What’s that? Hinge Prep
The latest post in my series on the pieces and parts that make up a door assembly addresses a wire found in a hollow metal hinge preparation. Do you know what it's for?
QQ: “Special” Hinges on Fire Door Assemblies
Today's Quick Question is a good one: Are "special" hinges like swing clear, wide throw, raised barrel, etc., acceptable for use on fire door assembles?
What’s that? Ball Bearing Hinges
When Mark Kuhn and I visited a school with the members of Allegion's Early Careers Program, I noticed some heavy weight hinges on a pair of doors. And then things got a little weird.
Decoded: Door and Gate Closing Speed
I am working on a new series of Decoded posts, which will be compiled into a reference library addressing each of the code requirements related to door openings. What do you think?
FF: Restroom Retrofit
Today's Fixed-it Friday photos came from a retired AHJ...continuous hinge retrofits can be a great way to address field problems, but this one needed to go (at least) one step further.
QQ: Continuous Hinges on Existing Fire Doors
Today's Quick Question: When a continuous hinge is installed on an existing fire door assembly, the labels on the fire door and frame are often covered by the hinge. How should this be handled?
Decoded: NFPA 80 Requirements for Hinges, Pivots, and Continuous Hinges
Happy New Year! Throughout 2024 I will continue to update my library of Decoded articles, in preparation for some upcoming changes. Let me know if you have suggested topics for my Decoded Q&A series, published monthly.
BS EN Classification of Door Hardware
When I was at the DHI conNextions Conference in Boston, I met Sushil Kumar, who has written some of the recent iDigHardware posts for our international audience. Today's post - the first in a series - addresses the BS EN classifications for hinges.
FF: Unhinged
I'm wordless about today's Fixed-it Friday photo, which I saw posted on the "There's no crying in hollow metal" Facebook page. I asked Scott Foley of P&M Doors for permission to share it with all of you. Enjoy!
Allegion 101: Hang the Door – Ives
The Allegion 101 training series was designed for people who are new to the industry, new to the Allegion family of brands, or just want to learn more about hardware. The video in today's post covers the various types of Ives products used to hang a door.
Follow-Up: Closing Speed for Spring Hinges
Last week's Quick Question was about spring hinges on fire doors larger than 3'-0" x 7'-0", and the post raised a couple of other questions. One was related to the maximum closing speed for doors on an accessible route.
QQ: Spring Hinges on Fire Doors
Today's Quick Question has come up dozens of times: Can spring hinges be installed on a fire door that is larger than 3'-0" x 7'-0"? NFPA 80's table shows that as the maximum size, but is that the final answer?
Fire Door Assemblies: Hang the Door
For a fire door to close and latch reliably, it's crucial for the door to be hung properly, using architectural hinges, continuous hinges, or pivots that are correctly specified for the door size, weight, and usage.
Wide Throw Hinges – Illustrated
Although today's wide throw hinges don't look like the ones on this door in France which serves a VERY old restaurant, these photos are a great illustration of the purpose of wide throw hinges.
FF: Shimming 101
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...
Manufacturing Day 2021
If you're not familiar with Manufacturing Day, it's an annual series of events aimed at helping to fill 4 million high-skill, high-tech and high-paying manufacturing jobs over the next decade. Check out our US facilities in this video!
FF: Road Trip Part 2
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...
See you in New Orleans!
I'm heading south today after teaching a class in Knoxville, and tomorrow I'll be arriving at the DHI conNextions conference in New Orleans. I'm teaching my brand new 1 vs. 100 class on Thursday, October 21st at 8 a.m. I hope to see you there!
Lots of options this week!
I'm making my way around the Southeast, heading for my final destination - the DHI conNextions conference in New Orleans. I'll be teaching my brand new 1 vs. 100 class on Thursday, October 21st at 8 a.m. Meanwhile, there are lots of classes on the schedule for this week!
Coming Up!
There's more online training available this week...whether you are new to the industry, responsible for maintaining a facility, or interested in one of this week's Webinar Wednesday topics, there are lots of classes to choose from!
QQ: Hinge Types – Swing-Clear
Last week's Fixed-it Friday post prompted a Quick Question from one of iDigHardware's newer readers: "What is a swing-clear hinge and how would I know when to choose this type of hinge over other hinge types?"
Give me a “break” this week (please).
You know me...when I go somewhere new, I never pass up the chance to share photos of the interesting doors I encounter. Unfortunately, my latest trip was a 3-night stay in the local hospital. It's always something.
