Help Wanted

7 03, 2010

Help Wanted

By |2016-07-20T10:57:09-04:00March 7th, 2010|General Info|0 Comments

Someone emailed me last week to ask if Ingersoll Rand was hiring.  Good question - it's been a really long time since I've perused the want ads.  Back in 1987, I was laid off from my job as a draftsman for an aluminum storefront supplier and had to go on the hunt for a new job, but since then the jobs have usually found me.  The hardware business is very small, which is great because we all know each other, but sometimes it can be a little awkward.  About 10 years ago a recruiter called to ask if I was interested in a job, and not only did I know the person who currently held the job, he didn't know he was leaving yet!  Yikes!

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4 03, 2010

Anti-Ligature Knob

By |2012-01-27T22:08:02-05:00March 4th, 2010|Locks & Keys|16 Comments

I got a call this week from a facility that needed to replace existing locksets with an anti-ligature product.  If you're not familiar with anti-ligature hardware, it's designed for use in mental health or detention facilities, to help protect patients or inmates from self-harm by minimizing the attachment points on the hardware.  Anti-ligature hardware is just one part of a safe environment for facilities with special needs, along with tamper-proof plumbing, mechanical, and electrical devices, break-away shower rods and bars, impact-resistant glass and mirrors, etc.

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3 03, 2010

Photo Gallery

By |2012-01-27T22:08:02-05:00March 3rd, 2010|General Info|1 Comment

In case you haven't noticed, there's a new photo gallery tab at the top of the page.  The gallery includes thumbnails of some of the photos I've used in previous posts, and when you click on the thumbnail it will take you to the applicable post.  (If any of them take you to the wrong post, let me know!)

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1 03, 2010

100 Countries, and Counting!

By |2012-01-27T22:08:02-05:00March 1st, 2010|General Info|2 Comments

It still amazes me when I see visitors from countries who haven't visited the site before, and the fact that we are now over 100 countries is so exciting!  Here are the most recent countries, which pushed us over the 100-country mark:

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27 02, 2010

Full Surface Hinge

By |2012-01-27T22:08:02-05:00February 27th, 2010|Fire Doors, Funky Applications, Reader Photos|1 Comment

I've been writing a lot about fire doors lately, and specifically about what bad condition many existing fire doors are in.  The codes have always required fire doors to be kept in good working order, but with the specific requirement for the annual inspection of fire doors it will hopefully bring more of these deficiencies to light.

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15 02, 2010

Costa Rican Security

By |2012-01-27T22:08:03-05:00February 15th, 2010|Costa Rica, Gates|0 Comments

The picture at right has nothing to do with this post, but isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!  I had no idea that I had captured this sloth so well until I was putting a photo book together for my daughter's preschool class over the weekend.  I took the picture in Caño Negro, and the sloth was waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy up in a tree, but he must have put his face into the sunbeam just as I took the photo.  I love it!

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12 02, 2010

More Costa Rican Egress

By |2012-01-27T22:08:03-05:00February 12th, 2010|Costa Rica, Means of Egress|2 Comments

When we drove through Santa Elena, we noticed a restaurant with a tree growing up through the middle of it.  It looked pretty cool, so we headed there for lunch after our 3-hour morning hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and before our afternoon hike at the Selvatura Hanging Bridges. (On the verge of passing out from exhaustion later that evening, we realized that it was only 7:16 p.m.!)

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10 02, 2010

Costa Rican Egress / Fire Protection

By |2024-06-06T11:59:17-04:00February 10th, 2010|Costa Rica, Fire Doors, Means of Egress|2 Comments

The hotel with the treacherous handicap ramp (see previous post) was actually a very nice little hotel, but it had some other code-related issues.  I think all of the issues stem from the lack of stringent building codes in Costa Rica, but they're still a little scary for travelers who happen to be door hardware consultants.

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7 02, 2010

Caño Negro

By |2012-01-27T22:08:03-05:00February 7th, 2010|Beautiful Doors, Costa Rica, My Photos|2 Comments

Yesterday we went to Caño Negro, a wildlife refuge near the Nicaraguan border.  I saw no doors of note, but I did see a mother sloth with her baby, which was SO COOL!! We saw tons of other animals including iguanas and other lizards, caymans, white-faced and howler monkeys, at least 20 different kinds of birds, and 3 other sloths.  It was a really great day.

