After an I-Team investigation, a Bronx landlord repaired fire door problems in their apartment buildings, including doors to stairwells, trash rooms, and apartments that were not self-closing. Here is a follow-up story from News 4.
I received this photo of a fire door in a hotel stairwell from Gabriel Montoya of Jansen Ornamental Supply. You might be thinking to yourself, "This doesn't leave me wordless...I see stuff like this all the time!" That's the point.
Today's Fixed-it Friday photo, sent in by Pat Little of Penner Doors & Hardware, is a classic! It was taken in the lunchroom at a construction site in Saskatchewan, Canada...this "fix" will keep out the bears, right??
I've come across thousands of code issues in the last 35 years, and I have seen people throw up their hands and admit defeat. This makes it even more exciting when someone DOESN'T give up, and keeps educating people about what the codes require and why.
Most of you will remember that NFPA 80 allows the use of STEEL shims when shimming a fire door so the assembly complies with the clearance requirements of the standard. It looks like this installer wasn't aware of the requirements of NFPA 80...
Tim Edwards of The Flying Locksmiths sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photo, after seeing this door at at a mall in Illinois. My question is...why would this happen? Most people don't want to pay for one panic device, let alone two! Any ideas?
Today's Fixed-it Friday photo was sent by a retired fire marshal, who seems to be finding a lot more photos to share now that he's got plenty of leisure time and isn't responsible for the problems he sees. :)
Joe Cross of Allegion sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photos, which are a great reminder about one of the accessibility requirements related to doors. I'll bet nobody involved with this "fix" forgets about this requirement any time soon!
I've been home from my road trip for a few weeks now, and I finally found time to go through all of the photos I took and put together this final Fixed-it Friday post. Don't forget to send me some photos from your holiday road trips!
San Miguel de Allende, in Guanajuato, Mexico, is known for it's amazing doors - some are hundreds of years old. During the holidays, the doorways of San Miguel are beautifully decorated, "Fixed-up" you might say.
It's almost time for Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, so today's Fixed-it Friday photo taken at the rear exit of a Mexican restaurant is particularly fitting. Thank you to Randy Shurr of Architectural Materials, Inc., for sending it in!
Here are a few more applications that I saw on my road trip - I'm finally heading home on Sunday! I stayed at a total of 8 different hotels on my trip, so you can imagine how many problems I saw...
I've got another week left in my 3-week training expedition, so I'm assuming there will be a Part 2...I can find something going on in just about every hotel, retail store, restaurant, or restroom, which is a pretty sad state of affairs.
What happens when your door won't open to 90 degrees - preventing the installation of a door stop? You make do with what you've got! This Fixed-it Friday photo illustrates one way to handle that problem.
I saw these two Fixed-it Friday parking lot doors around the neighborhood...one is an example of good planning to avoid a conflict, and the other is either very bad planning or more likely a gate that was repurposed from a larger opening.
I recently noticed this door in the new fancy grocery store in town. I've seen these plastic tabs to deter egress before, but I've never found any specifics on them - for example, a limit on how much force it takes to break them in order to exit.
Tony Park of Allegion sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photo...all the way from Korea! The door leads to a recording studio - pretty cool, right?! I wonder why more people don't get creative with their doors.
I'm still scratching my head over today's Fixed-it Friday photos. Something doesn't seem right here, but at the same time, the installer went to great lengths to get this operator installed on the door. Is there a special template that I don't know about?
I can't tell if the attempt to repair this panic hardware incorporated double-sided tape, Command Strips, or something else. Whatever the method, it was unsuccessful!
Pete Chappell of Cook and Boardman sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photos of a "door closer" that definitely won't provide the level of control that a typical door closer would (it's cool though!).
I've written a few posts about gates lately, and we all know what a challenge they can be to secure - especially if free egress is required. No offense to the US government, but I think my Aunt Gladys could get through those zip ties!
Joann Robertson of Playground Medic is an expert on playground safety (cool, right?!), and she sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photos. They're from a retail store that sells patio accessories, plants, and gifts. Any theories about the motivation behind this fix?
Many deadbolts are able to accommodate either a 2 3/8-inch or 2 3/4-inch backset right out of the box. This "fix" is another option. Thank you to Peter Piecewicz of Ace Locksmith & Security Systems, who submitted today's Fixed-it Friday photo.
Today's Fixed-it Friday photos were taken by Andrew Stein of Claflen Associates Architects + Planners. They illustrate just how easy it is to defeat an egress door in the name of security.
