WW: Abuse and Neglect
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo was sent by Nolan Thrope of Allegion...this is a cross-corridor fire door in a school. The closer is missing as well as the obvious hinge problem. Sadly, this type of neglect is not uncommon. :(
FF: Which Came First?
Sort of like the chicken and the egg, this Fixed-it Friday photo from Steve Turner and Ray Valentine of Precision Doors & Hardware made me wonder...was the closer added because the automatic operator wasn't closing the door properly, or was the automatic operator added because the closer required too much opening force? Or one or the other stopped working completely but was not removed?
FF: Standard Oil
When Jess Dey found this closer on eBay, I was shocked to see such a beautiful potbelly closer! I've never seen a closer with decorative accents - usually architects want to hide the hardware. As it turns out, this closer from the Standard Oil Building in San Francisco was rescued from the trash heap as a standard closer...
Automatic-Closing Door Application
Last week I received a really interesting question. The city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, made a local code modification that requires certain stairwell doors to be automatic-closing. But what about security? This is the application I would use...
FF: High Winds
Andy Lindenberg, one of my Allegion coworkers, sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photos from a university that has an obvious wind condition. This door has a spring-cush arm on the closer, a heavy duty overhead stop, and a chain stop. Do you have any better ideas?
More Reader Photos
Austin Baumann of Central Indiana Hardware sent me this photo of the emergency exit in a mirror maze. This would be considered a special amusement building - I wrote about some of the requirements for those occupancies here. I have often seen means of egress modifications...
WW: Down at the Mini-Mart
Chris Ostwinkle from DH Pace sent me today's Wordless Wednesday photo. The bar above the panic limits the degree of opening, which may have contributed to the closer issues. And in case you missed it...that's a double-cylinder deadbolt above the panic, in addition to the slide bolt. :(
Door Closer Arm Options (video)
People ask me all the time..."What's a 'CUSH' closer?" The answer is in our latest whiteboard animation video!
WWYD? Assisted Living Entries
I am often asked whether it is code-compliant to install a separate deadbolt with a latchset or lockset on a dwelling unit entry door in an assisted living facility. Most doors in a means of egress are required to unlatch with one operation for egress. While there is an exception...
WW: Sardine Can
It's Wordless Wednesday!
FF: Bungee (Again)
The funny thing about this Fixed-it Friday photo is that it arrived on the same day from 2 different people - Steve Murray of Security Lock Distributors, and Ed Marchakitus of Cornell Storefront Systems. Thanks to both of you!
How an LCN Door Closer Works (video)
Here is one more whiteboard animation (for now)...this one explains some of the basic operations of a door closer. All of these videos, including the ones I previously posted on panic hardware, lock functions, and door handing, can be found on the Allegion Training videos page...
Door Closer Arm Options
Most door closers used today are surface-mounted closers with a double-lever arm. These closers fall into two categories – application-specific, and universal. A universal closer is best when the field conditions are unknown, or when flexibility is a top priority. Application-specific closers give the specifier and supplier more control over how the door closer is mounted...
Maneuvering Clearance with Spring Hinges
A question hit my inbox a few weeks ago that I had never considered before: Does a door with spring hinges require the same maneuvering clearance as a door with a door closer?
WWYD: Fusible Link Arms
NFPA 80 does not prohibit their use but the International Building Code (IBC) requires automatic-closing doors in certain locations to be smoke-activated...automatic-closing by the actuation of smoke detectors...
FF: New LCN Special Template
It's called the Ives Cush Stop (just kidding - we don't endorse this application!)...
WWYD? Stairwell Pressure
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?
WW: Special Closer Mounting
These photos were taken by Todd Borsch from Allegion. This is not a special template authorized by LCN!
Back-2-Basics: Handing 101
I have been asked about door handing SO MANY TIMES over the years...hopefully with your help we can address the questions once and for all. Leave me a comment if I forgot anything!
FF: Communicating Door Closers
Today's my birthday!! David Barbaree of St. Vrain Valley School District sent me this present...a special application for closers on communicating doors - two doors in one frame. Communication doors are usually found between hotel rooms and do not have door closers, but in this case the two doors are the exterior doors for a school kitchen...
TBT: Golden Oldies
A few weeks ago I received an email from Peter Bernard, who recently took the position of Facilities and Operations Manager at Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home in Manchester, Vermont. His email said, "Look what I found in the basement of the mansion."...
WW: Casting Fail Follow-Up
A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of a broken door closer casting for Wordless Wednesday, and there were a lot of questions and comments...