Take the quiz…
How much do you know about the model code requirements for doors with delayed egress locks or controlled egress locks? Here's a short quiz to help you find out.
WW: What’s the big deal??
Have you ever pointed out a door problem to someone and had them respond with a shrug and some form of "so what"? A fire door is held open improperly...so what - chances are slim that the building will catch on fire today. Right??
e-Learning This Week
Even if e-learning is not your preferred training method, there is valuable information offered in online classes and they allow much greater access and convenience. Here's what's on the schedule for this week...
The Art of Shimming a Door
Having the proper clearance around a door helps the door to close and latch correctly, affecting function, security, egress, accessibility, and fire protection, so knowing how to shim a door can come in really handy.
WWYD? Arched Storm/Screen Door
This is a beautiful residential door with a problem caused by the brick reveal combined with the arched top. Can you help? WWYD?
WW: Medical Office Egress
When you complain about U.S. code requirements just remember, this WW door is typical in many countries that don't have strong life safety codes or people to enforce them.
WWYD? Unidentified Pivots
How do you replace existing pivots when you don't know the manufacturer or model number? Is there a reliable way to identify existing pivots? Are replacements for old pivots readily available? WWYD?
Top 10 – Back-to-Basics: Hinge Types
For wide-throw hinges on a door that swings 180 degrees, where 2 inches of clearance is required behind the door to accommodate the trim, what is the required hinge width?
FF: Wheelie
I have a theory about what happened here...what's yours? This "fix" shows the importance of making sure the correct hardware is specified from the get-go.
QQ/WWYD?: Old Fire Doors With 2 Hinges
Is an existing fire door assembly with 2 hinges acceptable, or should it be noted as a deficiency during a fire door inspection?
QQ: Hinges for Fire Door Assemblies
Quick Question: Are steel, ball-bearing, butt hinges for fire door assemblies required to be UL listed?
WW: Hotel Hinges
Considering the liability a hotel could face if their fire door assemblies failed to perform during a fire, the repair methods employed by many hotels seem pretty irresponsible.
Pocket Pivot Follow-Up
After last Friday's post about pocket doors, several people asked for more information about this application. Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions...
FF: Pocket Pivots
If you can prove to me that you were the detailer for this project (or otherwise responsible for the details), I'll send you something from the iDigHardware prize vault!
FF: Falling Off
What do you think the wood strapping is for?
WWYD? How should these doors be hung?
This is a good one! What would you use to hang these doors, and what type of door closer could be used?
FF: DIY Swing-Clear Hinges
Michael Wallick of Kelley Brothers sent today's Fixed-it Friday photos of a DIY application he spotted at a hotel. I think this is the first time I've ever seen swing-clear hinges that appear to have been fabricated on-site...
WW: Hinge-Hasp
Thank you to Curtis Meskus for these Wordless Wednesday photos. This pair leads to a storage room in a motel. I have a feeling these will show up in one of my nightmares sometime soon.
FF: Unhinged
From these photos it looks like the holes for the hinge screws were stripped, so the wrap was added - but that doesn't add a whole lot of strength to the installation.
FF: Don’t Talk to Me About Fear
Maybe this is cracking me up because it's the middle of the night...I guess we'll see if it's still funny in the morning.
Intro to Continuous Hinges (video)
Here's another of our latest set of whiteboard animation videos - taking it back to basics and discussing continuous hinges. If you know someone who is learning about hardware and could benefit from these "intro" videos, please share a link with them!
Decoded: NFPA 80 Requirements for Hinges, Pivots, and Continuous Hinges
With the continued focus on fire door assemblies, it’s important to be familiar with the basic requirements as well as what has changed in the more recent codes and standards. This article focuses on hinge requirements for fire doors...
FF: Pivot Problem
A reader from Armor Lock & Security sent me the first photo a couple of months ago. They had been called to a convenience store to work on the safe, and noticed that the top pivot on the front door was barely hanging on...
Fire Door Clearance / Continuous Hinge
Two paragraphs were added in the 2013 edition of NFPA 80 to address continuous hinges used on fire doors. I've seen these sections many times and never noticed a potential problem, until it came up twice in the last couple of weeks...
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. :(
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...
Intro to Ives Hinges (video)
One more whiteboard animation in the latest series...this time on hinges!
FF: Multicultural Madness
When I stopped for a snack yesterday, I didn't expect to be called into service on a defective door that was threatening to crush someone while simultaneously preventing egress. The fun never stops...