Kevin Latimer of Allegion sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photo, and while this hold-open method gets some points for creativity and cost-effectiveness, it will eventually have a negative impact on the panic hardware.
These Fixed-it Friday photos were posted by Andrew Clark on the Crap Locksmithing Facebook page. I'll give the installer points for creativity, and a bonus point for using all of the parts that came in the box with the deadbolt!
I know that many iDigHardware readers love Fixed-it Friday, but I especially love when I can use Fixed-it Friday to ask for help (there were so many helpful comments last week!). I have another question this week that I hope you will weigh in on.
Today's Fixed-it Friday photos come with some questions...is there a way to make this opening code-compliant? It's obviously not an egress door, but how can building occupants be protected from falling?
Everyone and everything seems to be going green these days...check out this green door closer, sent to me by Eyal Bedrick of Entry Systems Ltd. (Watch the video.) And Happy Fixed-it Friday!
Gary Huizen of Huizen's Locksmith Service sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photo. When life gives you lemons - or a rusted-out hollow metal frame - you know what to do.
Sometimes it can be tough to get hardware finishes to match correctly, given the varying base materials and finish processes. Tim Weller of Allegion sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photos, showing a "fix" where someone was obviously paying attention to detail.
Steve Budde of Greenwood Care sent me today's Fixed-it Friday photo, taken in an apartment building he was visiting. Although I'm a big fan of instructional signage, does anyone see the 4 little problems here?
Fabricating this protector and welding it to a rated frame to protect the door edge from cart/bed traffic would not be allowed by the frame manufacturer's listings - at least not any listings that I've ever seen. WWYD?
Geometry wasn't my favorite subject in high school, but I learned enough to know that this closer mounting is not optimal for reliable operation of the door. Thank you to Chuck Gulla of Allegion for today's Fixed-it Friday photo!
Some hardware applications are tough to explain with photos, and a video can be really helpful. In case any of you ever need to explain how overhead stops work, I made you a video! :-)
Timmy Jackson posted today's Fixed-it Friday photo on the Crap Locksmithing Facebook page. I think it's about time to upgrade to the 2021 model, don't you?
For many exterior doors, a door position switch (DPS) is an important part of the security system; the switch can alert a security station that a door has been opened. I wonder how long this creative fix will continue functioning.
For years, I have loved the locks on the restroom stall doors in one of my favorite restaurants, but I don't think I've shared them here before. (I know...it's a weird thing to love.)
The Fixed-it Friday fun never ends! I received today's photos from Paul Linder of Hill's Bros. Lock & Safe, Inc., who had nothing to do with the original installation but was called in to fix the problem.
Following up on Wednesday's restroom post...any theories on the situation in this restroom? It's Fixed-it Friday but I'm not sure what they were fixing with this application. Thanks to Charles Anderson for the photos!
Take a look at these Fixed-it Friday photos, sent to me by Eyal Bedrik of Entry Systems Ltd. I think I've hit the wall, because I just keep shaking my head at the photos arriving in my inbox and I can't think of any more ways to say, "Don't do this, people."
These doors would be nearly impossible to open in an emergency...they require special knowledge and effort, coordination and dexterity, and the hardware is far above the allowable range. #wordless
Jason Albert posted this classic Fixed-it Friday fix on the Crap Locksmithing Facebook page. Seems pretty secure, no? I'm wondering why the installer didn't just mount the new device closer to the lock edge.
Do you see what I see in these Fixed-it Friday photos? It's hard to know whether this was done to secure these doors against intruders or to prevent elopement of young students, but either way it's a problem.
This elementary school fire door "fix" is one way to keep the wedges from disappearing but might be tough to explain when the fire marshal shows up for an inspection.
I can see some of you looking at today's Fixed-it Friday photo and shaking your head. I guess this is one way in when you get locked out. Thanks to Rob Greathouse of Superior Lock & Safe for sending the photo!
When I saw this photo, I had flashbacks to all of the times architects asked me to specify doors with other materials attached to them - wood planks, decorative plates, even brick (that was a hard no). What do you think about this application?
This is a creative closer mounting that you won't find in the catalog. The closer is installed on an exterior door of an apartment building...I wonder how well it's controlling the door.
Beautiful doors and hard cider...two of my favorite things. But being who I am, I wondered whether the doors were code-compliant, since the model codes allow sliding doors to be used in a means of egress when the occupant load is 10 people or less.
When the automatic operator stops working, today's Fixed-it Friday photo illustrates one way to fix it without bringing in an auto operator expert or waiting for replacement components.
