I spent most of last week in Arizona at the BHMA meeting, and I found this great (terrible) Wordless Wednesday photo for you. If you're new to this site, the problem with this exit is that it has been modified for use as display space in a souvenir shop at the Phoenix airport. Doors in the means of egress must be visible, with no decorations, mirrors, curtains, or stuffed monkeys...
Paul Goldense of Goldense Building Products took today's Wordless Wednesday photo while searching for the problem causing mag-locks in a psychiatric unit to work intermittently. I think he found the issue...
These are egress doors in an occupied school gym. Luckily they are going to be replaced shortly, but meanwhile, I'm Wordless.
It's Wordless Wednesday again! When I was in Baltimore a few weeks ago, I was loitering around these pairs of fire doors leading from the exhibit hall to the service corridor...
When I stay in a hotel I always check the fire doors and egress doors, and unfortunately I usually find issues. I guess I'm not the only one...
It's Wordless Wednesday again, and these photos DEFINITELY left me wordless...
What can I say? Thank you to Gary Huizen of Huizen's Locksmith Service for posting this Wordless Wednesday photo on the iDigHardware Facebook page!
I'm working on a blog post - hopefully for tomorrow, about a code problem involving stairwell reentry requirements. And it's not good news. But for today, from Edward Marchakitus of Cornell Storefront Systems, the emergency exit on a retail store. You'll be happy to know that this is the "before" photo:
An architect's office can't claim that they didn't understand the requirements for an unobstructed means of egress, right?
These photos were taken by Todd Borsch from Allegion. This is not a special template authorized by LCN!
When the wrong lock function is installed, there are ways to rectify the situation. Today's Wordless Wednesday post is one of them...
In Fez, we stayed in two riads - beautiful old houses that have been converted to guesthouses. Check out the stairs...I wouldn't want to have to get out quickly. The egress rules are a little different here...
This week's Wordless Wednesday post is surveillance video of a break-in at All Points Electric in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. For educational purposes, what type of glass breaks like this?
If you're not an avid reader of Doors & Hardware (what??), you may not be familiar with the Real Openings column by Mark Berger of Securitech. Mark's photos ALWAYS leave me wordless. With Mark's permission, here are his photos from the July issue...
This is a marked exit from a dry cleaner's. The photo was posted on the Truck Floor Training page on Facebook - a group for firefighter training. It's interesting to look at this door from both perspectives...
A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of a broken door closer casting for Wordless Wednesday, and there were a lot of questions and comments...
I received this photo from Chuck Noble of Certified Fire Door, and it is the epitome of Wordless Wednesday...
I've only seen this a few times in my career. I'll bet it was messy.
I'm at the BHMA meeting in Chicago this week, and the restaurant we selected for dinner (a Chicago icon) had the added bonus of a door that left me a little Wordless. This is the main entrance and exit from a restaurant with an occupant load of approximately 300. See any issues?
Here's one for those of you who are familiar with hardware installation...what's wrong with the door in this photo? Hint: It's a fire-rated electrical vault door...
It's Wordless Wednesday again, and Lance Werner of Allegion just sent me this photo of what happens when the wrong lock function is supplied. Creative solutions are more fun than buying a new lock...hopefully it's not a fire door...
In addition to the blocked egress path, I see a security bar with a padlock and hasp, the original lockset, and an exit alarm, presumably requiring at least 3 operations to unlatch the door. And possibly a key. And a detailed map to find your way to the door...
This week's Wordless Wednesday photo is from Keith Lathrop of Midwest Wholesale Hardware - a particularly scary emergency exit with a chain and padlock to replace the missing rods and top latch...
Today's photo is from Connor Jordan, originally posted on the Door Closer Enthusiasts page on Facebook. I don't know for sure that this is a fire door, but let's assume that it is for the sake of this lesson. NFPA 80 (2013) states: "5.1.5 Removal of Door or Window...
This is not the first time my friend Bob Jutzi has left me Wordless. ;) Each door is 3'-9" wide x 10'-0" high. The doors are thought to be original to the building, built in the 1880's...
It seems like every time I attend a meeting of one of the associations I belong to, I see something to use on this site (here's one from a CSI meeting, and another, and another...
