More Doors of Nashville
A hodge-podge of the doors I saw while I was in Nashville for CONSTRUCT last week...
Back-2-Basics: Lock Functions
When a hardware consultant writes a specification, it’s common practice to sit down and discuss the project with the architect, at least for the more complicated jobs. The topic of lock functions seems to arise at almost all of those meetings – usually someone in the room needs a refresher on how the basic functions work. In fact, when I was teaching our specwriter apprentices a few weeks ago I said, “Don’t ask the architect if he or she wants a storeroom function lock, ask if the door should always require a key to enter.” A manufacturer’s catalog may show 50 different lock functions (or more!) and it’s difficult or impossible to remember how each function works.
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. ;)
Hursley House – Hampshire, England
Twelve years ago I was new to the town where I currently live, and I knew almost nobody. It was hard to meet people back then - I had no kids and my husband and I both worked in other towns. My family and a bunch of my friends were still back in Vermont, where I started my career with a door and hardware distributor. My coworkers at Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies (yes, I have worked at IR for almost 19 years!!) were wonderful, but they were busy with their families (I used to babysit their kids and take care of their pets). I remember signing up for classes just to try to find some friends - cooking, roller blading, line dancing...you name it. Are you getting the picture? I was desperate to connect with someone I had something in common with.
The Palladium – Carmel, Indiana (July 2013)
This article was printed in the July 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Decoded: Tactile Warning
This post was printed in the June 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
New York City – Part 1
Over the weekend I spent some time in New York with my friends, and as you can probably imagine I saw A LOT of doors of interest. Here are some of them...
WW: Spoon Security
Todd Pack of of the Trimble Company sent in this photo of the latest in locking technology. I was wordless when I found out how much spoon security there is out there (my favorite, spoon 1, spoon 2, spoon 3, spoon 4, spoon 5, spoon 6). And I thought spoons were for ice cream!
PBS: The Path to Violence
Paul Timm, from the independent school security consulting firm, Reta Security, appears on the PBS special The Path to Violence, which premiers tomorrow night (Wednesday, February 20th). Check your local listings to find out when to watch.
School Security Follow-Up
In the months since the tragedy at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, there have been renewed efforts on the part of many schools to improve their security and better protect students, staff, and visitors. While I'm very glad to see the focus on these improvements, I'm also very concerned about some well-meaning but misguided efforts that I've come across. This post is not meant as an attack on any particular product or idea, but a reminder that as we secure these facilities, we must not forget about the other codes affecting the same doors that are being addressed.
Starry Night
I think this is the longest I've gone without posting! I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve! I figured I could get some good relaxation time in during the holiday week, then I promptly injured a ligament in my ankle, which led to a major bout of sciatica that flattened me for days. I'm hoping 2013 gets better!
WW: Banquet Room Pair
Some of you will no-doubt recognize these doors if you attend a certain monthly meeting that I attend as often as I can. The meeting is held in one of several large banquet rooms in a restaurant, and they all have the same hardware installed. If anyone is NOT sure why this is a problem, read this post.
WWYD? Safe and Secure Schools
I have been struggling with this post. I can't answer the question the world wants an answer to -
Worcester State Hospital
In addition to beautiful doors and interesting locks, I love old architecture and the amazing photography that captures the decay of these crumbling structures. I look forward to new photo essays posted on the Kingston Lounge site, and the most recent was especially exciting because it's very close to my town and an important part of Worcester, Massachusetts history.
Locks Make Great Gifts
No, really! They do!
Moroccan Lock Shopping
Here are some of the lock shops I visited while shopping for the locks in this post.
@LockedInAHouse
Just before I flew to Seattle for the Every Building Conference & Expo this morning, I read about a very unusual challenge being run by Schlage, coincidentally also in Seattle. With his consent, they locked a guy named Joshua in a tiny house (174 square feet), and it's up to the locals to follow clues, find the key, and set Joshua free. The first person to find the key and let Joshua out wins $5,000! There are prizes for the 10 runners up as well. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go see this crazy guy Joshua, so it was my first stop upon arrival.
WW: Reader Photos
Thanks to y'all I'm never short of reader photos, and these photos leave me wordless...just in time for Wordless Wednesday!
More Reader Photos
These ALL came from Jeff Tock, one of our national trainers who spends most weeks traveling around conducting classes and sees a lot of doors in the process. Jeff will be here in New England in a few weeks conducting the "Preparing for a Fire Door Inspection" class for facilities. If you work for a hospital, school, university, or other type of facility in the area and want to make sure that you're prepared, let me know and I'll put you on the invitation list.
