Locks & Keys

Colonial Williamsburg Revisited

During Chip Falcon's Road Trip we visited Colonial Williamsburg, and you may have seen my slideshow of the doors and hardware there.  I received quite a few questions from readers about the hardware at CW, so I sent an email to the Architectural Research Department there and I got a return email from Mr. Kenneth Schwarz, whose title is Blacksmith, Master of the Shop.  Ken has been a wonderful source of information about the hardware at CW, and I'm looking forward to meeting him and hopefully getting a behind-the-scenes tour the next time I'm there.

By |2015-05-20T09:22:43-04:00September 7th, 2009|Funky Applications, Locks & Keys|19 Comments
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Fail Safe Locks

I didn't want to scare anyone by adding more information to my previous post about stairwell re-entry, but I do get questions about how to accomplish this.  The stairwell re-entry requirements state that the stair side lever must unlock on fire alarm or on a signal from the fire command station depending on the code (there is always free egress from the non-stair side).  I have seen stair doors that had been retrofitted with card readers and electric strikes.  If these doors are required by code to meet the stairwell re-entry requirements, an electric strike is not an acceptable way to do this.

By |2014-04-26T19:26:55-04:00April 24th, 2009|Electrified Hardware, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|0 Comments
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Roof Doors

The locking requirements for roof doors are a bit of a gray area, due to the varied preferences of local code officials. In most cases, the roof door can be locked on the interior side, preventing access to the roof. It is very rare (except in movies) that the egress plan for the building includes going to the roof for helicopter access. If the roof was part of the egress path, the roof would have to be maintained as an egress route, snow removed, etc.

By |2012-01-27T22:10:39-05:00April 13th, 2009|Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|5 Comments
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Dormitory Locks

The hot topic of last week was how to handle locks on dormitory entrance doors, since the students have figured out how to reach under the door with a coat hanger and pull down the lever to unlock the door.  There's a minute+ of bad video below to illustrate the procedure, as reenacted by a couple of college boys.  The video has already been viewed 1,419 times by students who need help with their coat hanger technique, so the problem is bound to get bigger.

By |2014-05-23T22:04:19-04:00April 8th, 2009|Locks & Keys, Means of Egress, Videos|0 Comments
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Solution for Unequal Pairs

One of the top 5 questions which I receive almost weekly is regarding the replacement of a 5'-wide equal pair with a 3'+2' unequal pair.  Because automatic flush bolts and a coordinator can be problematic, and most panic hardware will not fit on a 2' wide door, I'm constantly being asked if it's ok to use manual flush bolts on the 2' leaf.  That's a tough question to answer because the code-compliant solution isn't the best application as far as function and durability.  The IBC (2003) says this:

By |2012-07-26T17:56:08-04:00March 4th, 2009|Accessibility, Locks & Keys|2 Comments
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Time-Out Lock

One of our customers sent me this photo last week.  It was found on a psychiatric facility and to operate it, a staff member must be present and holding the bolt projected via the lever.  I did my best to track down a manufacturer with no luck.  It's possible that it was made in a machine shop or that it is no longer available, but my first thought when I saw it was that I need to buy 3 for my kids' rooms and then find 3 suckers to stand there holding the bolts projected.  ;-)

By |2012-01-27T22:10:41-05:00February 23rd, 2009|Funky Applications, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|2 Comments
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Tactile Warning

Tactile warning is an abrasive or knurled strip on a lever handle to indicate that the door leads to a hazardous area such as a boiler room, mechanical room, or loading dock.  This requirement is no longer included in the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) or in ICC/ANSI A117.1, but it is a requirement of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (521 CMR):

By |2017-05-25T15:37:23-04:00February 23rd, 2009|Accessibility, Locks & Keys|2 Comments
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