereIfixedit.com. The site reminds me of some of my husband's handiwork. :-)
Name: William “Bill” Lawliss, AHC/CDC, CCPR
Last week I took a trip down to Providence to visit one of my recent projects, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island Headquarters. I had a heckuva time finding it since it was a new address that my GPS didn't recognize, but I found a shuttle bus driver who not only pondered the best route, explained it to me in detail, and then followed me there and jumped out at a red light to run up and tell me to make sure I stayed to the left. I don't know how I could have missed it...it's a gorgeous building in downtown Providence, right on the canal and a stone's throw from the State House. The architect is Symmes Maini & McKee Associates and you can read a little more about the project here.
2748:
Back in the day, before my restaurant choices were based on whether the establishment offered crayons, chicken nuggets, and a giant mouse or talking tree, I used to frequent a local cantina. The "naked" door closer on their ladies room door drove me nuts, so one night I showed up with a closer cover, screws, and a set of hex wrenches. As you can probably imagine, they looked at me like I had two heads and made me hand everything over to the bartender.
A couple of weeks ago, someone asked me why hinges traditionally come in pairs. I asked two of my favorite hinge experts - Matt Bouchard and Bob Jutzi, and they both gave me a variation of the same answer. In the 17th and 18th centuries there were 2 hinges on a door, so they were sold in pairs because you'd never use just one. In the early 1950's it was determined that a 3rd hinge would supply additional support and that became the standard. Our industry called that "a pair and a half" of hinges. There's some great hinge history at www.hardwaresource.com in case there's other hinge trivia you've been wondering about.
One of the disadvantages of a shear lock is the noise associated with locking/unlocking. This post has a video of the operation of a shear lock.
A while back I posted a photo of an egress door in an indoor soccer arena, which had nets hanging in front of it. I asked my blog visitors to comment on whether they thought the application was code-compliant or not.
The other day, one of my friends asked me about the new Schlage LiNK, which is a remote access system that connects you to your home from anywhere via cell phone or computer. With the monthly subscription and Z-Wave enabled products, you can remotely control and monitor your door locks, check on your pets with live video, turn lights on and off, and control and monitor your home's heating and cooling system.
I've seen plenty of inventive hold-open devices on fire-rated doors, but I've never seen instructional signage to go along with them! Coincidentally, I received photos of a chain hold-open and the signage for a chain hold-open on the same day from two different people. The photos are not from the same facility or even the same country for that matter.
Name: Hal Kelton, AHC/CDC, CDT
Just when I think I've seen it all, someone always surprises me. I received this photo today, and at first I couldn't really tell what was going on. Then I realized that the pipe has been cut to length to act as a hold-open. That's a first! When I asked what was holding the pipe in place, I was told that it's the pressure from the door closers! I pity the fool who leans against the door (especially if his friend leans against the other one)! BONK!
That's the question I was asked on Friday..."If someone orders a delayed egress exit device or delayed egress mag-lock, when do they need the 'BOCA' feature?"
Last week, someone asked me about code requirements related to panic hardware on balanced doors. The project in question is in Israel, and apparently the code requirements there do not include any specific requirements for panic hardware on balanced doors. However, the codes used most often in the U.S. do contain applicable requirements.
I'd be rich if I had a dime for every time I explained that panic hardware is required for Assembly and Educational occupancies with an occupant load of more than 100 people (per IBC 2000 or 2003, NFPA 101) or more than 50 people (per IBC 2006 or 2009). Well, maybe I'd just have a bunch of dimes, but I've said it lots of times and sometimes people still have a hard time remembering it. Here's a true story that will help.
I just said to my husband, "I've got to post something *fun* on the blog tonight." I figured that after a couple of very technical, code-heavy posts, we all needed a break. He looked at me like I had two heads...I guess this isn't his idea of fun.
Fair warning...this is going to be one of those posts that makes your eyes glaze over, especially if you haven't had your coffee yet. But since I've seen several people come to my site looking for this information and leaving without it, I need to post about it before the next person comes looking. I'll try to make it as concise as possible, and remember, the red italicized paragraphs are the code excerpts so you probably don't need to read those unless you're really digging into this issue.
Name: Brian Messina, AHC
There are a thousand ways to screw up a door, so one of my goals with this blog is to help others avoid mistakes I've seen or made myself (yes, I've made plenty).
Some projects require lever designs for locksets and panic hardware that are beyond the selection of standard "vanilla" levers offered by all of the commercial manufacturers. In some cases, even the "European" designs don't fill the bill, especially when special finishes are desired. I've often run into this with museum projects I've specified.
If you regularly check this site to find out what's new and exciting in the world of doors and hardware, you may have occasionally experienced a server error. Yesterday I asked the web hosting company to move the site to a more stable server to avoid these errors, which they agreed to do at midnight. I was very surprised to go to the site this morning and see the website for the Philanthropy Advisors of New York at our URL! Everything seems to be working now, so thank you for your patience.
The 2009 edition of the International Building Code (IBC) contains an important change that's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. I stumbled across it a few months ago when someone asked me about the exception for cross-corridor doors without positive latching in I-2 occupancies.