Battleship Cove – Fall River, Massachusetts
Whenever we're on a family road trip, we try to find cool places to stop along the way to break up the ride. Today we went to Battleship Cove, the world's largest historic naval ship exhibit. The museum is home to the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the USS Lionfish submarine, the battleship USS Massachusetts, and several other vehicles. It's really an amazing place, and the kids loved looking at all the different rooms, many of which were set up as they would have been while the ships were occupied.
What If?
Have you ever run into one of those doors that needs access control, but for whatever reason it's almost impossible to get the wires to the lock? Maybe it's an existing door (especially if it's fire rated), or an opening set into stone or a fancy surround like the door on the left. It might be a situation where the wiring would have to be run in surface-mounted conduit, or where drilling into the walls or ceiling would create too much dust or would interrupt a busy workspace. In a health care facility, there are specific procedures that must be followed to protect the air quality for patients and staff. An exterior gate or remote door would also be a tough access control installation if the product is hard-wired.
WW: Auction House Egress
These were sent in by Mary Hinton of Mulhaupt's Inc. Can you imagine trying to exit from this "auction house" (junk shop) in an emergency? Their front door lever needs some help too. This might have been the first signal to get back in the car and keep driving!
Open Back Strikes
A couple of weeks ago one of my coworkers, Rich Conroy, took a phone call from someone with questions about open back strikes. Rich asked me to write a post that he could refer people to, and the hold-up was that I had to find a photo. Not the photo you see in a catalog (right), which usually shows the strike alone, but a photo of an open back strike in action. Try looking for one on Google Images and you'll find a few graphics of the strike by itself, some open backed shoes, and plenty of open backed dresses, but no open back strikes in action.
Classroom Security Locks
As of July 1st, 2011, a revised California law (AB 211, Article 8.5) requires classrooms and rooms with an occupant load of more than 5 people to be equipped with classroom security locks.* This pertains to all new construction projects submitted to the Division of the State Architect, which oversees K-12 schools and community colleges in the state of California.
Calling All Locksmiths!
I have a special place in my heart for locksmiths. Maybe it's because I've been "saved" a few times...like the time I locked myself out of my apartment in my PJs at 6 a.m. Or maybe it's because I like the mechanics of what they do. I always loved helping our in-house locksmith with masterkeying, and I've been told by an experienced locksmith that I'm a natural at shimming cylinders. How many people can say that?!
Lexington, Virginia
We only spent a brief segment of our road trip in Lexington, but it was long enough to spot a couple of doors of interest. Our hotel was originally a single family residence and it's on the Register of Historic Places. We checked in pretty late at night but I immediately noticed the mess they had made of the lock on their front door. Creative, yes...purty, no.
Lever Return
I originally published the post below in May 0f 2009, but I'm trying to gather some information so I've pulled it up to the front again. Please take a moment to answer the quick survey about lever return in your area. Thanks!Click here to take a quick survey.//
Rocky Mountain Hardware
I have always loved Rocky Mountain Hardware, so when I received an invitation to visit their manufacturing facility I was really excited! Unfortunately, I don't have plans to go to Idaho any time soon, but the good news is that RMH has a video on their website that details their manufacturing process. It's almost like being there!
Look what I saw on the Jersey Turnpike…
I saw this keypad lockset in a rest area on the Jersey Turnpike recently. Can you identify it?
E.R. Butler & Co.
I've been in the door and hardware business for a long time - almost 25 years. While I'm still passionate about the products, the industry, and our customers, there are some days when I'm not quite as excited as I once was. It's kind of like the old, "I love you but I'm not in love with you," line. I'm sure you can relate...we all have those days.
Hardware Man
OMG - I LOVE this video. Maybe I'll get inspired to do a series of "Hardware Gal" videos. :-)
WWYD? – Restaurant Egress (Again)
I'd love to know who did this, so I can give them a good talking-to (maybe they'll read this and track me down like the semi-concealed closer installer).
Reader Photos
I'm still spending my Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday nights at town meeting, so I REALLY appreciate all of the great photos that have been sent in lately.
New York Chapter DHI
I had a great time at the New York DHI Chapter meeting tonight! I was so impressed with the attendance, the food, and the engagement at their chapter meeting, and they are very excited about the upcoming DHI conference in NYC in October. Public speaking isn't my favorite thing to do, but they were a fabulous audience for my presentation on social media and professional networking, which made it easy for me.
Anti-Ligature Levers
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, with over 31,000 people taking their life annually. 1,500 suicides occur annually in hospitals (1); it is also the leading cause of death while incarcerated (2). Ligature strangulation (hanging) is the primary means used to end one’s life in these environments.
