It's Wednesday, and you know what that means! Another application that leaves me wordless! Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me these photos of the integral stop on a door closer being used to hold the fire door open. Y'all know that's not ok - right?
I was just looking for a particular discussion on the Building Code Forum, and I ran across this photo which I forgot to post. I was probably saving it for the WW before Thanksgiving. :) The fire inspector had been called back to reinspect this exit, which was missing the panic hardware.
Yes, this is a fire door. Anyone see a problem here?
Last Friday I posted an article about a school district settlement with a student, after a severe injury due to impact with traditional wired glass. The article mentioned that a "15-year-old high school student fell while climbing atop a stack of rolled up wrestling mats." What the article didn't say was that the mats had been rolled up between practices, and the student was helping to set up - the mats were stuck together and he climbed up to help free the mat and slipped, impacting the glass. His injury was horrific, and he's lucky to be alive.
This opening is secured by power bolts, which are released via the wall switch. The panic hardware is just for show...there's no way for the devices to latch without a mullion. :(
This photo is from one of the fine establishments we visited in NYC. You can tell it's *fine* because of the champagne buckets.
This photo of a hospital corridor door was sent by Hyun Myung Kang. I'm pretty sure this installation doesn't comply with NFPA 80.
Yes, I know it's Thursday, but this just arrived in my email box and I have to share.
Any theories about what's happening here? Steve Poe from Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me the photo and we're perplexed.
Vincent Chestnut of Alpha Locksmith spotted this problem on a visit to a local public safety building. Not only does the door require two motions to unlatch, the thumbturn on the combination lock doesn't look like it would be considered accessible.
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!
Andrew Harris of Willis Klein sent me these photos of doors in a school district. He had been called in to solve the problems that caused the school to resort to these locking measures.
This article left me wordless: Fire Alarm Causes Panic in Housing Facilities
This post did start out as a Wordless Wednesday post but I got a little carried away.
As most of you know, a required egress door must typically operate with only one motion to release the latch. The common exception is dwelling unit entry doors in hotels and apartment buildings, which can have one additional locking device if the occupant load of the unit is 10 or less. Take a look at this door, sent to me by Jeff Strangio of Maffey's Security Group. Do you think you could figure out how to open it in smoky conditions?
Today's Wordless Wednesday photo was submitted by Joy Davis of the Construction Specifications Institute (@CSIConstruction on Twitter). Thanks Joy!
This photo was taken in a health care facility and was sent to me by both Jim Jensen and Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies. :-(
On the right of the photo is the jamb, on the left is the face of the door.
The jagged edges and shards formed by broken wired glass create hauntingly beautiful images, but may also leave life-long scars. All of these images are published with permission from the artists. Please do not duplicate them.
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.
Yesterday's mall shootings in Oregon should serve as a reminder to be aware of the available exits regardless of where you are. This door could be tough to navigate in an emergency.
This photo, taken at an Ontario Hospital, was sent by Kelly Chimilar of Allmar. I'm confused.
I can't figure out whether these are providing security or acting as the door closers, but either way they leave me wordless!
I'm spending most of this week in Tennessee, and yesterday I went out to the local supermarket for a few more Thanksgiving dinner supplies. This door caught my eye...
Yes, this is a fire door, and yes, the bollard is permanently bolted in place.
I'm not going to post the name of the person who sent these photos in, because I contacted the restaurant and I don't want them to see his name here and seek revenge the next time he places an order. I got no response after sending two emails...I wonder if the fire marshal eats here.
This is becoming a recurring theme. I'll be in a few airports later this week...maybe I'll see some more.
The good news...I'm on my way to Las Vegas for CoNEXTions 2012! The bad news...our flight lost a hydraulic system and we had to land in Denver. There's a replacement plane but it is larger and requires an extra flight attendant, who had to be called in from home. I'm sure he's not a happy camper right now. I will get there eventually, but while I'm waiting, here's another photo that left me Wordless.
On my way to Tucson I had a layover, and every single emergency exit door was set up similar to this one. Thoughts?
This is the emergency exit for a day care center, sent in by Dwight Isaacs of US Homeware Inc. If you look closely, you'll see that the latch is up near the top of the jamb post, out of reach of the kids. This seems like it could be a viable solution, except that in another situation when I asked all of my code official pals about how I could prevent a child with special needs from exiting out of a school without permission, most of them said that they would not allow a latch mounted above the range mandated by code.
Whatcha think? Is this exit visible enough?
How is it possible that hotels almost always have fire and egress door issues? It seems like they would get it right once, then duplicate those good applications across the chain and make sure that they're maintained. Yet hotels have been a great source of Doors Gone Wrong.
Step 4: Invert the cylinder cam as shown.
I recently saw this closer prep on a brand-new fire door. Now what?
Anybody see the problem here?
If you don't know why this sign leaves me wordless, read this post.
I received this photo from Nancy Bailey of Girtman & Associates, a division of Bass Security Services. I'm guessing that the slack in the wire is so that it can be run around the outside of the glass kit. If this was a fire-rated door, would this method be acceptable?
I'd like to tell you where I got these photos but then I'd have to kill you and that would be bad for business. :D
What do you think of this exit from a large Assembly occupancy in England? Are the operable doors visible enough for egress purposes?
This photo was sent to me by two different people and had made the rounds before it got to them, so I don't know who to give photo credit to. Anyone want to admit to coming up with this creative solution?
Head over to the Kingston Lounge to read more about this historic structure and see the beautiful photos of its current sad state of decay. They don't build them like this any more.
This pair of doors is the entrance to Fort Independence on Castle Island in Boston, a five-bastioned fort built between 1834 and 1851. These doors look old enough to be original...with a little repair work at some point.
Thanks to y'all I'm never short of reader photos, and these photos leave me wordless...just in time for Wordless Wednesday!
Sent in by Gary Goldberg of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies...this was so much easier than cutting a hole in the wall. :(
These buildings were ALL OCCUPIED when these photos were taken. Depressing.
I was working on a different post but that one will have to wait. I just received these photos, it's Wordless Wednesday, and I am wordless (yes, again). This is an exit for a hockey rink, sent in by an anonymous reader. Hockey rinks are notoriously tough on their doors and hardware, but this "solution" makes me want to cry.
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