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7 02, 2010

La Fortuna

By |2012-01-27T22:08:03-05:00February 7th, 2010|Costa Rica, My Photos|0 Comments

I don't really like to fly. I know about all of the airline safety statistics, but I just don't like being confined and especially tens of thousands of feet up in the sky. I don't like turbulence, even if it IS just bumpy air. I'm not buying it.

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4 02, 2010

Come Here Often?

By |2012-01-27T22:08:03-05:00February 4th, 2010|Costa Rica|2 Comments

If you visit this blog on a regular basis, you've probably noticed that there's been a brief lull in posts. I could blame technical difficulties, illness, writer's block, or a natural disaster, but the reality is that I've been preparing to go on vacation. A real vacation where my cell phone doesn't work. Hard to believe, I know. Those of you who are getting ready to point out that it's not a real vacation if I take my netbook with me can just hush.

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22 01, 2010

Survey SAYS…

By |2012-01-27T22:08:04-05:00January 22nd, 2010|FDAI, Fire Doors|1 Comment

A couple of weeks ago I posted a survey to find out what people know about fire doors.  The purpose was to test my theory that the reason fire doors are improperly modified and damaged hardware is left unrepaired is because people don't realize a) which doors are fire doors or b) what can or can't be done to a fire door.  I originally developed this theory while I was creating a presentation about fire door inspection, and I wanted to have data to support it.

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22 01, 2010

"Welcoming ‘Chip’ to the Library"

By |2012-01-27T22:08:04-05:00January 22nd, 2010|Chip Falcon Road Trip|4 Comments

If you're new to this blog, you have a little catching up to do.  If you've been a loyal reader for a while, you know about "Chip Falcon."  In a nutshell, I had to take a Falcon 24/25 series exit device on my family's annual summer road trip last year.  During our travels the exit device became known as "Chip," and I posted about the trip almost daily.  To my surprise, people really seemed to enjoy reading about Chip's adventures.

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20 01, 2010

Construction Label

By |2013-03-08T09:42:02-05:00January 20th, 2010|Fire Doors|8 Comments

Last week I was on a conference call for one of my projects in Washington DC, because of a problem with the specified concealed closer and the fire-rated wood door and wood frame.  The door manufacturer suggested a "construction label," and most of the call participants needed an explanation of what that was.  I thought posting a description here might help others who are wandering the web seeking information about construction labels.  (Don't laugh...you wouldn't believe how many people come to this site wondering what a Cush arm is.)

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14 01, 2010

<90 Degrees

By |2012-01-27T22:08:04-05:00January 14th, 2010|Accessibility, Means of Egress|0 Comments

I haven't posted for a few days because I've been working on my new FDAI presentation and various other things, but I'm kind of excited about this post because it answers a question that has been floating around for years.  Ok...maybe "excited" is the wrong word, but I really enjoy crossing things off the "grey list."

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9 01, 2010

Fire Door Survey

By |2016-11-14T11:32:57-05:00January 9th, 2010|FDAI, Fire Doors|3 Comments

In 2007, the annual inspection of fire door assemblies became a code requirement that is gradually being adopted across the U.S. Given the enormous quantity of fire doors and the relatively small number of qualified fire door inspectors, implementation of this change has been challenging, but because of the appalling condition of the fire doors I see daily, I am determined to increase awareness of this requirement and use it to improve the safety of buildings.

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7 01, 2010

Let's Celebrate!!

By |2012-01-27T22:08:04-05:00January 7th, 2010|General Info|0 Comments

It's been a while since I've given anything away, but it's a new year and I feel the need to celebrate the upcoming 1-year anniversary of this site and the approaching milestone of hosting visitors from 100 COUNTRIES! It still amazes me that hardware haters (and hardware lovers) worldwide are using this site as a resource!!  I look at the stats daily to see what people are searching for when they arrive on the site, and I can see the countries of origin for many of the IP addresses.  There are also quite a few IP addresses with "unknown" countries, so I'm sure there are other countries who have visited, but so far I've counted 95 different countries.

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1 01, 2010

Happy New Year!

