When you have a pressurized stairwell that is required for smoke control, the increased pressure in the stairwell makes doors swinging into the stair more difficult to open, and doors swinging out of the stair may not close and latch. WWYD?
The 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design went into effect in March of 2012, but there are several requirements that continue to surprise architects and specifiers as well as door and hardware suppliers. These issues can be costly to resolve if they’re discovered after the doors and hardware are on-site, so it’s important to stay current on the requirements...
Thank you to Tim Meegan of Doors Incorporated for today's Fixed-it Friday photo! It's a classic! In case anyone is wondering, this article talks about the mounting guidelines for auto operator actuators!
The 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design went into effect in March 2012, but there are several requirements that continue to surprise architects and specifiers...
This video is pretty amazing. Swallows nesting in a university parking garage could have been locked in when doors were added to convert the garage to the campus bike center. Is this an example of the swallows' intelligence, or dumb luck?...
I know what you're thinking..."When is she going to stop talking about Nashville and get on to something interesting like gasketing or clear opening width?" :D
A couple of months ago I wrote an article for Doors & Hardware, which appears in the September issue. As always, I triple-checked my sources, and confirmed that 2007 was the most current edition of A156.19 - American National Standard For Power Assist and Low Energy Power Operated Doors. Well, today a notification regarding the brand new 2013 edition showed up in my inbox! Luckily, there are not a lot of changes that would impact the article.
This post was printed in the September 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
This photo, taken at an Ontario Hospital, was sent by Kelly Chimilar of Allmar. I'm confused.
Today is the 3rd anniversary of iDigHardware (aka iHateHardware)! WOOHOOOO!!!
This post was printed in the August 2011 issue of Doors & Hardware
Here's the latest batch of reader photos...don't forget to send me any interesting doors you see on your summer vacations!
Here's another interesting application that I saw at Foxwoods. These plastic covers were on all of the automatic operator actuators in the conference center.
Since it's one hour until Friday and I've had a very long week trying to catch up from being on vacation, here's some door-humor (yes, really). It's an automatic door on the Columbia University Physics building. The auto operator was being replaced with an LCN Senior Swing, but the installers were struggling through the installation without a wiring diagram, which can be extremely tough if there's other hardware involved. I feel a site visit coming on.
Last night I went to a presentation at one of our 3 local middle schools, which I'm guessing was built in the 70's. What struck me right away was that the exterior doors are all about 10' tall, and the interiors are about 9' with a transom panel above. What a strange application for a school. They still seem to be working pretty well though.
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.
The 2007 edition of ANSI/BHMA A156.19 - American National Standard for Power Assist and Low Energy Power Operated Doors requires low energy operators to be initiated by a "knowing act", which is described as "consciously initiating the powered opening of a low-energy door using acceptable methods, including: wall- or jamb-mounted contact switches such as push plates; fixed non-contact switches; the action of manual opening (pushing or pulling) a door; and controlled access devices such as keypads, card readers, and key switches."
Door opening force is the measurement of how many pounds of force are required to open a door. The requirements for door opening force are found in the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG), ICC/ANSI A117.1 Standard on Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities, and the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board requirements (521 CMR).