Gary Huizen of Huizen's Locksmith Service posted this Wordless Wednesday photo on the iDigHardware Facebook page...how many times have you arrived on a jobsite to respond to a closing/latching problem and found something like this?
Today's Wordless Wednesday photos came from an anonymous fire inspector pal of mine. This is very common in retail stores - the merchandise displays creep in and encroach upon the egress route, or inhibit the operation of fire doors...
This illustrates why I disagree with "bending the rules" to allow non-code-compliant security devices to be used "after-hours." When the fire marshal agrees to something like this, the compromise would typically come with a qualifier...
When I look at a photo and can't come up with the right thing to say, I know it needs to be posted for Wordless Wednesday...like this one from Kevin Taylor of Allegion...
For the first time ever - 2 Wordless Wednesday posts in one day! This video will definitely leave you wordless...
Something a little different for today's Wordless Wednesday photo - less of a fire door / egress code issue and more of a...fire hazard (and probably an electrical code problem!)?
Will schools be held liable for "allowing" a crime to happen by giving the unauthorized person the ability to lock the door? I'm not a lawyer, but with schools paying settlements for wired glass injuries and being sued for inadequate security, I think it's something to consider...
This mall exit was spotted by William Hoppe of UC Merced, and the photos were sent to me by Chad Jenkins of the National Locksmithing Institute. Unbelievable...
The Wordless Wednesday Winner is Logan Piburn, from Dyron Murphy Architects! Logan sent me LOTS of photos, and explained that these were taken at various rural schools, most built in the early 70's and still in use today. The photos were taken during surveys to identify existing problems and plan renovations.
These photos from Jodie Meyers of Phillips-Langley illustrate exactly what Wordless Wednesday is all about. This fire door leads to a laundry room in the physical education department of a high school. The door has plenty of problems (feel free to list them in the comments)...
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!
"What seems to be the problem? Oh."
In case you have a hard time reading the sign on the LHR leaf, it says "Please do not use these doors. Leave them LOCKED!" :(
These photos leave me Wordless in a different way than the usual WW photos. This is a great illustration of what a code-compliant fire door can do. In the foreground of the top photo...the portion of the senior home in L'Isle Verte that is a total loss, with 32 presumed dead. In the background, the newer portion of the building that suffered little damage and from which the occupants were able to be evacuated. That portion was reportedly equipped with sprinklers, but without the fire wall and closed/latched fire doors visible in the photo, the fire would not have been compartmentalized as it was. We will undoubtedly learn more about the specifics as the investigation continues.
That's the text message I received from Hal Kelton of DOORDATA Solutions, when he sent me this photo. :D
Unrelated to this post...I need a good clear photo of a hospital stop / terminated stop on a hollow metal frame. Can anyone help me out?
Alec Walsh of Allegion sent me these photos a few weeks ago. That door looks like it needs some thermal protection, right?
Happy New Year!!!
Last week on The Building Code Forum, one of the members mentioned that their local police department recommended the installation of overlapping astragals on the exterior pairs at their schools. This left me WORDLESS! It definitely feels like 2 steps forward - 1 step back some days.
This photo, from an ice arena, gives me the chills. Ice rinks are notoriously difficult locations for doors and hardware...lots of abuse, often a high occupant load, humidity and corrosion issues, and other contributing factors. In case you don't see the problem right away, look at the top of the mullion. Angle brackets have been bolted to each door, and there is a pin inserted through one bracket, through the mullion, and through the other bracket. Someone trying to exit through these doors would likely have no idea why they won't open.
This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for industry colleagues who share their expertise, code officials who try to answer questions even when I'm way down into the nitty gritty, people who read this blog (or at least come to look at the pictures), and for photos like this...
I just had an idea. I'm putting together an online code class for my coworkers, which will be available to others outside of the company next year. The way I like to teach about codes is to explain the intent behind the requirement, show examples, reference the applicable section of the code, and preferably to break up the education into small chunks so it's easier to absorb over time. The way I initially tried to learn was to read the code books and highlight the sections, but it didn't really stick with me. So many people email me to say, "I know the code says something about *this*, but where is it?"...something they have read or heard may have left an impression on them about the requirement, but it didn't settle into their brain for the long haul.
In case you were wondering, this is not an acceptable application for a fire door. And I'm not sure if/how it's working properly, or what's under the big plate.
