FF: I’m Wordless

25 11, 2014

Feng Shui

By |2014-11-25T13:35:40-05:00November 25th, 2014|Means of Egress, News|4 Comments

To be honest, I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about feng shui, which is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China.  The goal of Feng Shui is to balance the energies of a space to ensure health and good fortune.  I do know that I'm not supposed to store stuff under my bed, which  might be the reason I'm often unbalanced.

24 11, 2014

Almudena Cathedral – Madrid, Spain

By |2020-07-02T17:08:06-04:00November 24th, 2014|Beautiful Doors|1 Comment

These beautiful doors are from the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid. Construction on the cathedral began in 1883, but due to the Civil War and other delays, the cathedral was not consecrated for worship until 1993. The extremely ornate bronze doors are the work of sculptor Luis Antonio Sanguino, who began work on them in 2000...

19 11, 2014

School Guard Glass

By |2014-11-19T23:26:10-05:00November 19th, 2014|Glass, School Security|16 Comments

School Guard Glass is a new product that can retrofit existing 1/4" glass at a cost of about $1,000-$1,200 per full glass door lite, and it kept the testing agent at bay for 6 minutes during independent testing. What do you think?

4 11, 2014

Help Wanted – School Safety

By |2014-11-04T12:24:51-05:00November 4th, 2014|School Security|3 Comments

I'm working on an article for a print publication, that covers the some of the common code issues affecting schools and mistakes that may be made - particularly in the rush to secure a school against an intruder.  The topics I've included are:

3 11, 2014

Rehearsing for death: A pre-K teacher on the trouble with lockdown drills

By |2014-11-08T11:17:44-05:00November 3rd, 2014|School Security|5 Comments

When we talk about school security / school safety we bring different perspectives to the table.  Many of us are parents or grandparents of children in school.  Some are educators or administrators, or those responsible for designing, securing, or maintaining school buildings.  Others are first responders or code officials.  In a recent edition of the Washington Post there was an article giving a teacher's prespective on school lockdown...

31 10, 2014

Happy Halloween!

By |2021-10-26T18:51:07-04:00October 31st, 2014|Means of Egress|4 Comments

Last weekend our church had a Halloween party with a haunted house for the kids. Because (as Popeye always said) "I yam what I yam," I wondered about the egress plans if there was an emergency. Maybe a maze made of cardboard and sheets with no open flames in a church basement for 3 hours with lots of adult supervision isn't a huge concern, but haunted houses have become big business...

28 10, 2014

Cease Fire Door Hinge

By |2014-10-28T11:52:08-04:00October 28th, 2014|Hinges & Pivots, Videos|39 Comments

As most of you know, I love to see creativity and innovation within the door and hardware industry, especially if it helps to increase fire prevention and life safety. I received a video this morning, introducing a product that has been developed by two retired FDNY firefighters. It is a spring hinge with a fusible link, so in normal operation it acts as a typical hinge but when exposed to heat it closes the door...

27 10, 2014

Steel Door Institute: Tornado Doors

By |2014-10-27T10:17:21-04:00October 27th, 2014|Doors & Frames, Windstorm|5 Comments

Last year I wrote a couple of blog posts about tornado doors - one called Tornado Safety in Schools, which included articles and other information about tornadoes that had recently occurred in Oklahoma and Texas. The other post was Shelter from the Storm, which described changes to the 2015 International Building Code...

22 10, 2014

WW: BHMA in AZ

By |2014-10-22T02:13:05-04:00October 22nd, 2014|Doors Gone Wrong, Means of Egress, Wordless Wednesday|15 Comments

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...

21 10, 2014

Schlage L909x

By |2020-08-18T14:59:04-04:00October 21st, 2014|Electrified Hardware, Locks & Keys, News|11 Comments

I don't know about you, but once a product number takes root in my head I have a tough time getting used to a new one. I've still got numbers in there from the 80's! But it's time to do a memory upgrade because the Schlage L9080-EL and L9080-EU locksets have been replaced with a series of new and improved electrified mortise locks...

17 10, 2014

FF: Fire Exit Hardware

By |2014-10-17T11:47:04-04:00October 17th, 2014|Fire Doors, Fixed-it Friday, Panic Hardware|4 Comments

I can't count how many times I've been asked for help when a label from a listing laboratory has been removed by the painter/cleaner/installer/meddling kid from the door/frame/armor plate/fire exit hardware. Unfortunately, I'm not much help...I can't send you a new label to stick on. That's what makes these Fixed-it Friday photos so sad...

