Fixed-it Friday

FF: Security Mesh

I've started 2015 with quite a few posts about school security.  This is probably because I've been working so closely with the BHMA Codes and Government Affairs Committee and other organizations to review state requirements and propose code changes that will increase security in schools while maintaining safety.  I tend to write about whatever I'm working on.  If you're tired of school-related posts, feel free to suggest something else you'd like me to write about - I'm easily distracted (Hey look!  A squirrel!  :) )  For today's Fixed-it Friday post I have yet another school security topic (although it could apply to other types of buildings), and I'd love your feedback.

By |2015-01-14T14:09:10-05:00January 16th, 2015|Fixed-it Friday, School Security|10 Comments
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FF: Fire Exit Hardware

I can't count how many times I've been asked for help when a label from a listing laboratory has been removed by the painter/cleaner/installer/meddling kid from the door/frame/armor plate/fire exit hardware. Unfortunately, I'm not much help...I can't send you a new label to stick on. That's what makes these Fixed-it Friday photos so sad...

By |2014-10-17T11:47:04-04:00October 17th, 2014|Fire Doors, Fixed-it Friday, Panic Hardware|4 Comments
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FF: The EasyLock

Most of you know that I'm not a fan of the retrofit security "inventions" that seem to be flooding the institutional market lately, but I do admire creativity, and since it's Fixed-it Friday I thought I'd share a product I recently saw in the news - The EasyLock. I have no idea how effective it is as a security device, but the design is pretty clever...

By |2014-09-26T10:00:33-04:00September 26th, 2014|Fixed-it Friday, Locks & Keys|5 Comments
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FF: 5 Operations to Exit

Eric Rieckers of Yadon Construction Specialties sent me this classic Fixed-it Friday photo of a door gone wrong. Security must not be enhanced at the expense of life safety, and doors in a means of egress must be unlatched with one operation. Several of these locks are also mounted outside of the allowable range for operable hardware.

By |2014-08-19T16:36:44-04:00August 22nd, 2014|Fixed-it Friday, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|16 Comments
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FF: Essaouira, Morocco

And now...for my last post from Morocco, some Fixed-it Friday photos from Essaouira. If you've never visited, it is a beautiful city with an old fort, a busy port, talented wood carvers, a sandy beach, fresh seafood, and the fattest cats in all of Morocco. Oh - and lots of doors that are fighting corrosion from the salt air. Enjoy!

By |2017-07-28T09:52:19-04:00August 14th, 2014|Beautiful Doors, Fixed-it Friday, Road Trips|3 Comments
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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...

By |2014-07-28T09:09:44-04:00August 1st, 2014|Door Closers, Fixed-it Friday|32 Comments
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FF: Service Call

Jon Dudley from Allegion sent me this Fixed-it Friday photo after being called out to a hospital because of a panic device that was not functioning properly. The access control system would operate the device electrically, but two self-tapping screws had been installed on the underside of the device which prevented the touchpad from being actuated manually.

By |2014-07-01T19:52:43-04:00July 3rd, 2014|Fixed-it Friday, Means of Egress, Panic Hardware|14 Comments
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FF: Fire Exit Hardware Modification

Fire doors are required to have an active latchbolt, so fire exit hardware (panic hardware for fire doors) is not equipped with a mechanical dogging mechanism that could be used to hold the latch retracted.  When the lack of dogging creates an inconvenience, creative modifications sometimes occur.  The added slidebolt on this fire exit hardware will prevent the fire door from functioning properly during a fire.  I wonder what the insurance company would have to say about that.

By |2014-06-05T13:13:30-04:00June 6th, 2014|Fixed-it Friday, Panic Hardware|7 Comments
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FF: Doors of Klemens Torggler

The design blogs and architectural sites are all abuzz about these doors designed by Austrian artist Klemens Torggler.  I agree - they are very cool and it's about time someone invented an alternative to the hinge, which has been around for thousands of years.  Let's not ruin the party by mentioning security, egress, durability, accessibility, fire resistance, or chopped off fingers, and just enjoy the innovation.  :D

By |2014-02-14T01:17:13-05:00February 14th, 2014|Beautiful Doors, Fixed-it Friday|5 Comments
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FF: Rodless

Instead of maintaining the fire exit hardware on this pair of fire doors, the rods and most of the latches were removed and an exit alarm was installed.  The most disturbing part is that there are doors like this EVERYWHERE...fire doors and egress doors that will no longer perform as designed, tested, and required by code, because of lack of maintenance or improper modifications.  And without widespread adoption of the fire and egress door inspection requirements, we're left to address these problems one door at a time.  In each fatal fire the main focus seems to always be on sprinklers, but compartmentalization is key to preventing the spread of smoke and flames.  It goes without saying that code-compliant egress is a life safety feature which can't be compromised.

By |2014-02-20T18:06:09-05:00February 7th, 2014|FDAI, Fire Doors, Fixed-it Friday, Means of Egress, Panic Hardware|7 Comments
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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.

By |2014-02-20T18:05:27-05:00January 31st, 2014|Door Closers, Fixed-it Friday, Means of Egress, Panic Hardware|1 Comment
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FF: Lock Jaw

I know some of you will have something to say about this video, sent to me by Jim Elder of Secured Design...the ease of lock bumping, code-compliance of the product, ineffectiveness of deadbolts, double-sided tape...what do you think?  The national security expert explains the product at 3:25.

By |2014-01-24T09:37:18-05:00January 24th, 2014|Fixed-it Friday, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|6 Comments
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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.

By |2014-01-29T13:31:55-05:00January 10th, 2014|Door Closers, Fire Doors, Fixed-it Friday, Panic Hardware|11 Comments
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FF: Creative Doorknobs

The other day I ran across this glass globe doorknob, which allows you to see into the next room before you enter.  Pretty cool design, but not without its challenges, especially if it's not available with 1-way viewing.  I could use it to spy on my kids to see if they're playing video games when they're supposed to be sleeping, but I don't want them to be able to check to see if the coast is clear before leaving their bedroom to make a run to the cookie jar.

By |2016-01-13T11:09:41-05:00January 3rd, 2014|Fixed-it Friday, Locks & Keys|0 Comments
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