Decoded: Manual Flush Bolts
This post was printed in the March 2011 issue of Doors & Hardware
Love Padlocks
Who says hardware can't be romantic?! In honor of Valentines Day, I present to you a tradition that began in the 1980s in Pécs, Hungary (or maybe in Italy depending on which version of the story you believe), and has spread to cities across the globe. It seems that sweethearts are attaching padlocks to bridges, statues, fences, and other structures to express their love. My pragmatic side wonders whether the structures can handle the extra weight of this quantity of padlocks, and whether people go back and take their padlock off when they break up, but since it's Valentines Day I'll just let you all feel the love.
Double Cylinder Deadlocks – Residential
I don't get involved with residential construction very often, but a local locksmith recently asked about the use of double-cylinder deadlocks on single family homes. His position is that he will not install them, but he was looking for a code reference to back him up.
Back to School
I received these photos last week and I didn't have much advice...maybe someone else does. These are classroom doors in a school for autistic children, and the extra locksets are due to the special needs of the students. The students are unable to retract both latches at the same time (if they can even reach the upper lockset). While this keeps the children in the classroom (a good thing), it also prevents egress (a bad thing).
Accessible Thumbturns
At least once a month someone asks me whether it's ok to use a deadbolt with a thumbturn on a door that is required to be accessible. It took some digging to get a definitive answer, because the accessibility standards don't specify a certain dimension that would be acceptable for the thumbturn. The ADA guidelines and ICC A117.1 both state that hardware has to be operable without tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist, but that still leaves a lot up to interpretation.
Thumbturn Rim Cylinder
This application came across my desk last week and for the life of me I couldn't think of where someone would use it. I don't remember ever being asked for a rim cylinder with a thumbturn, and people ask me for all kinds of random things.
Schlage AD-Series Update
Yesterday I spent a few hours auditing a class on the Schlage AD-Series Electronic Locks. If you haven't seen this lock yet, you should go to the website and take a look. The whole idea behind it is that it's adaptable. You can change the type of credential reader (keypad, mag-stripe, proximity/Smart Card/Multi-Tech reader) , the function (classroom/storeroom, office, apartment, privacy), or even the level of access control (offline, networked, wireless), and the changes can be made without taking the lock off the door. So you install a stand-alone keypad lock today...tomorrow you can change it to a networked wireless lock with a Smart Card reader, and only the credential reader and inside escutchen need to be replaced. The rest of the change is accomplished with free firmware.
Anti-Ligature Knob
I got a call this week from a facility that needed to replace existing locksets with an anti-ligature product. If you're not familiar with anti-ligature hardware, it's designed for use in mental health or detention facilities, to help protect patients or inmates from self-harm by minimizing the attachment points on the hardware. Anti-ligature hardware is just one part of a safe environment for facilities with special needs, along with tamper-proof plumbing, mechanical, and electrical devices, break-away shower rods and bars, impact-resistant glass and mirrors, etc.
Brass Finish – Vibratory Tumbled
A couple of months ago I did a post about the new aged bronze finish - BHMA 643e. A local architect commented that he had been looking for a finish similar to the base metal that you see after US10B finish rubs off. I can't walk away from a challenge, so I called Frascio International to see what they could do.
Rescue Hardware
A couple of days ago, one of our specwriters asked about a closer on a door with rescue hardware, and another specwriter advised him to use a double-acting closer. I was surprised to learn that they weren't aware of my FAVORITE LCN special template - ST-1895.
Classroom Function
It's funny how some things stick in your mind, and even funnier that I have "hardware memories" from way back. I remember a rumor going around my 7th grade Home Ec class that another class had locked our teacher, Mrs. Cross, out of the classroom, and that she had cried. So sad!
Schlage LiNK
The other day, one of my friends asked me about the new Schlage LiNK, which is a remote access system that connects you to your home from anywhere via cell phone or computer. With the monthly subscription and Z-Wave enabled products, you can remotely control and monitor your door locks, check on your pets with live video, turn lights on and off, and control and monitor your home's heating and cooling system.
Lever Designs – Unlimited Possibilities
Some projects require lever designs for locksets and panic hardware that are beyond the selection of standard "vanilla" levers offered by all of the commercial manufacturers. In some cases, even the "European" designs don't fill the bill, especially when special finishes are desired. I've often run into this with museum projects I've specified.
Schlage AD Series – Adaptable Electronic Security
If you haven't seen the new Schlage AD Series Electronic Lock, you can check it out at Schlage.com - just click any of the graphics on this post. Don't you think it's time for me to go on another road trip? I can take an AD Series lock with me this time. :-)