14 10, 2014

6 Accessibility Changes to Watch Out For (November 2014)

By |2015-02-06T07:30:42-05:00October 14th, 2014|Accessibility, Articles, Automatic Operators, Doors & Frames, Panic Hardware|3 Comments

The 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design went into effect in March of 2012, but there are several requirements that continue to surprise architects and specifiers as well as door and hardware suppliers. These issues can be costly to resolve if they’re discovered after the doors and hardware are on-site, so it’s important to stay current on the requirements...

9 10, 2014

Breaks on Impact, by Rob Botman

By |2016-01-06T11:18:57-05:00October 9th, 2014|Glass|0 Comments

It has been a while since I've posted about the hazards of traditional wired glass, but the problem has not gone away.  Although the US codes have changed, there are millions of existing pieces of this glass in schools and other buildings.  Canada has seen several lawsuits lately - 1 worth more than 5 million dollars, and what's particularly interesting is that some of the glass in question met the code requirements in place in Canada at the time of installation, but facilities may still be held liable for wired glass injuries because they should have been aware of the hazard and addressed it.  I am posting the article below with permission from the author, Rob Botman.  The article first appeared in Glass Canada, and a reprint can be downloaded by clicking here.  There is additional information about the requirements for glazing on the Glass tab above.^

7 10, 2014

More on Electric Strikes on Fire Door Assemblies

By |2017-07-03T18:01:15-04:00October 7th, 2014|Code Development, Electrified Hardware, Fire Doors|10 Comments

Recently a question from a code official landed in my inbox - "Can an electric strike on a fire door be operated by a motion sensor?" For example, if a door was often used by people carrying boxes or other large items, could a sensor release the strike so the building occupants could just push on the door rather than turning the lever to exit?

6 10, 2014

Allegion Support

By |2017-05-31T09:29:59-04:00October 6th, 2014|General Info|6 Comments

I receive lots of questions daily.  Usually they are code questions, but I also receive questions about our products.  To help you find answers to some of the product questions more quickly, I  have added links to some Allegion support resources in the right sidebar.  -->

2 10, 2014

OTU (Openings Terminology for the Unenlightened) – Frames

By |2014-10-02T23:13:59-04:00October 2nd, 2014|Back-2-Basics, Doors & Frames, OTU|13 Comments

This is SO COOL. I LOVE it. I know it probably seems like it doesn't take that much to excite me, but when this hit my inbox, it really made my day...all because Dan Dateno of BR Johnson combined his sketching ability with his career in doors and hardware to illustrate alternate definitions for common door and hardware terminology.

30 09, 2014

Hardware Finishes

By |2016-01-13T11:10:14-05:00September 30th, 2014|General Info|44 Comments

When I worked for a hardware distributor back in the 80's, I had a secret hiding place where I kept my prized possessions...including a small cardboard "book" that contained samples of each of the common finishes used for hardware. I had to keep it hidden, because people were always trying to steal it, or rip out the little metal pieces to send as finish samples...

29 09, 2014

Another Open Fire Door

By |2015-05-27T09:54:51-04:00September 29th, 2014|FDAI, Fire Doors, News|0 Comments

A 42-unit apartment building was destroyed by fire last week in Columbus, Ohio. The fire began in a second-floor apartment, and the door to the apartment was left open when the resident evacuated. According to investigators, fire doors in the corridor and stairwell were also propped open, allowing the smoke and flames to spread and leaving the residents no safe escape route...

26 09, 2014

FF: The EasyLock

By |2014-09-26T10:00:33-04:00September 26th, 2014|Fixed-it Friday, Locks & Keys|5 Comments

Most of you know that I'm not a fan of the retrofit security "inventions" that seem to be flooding the institutional market lately, but I do admire creativity, and since it's Fixed-it Friday I thought I'd share a product I recently saw in the news - The EasyLock. I have no idea how effective it is as a security device, but the design is pretty clever...

22 09, 2014

Memo from the New York State Education Department

By |2015-01-05T22:46:41-05:00September 22nd, 2014|School Security|3 Comments

It seems like just about every week I see a new classroom security device that promises to thwart intruders and help keeps kids safe in school. As I've said multiple times, many of these devices are not code-compliant, and trade security for life safety. In evaluating these products, my criteria are...

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