Decoded: Touchless Solutions for Healthy Environments (July 2020)
My next Decoded column for Door Security + Safety Magazine addresses the code considerations for facilities where changes are being made in order to limit the spread of germs.
Updated: Hands-Free Door Pulls
Someone asked me last week whether a door pull operated by the user's foot would be considered accessible. The answer seems obvious, right? Read on...
WWYD? Walk-In Closet
Is the door serving a walk-in closet in an apartment or condominium required to comply with the means of egress requirements of the IBC? WWYD?
WW: Rest Area Hardware Modification
I'm guessing this was not what the architect had in mind when he or she designed this rest area lobby with pairs of all-glass doors. Why have a vestibule at all?
FF: Surfaceskins Antibacterial Protection
Joe Prosser of LaForce, Inc., sent me a link to an article about a product called Surfaceskins, which is a "push-pad" (pulls are also available) that releases a small amount of antibacterial gel when touched...
QQ: Door Pull Clearance
I answered this question a couple of years ago as part of a longer post, but people continue to ask so here goes... "How much clearance do the accessibility standards require behind a door pull?"
FF: Guatemalan Style
Wrapping up my summer road trip through Guatemala, here are a few Fixed-it Friday photos - and a question.
FF: Lockout
This is not the intended use of this device. Anyone know what it's for?
Martin Pierce
It's relatively unusual to see beautiful door pulls and custom levers, so when I do see something special, it's pretty exciting...
FF: Rebar
The application in these Fixed-it Friday photos looks like a result of poor planning to me. Thank you to Mark Kuhn of Allegion for sending them!
FF: Ax Handle
This photo showedup in my Google Alerts 3 times this week, so I had to share it. It's from a blog post called "Fire Station 4's cool front door"...
QQ: Accessible Mounting Height
Most of you know that operable hardware must be mounted between 34 inches and 48 inches AFF, but does the ENTIRE piece of hardware have to be mounted within that area?
WW: Touchfree
The problem with this application is the lever handle that you apparently also have to turn. What's the point of the touchfree pull when you have to touch the lever??
FF: Cabinet Hardware
This Fixed-it Friday photo was taken at an open house by JJ Normandeau of CFS Canada. I know that hardware can be difficult and confusing, but come on... (also - please help identify the access control product pictured at the bottom of this post)
WWYD? School Entrance Trim
Bob Larson of Builders Hardware brought up a good question the other day...what's the best way to handle the outside trim on the exterior pairs on a school? We all have our preferences, but given the changing security...
Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle
Today's winner of the 5th-birthday gift card is Dan Droker of CCI Automated Technologies, who sent me some great photos from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. It makes me happy to imagine some of you embarrassing your spouses and kids by taking door photos during family outings. My family has begun to automatically sense when a door piques my interest, and they make themselves scarce. Except the little one who wants to be in every picture...
WW: Stair Door
Another hotel, another fire door problem. In case you're new to this site...this fire door needs a positive latch, and will not perform as designed and tested to protect the stairwell as a means of egress for the hotel guests if there is a fire. Unacceptable!
Doors of River Street – Savannah, Georgia
Before anyone says, "Why didn't you stop and see me??", we were only in Savannah for a quick lunch break. :)
Music City Center – Nashville, Tennessee
I know what you're thinking..."When is she going to stop talking about Nashville and get on to something interesting like gasketing or clear opening width?" :D
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...
LL Bean – What’s Missing?
We were on a mini-vacation earlier in the week, which is my excuse for forgetting two things. First, my pal Zeke Wolfskehl is in search of some research that I remember hearing about but have never been able to find documentation for. Maybe it's an urban legend, but I know that I heard/read somewhere that a pair of doors with a mullion allows more efficient egress than a pair of doors without a mullion. Do any of you remember where that was written? I need a lead to pursue.
Doors of Indiana
I coincidentally received these two sets of photos on the same day. Who knew there was such cool hardware in Indiana??
Old Sturbridge Village
If you haven't been to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, you're missing out on some great old hardware applications. They recently had an exhibit of antique door pulls, and as soon as my first-grader saw it he said, "Mom! I think you're going to want to get out your camera!" :-)
Custom Door Pulls
Someone sent me this photo of the custom door pulls made by Tice Industries for the Danner Shoe Manufacturing Company, and I thought they were so cool that I asked Scott Tice to send me more photos of their custom door pulls. They have other custom capabilities as well, so check them out!
Scissor Pull
I find this cool in a freaky sort of way.
Full Height Pulls
No matter how much time I spend thinking about doors and hardware (that's so sad), there's always someone waiting in the wings with a question or problem I haven't thought of yet. When I worked for a hardware distributor, that usually meant that because I had never thought about that particular issue before, I had doors on a jobsite that were going to cost us time and money to fix. Now that most of my work is earlier in the process (spec-writing), there's usually plenty of time to catch any coordination issues before the doors are actually fabricated.
Beware of Straight Pulls
There are a thousand ways to screw up a door, so one of my goals with this blog is to help others avoid mistakes I've seen or made myself (yes, I've made plenty).
Door Pulls
Almost every week someone asks me about the clearance behind door pulls. Many manufacturers' catalogs show certain pulls with a symbol indicating that they are accessible, and other pulls without the symbol. About 10 years ago I called the Department of Justice (ADA), the International Code Council (CABO back then), and the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (521 CMR) to get the real scoop. All 3 agencies told me that there was no specific dimension required for clearance behind a door pull. I was recently asked this question about a cabinet pull, so I made all 3 calls again to make sure I wasn't missing something. I was again told that you need to be able to slide a flat hand behind the door pull, and to open the door without gripping the pull. During both research projects I asked about a closed fist and was told that the clearance was not required to be large enough for a closed fist.