WW: Casting Fail
I've only seen this a few times in my career. I'll bet it was messy.
FF: Closer Edition
I know some of you (door closer lovers) will be very excited by today's Fixed-it Friday special edition! Nathan Burkhardt of Opening Technologies sent me these photos from a California office building of something I've never seen before - an automatic operator on a stall door, with the new style vertical bar actuators...
FF: The Sleeve
After Tuesday's school shooting in Oregon, there were several news reports about a school security product developed by a group of teachers. It's called "The Sleeve," a steel sleeve that fits over the door closer arm to prevent an intruder from opening the classroom door from the corridor...
FF: Closer Magic
How is this closer attached? Seriously - this is a first for me. Happy Fixed-it Friday!...
WW: Self-Closing
This is not the first time my friend Bob Jutzi has left me Wordless. ;) Each door is 3'-9" wide x 10'-0" high. The doors are thought to be original to the building, built in the 1880's...
FF: Creative Special Template
Here's a little Fixed-it Friday quiz...how could this field modification have been avoided?...
Reader Photos
Here's a big group of reader photos from the emailbox!
FF: Polar Vortex
I live just outside of Boston and I'm so tired of the cold winter weather we've had this year. I went to a meeting last week and the entrance to the meeting room was from an interior corridor, but there was an exterior door at the end of the corridor nearby. I noticed that the closer on the interior door had an allen wrench stuck in the adjustment valve. I asked someone who worked in the facility why it was there (like I didn't know), and he told me that they leave it there permanently because they have to adjust the closer every time the outside temperature gets above or below a certain point. Otherwise, on cold days the interior door to the meeting room creeps closed, letting in the colder air from the corridor, and on warmer doors the door slams shut. LCN's all-weather fluid (supplied standard), would have helped here...it will maintain the same viscosity for temperatures between 120 degrees F and -30 degrees F, so seasonal adjustment is not required.
FF: Random Creativity
If any of you attended DHI's AH2 class in Savannah, Georgia back in the Good Old Days, you may have had one of my all-time favorite instructors - Bob Jutzi. I actually use a lot of his techniques when I teach, to try to make my classes more engaging and dare I say "fun"? I don't have a flat-cat Earl, but I still have the monkey from my AH2 class (and a monkey arm from another year). Bob sent me the photos below so if you want to leave him a "howdy" you can do so in the comments.
Back to Cape Cod
A few years ago I took my family to a resort on Cape Cod for winter break, and I spent this past weekend at the same resort. On our first visit, I found a lot to write about...the hinges on all of the cross-corridor doors had been modified (sometimes very badly) and were no longer code-compliant for fire doors, the fire doors connecting the 8 buildings were propped open with wedges and the latches had been removed, the swimming pool egress doors were questionable, and there were a few other issues.
Doors of River Street – Savannah, Georgia
Before anyone says, "Why didn't you stop and see me??", we were only in Savannah for a quick lunch break. :)
Swing Free in School?
Over the weekend I visited a local high school for a swim meet. Right away I noticed MANY pairs of fire doors equipped with LCN Sentronics, which are designed to hold the doors open until the fire alarm sounds and then close the doors to deter the spread of smoke and flames. Some of these doors were propped open with wood wedges (uh-oh). When I took a closer look, I realized what the problem was.
Reader Photos
It's been a while, so here are some of the many photos I've received from y'all...
Back-2-Basics: Door Closers
Hello Readers! This is my next "Back-2-Basics" piece...if there is anything I should add/change, please leave a comment. And have a great week!
FF: Classroom Security
Every school is looking for affordable ways to lock their classroom doors in an intruder situation. A group of students at Benjamin Banneker High School in Washington, D.C. have designed the "DeadStop", a device that clamps onto the door closer arm to prevent the door from being opened.
Reader Photos
It's time to clean out my inbox again! Here are some of the reader photos I've received. Thanks to all who sent them!
Music City Center – Nashville, Tennessee
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
Reader Photos
Thank you to everyone who has sent me photos of doors they've seen in their travels (or while laying on the couch). Kelly Chimilar from Allmar Inc. noticed these doors with an obvious egress problem while watching Thursday Night Football. If you don't know what the problem is, I will hold a special online study session for you after work tonight. ;)
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
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.
Reader Photos
Time to clean out the inbox! Here's the first batch:
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?
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...
Reader Photos – Closer Edition
I have A LOT of photos that have been sent in by readers of this blog - THANK YOU! Here is the first batch, which all feature closers in various states of problematic.