By |2012-01-27T22:08:05-05:00January 1st, 2010|General Info|0 Comments

After I posted some pics of my kids during Chip Falcon's Road Trip, many blog readers commented or emailed me about them. I finally finished our electronic "Happy New Year" card, so feel free to take a look if you want to. If not, come back tomorrow and I'll post about something more door-like. :-)

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1 01, 2010

Low Voltage License

By |2017-05-25T15:39:21-04:00January 1st, 2010|Electrified Hardware|7 Comments

Someone recently asked me whether a low voltage license is required for wiring electrified hardware in Massachusetts.  I asked my Panel of Experts and did some research on the Mass.gov website, and (regardless of what actually happens out in the field on a daily basis) a license IS required for connecting wires to electrified hardware in Massachusetts (actually two licenses - read on).

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30 12, 2009

Interesting Place for an ASA Strike

By |2012-01-27T22:08:05-05:00December 30th, 2009|FDAI, Funky Applications|1 Comment

I have heard from some code officials that annual fire door assembly inspections aren't feasible because there are too many fire doors, or aren't necessary because the building inspectors and fire marshals already have it covered.  The application below caught my eye on the way into my hotel the other other night.  It's the fire door that separates the wing my room is in from the lobby and the other three wings. The door is in rough shape, most likely because the panic device has been replaced several times and there's nothing left in the door to attach it to.  Someone decided that an ASA strike is just the ticket...they used it kind of like a giant washer.  Not to mention that the replacement panic is not fire exit hardware and is equipped with dogging which allows the latch to be held retracted.

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29 12, 2009

Stainless Steel

By |2012-01-27T22:08:05-05:00December 29th, 2009|Funky Applications|11 Comments

Last week I was able to squeeze in one last visit to the Museum of Fine Arts before security became so tight that I wouldn't be allowed inside until I could enter as a paying customer sometime in 2010.  After working on this project for almost 5 years, it gave me a thrill to see art arriving in crates and in multiple pieces.

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28 12, 2009

Incognito

By |2012-01-27T22:08:05-05:00December 28th, 2009|Doors & Frames, Funky Applications|0 Comments

I'm having a couple of days of R & R in Burlington, Vermont, but the Doors of Burlington post will have to wait for a day when the weather is less inclement, or at least when I have a designated driver so I can hunt for doors from a moving vehicle. It has been tough to go door hunting when I'm on my own with three kids, a dog, and our two new Christmas kittens. In other words, I've got my hands full and I'm headed off the deep end (in my case, R & R does NOT stand for rest and relaxation!).

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17 12, 2009

Team Effort

By |2012-01-27T22:08:05-05:00December 17th, 2009|General Info|0 Comments

It's been a slow week for posts and I apologize for that, but I've got a good excuse.  For the 5th straight year, my coworkers, family and friends have provided Christmas gifts for the local family shelter - 48 kids and their parents this year!  We also provided some new items for the shelter's rewards program.

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10 12, 2009

www.schlage.com/social

By |2013-09-29T19:27:47-04:00December 10th, 2009|General Info|0 Comments

I guess it's a sign of the times. In the old days, if you were lucky enough to get your name in the newspaper, that was a very big event (unless you were in the police blotter). One time I was on TV and I had my whole family standing by to press *record* on the VCR at just the right moment.  My friend's elderly grandfather saw me on the news and almost knocked over his oxygen tank in his excitement.  But with the advent of social media - Facebook, Youtube, blogging, etc., appearing in the media is a daily or weekly occurrence for many of us.

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8 12, 2009

Falcon 8200 Series Auto Operator

By |2012-01-27T22:08:05-05:00December 8th, 2009|Automatic Operators, Videos|1 Comment

It seems like I should know all about myself now that I'm in my (early!) 40's, but I recently learned that the way I learn best is from a live demonstration or a video.  As soon as I start trying to read about something, my mind is off in a hundred directions, but put the same information in a video and I'm right there.

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7 12, 2009

Urban Exploration

By |2017-12-20T13:19:09-05:00December 7th, 2009|Beautiful Doors, Urban Exploration|0 Comments

I think I may have found the perfect hobby for myself.  Not that I need anything else to keep me busy, but I recently discovered the art of Urban Exploration, which combines my love of photography, architecture, and adventure. According to Wikipedia, Urban Exploration (AKA urbex or UE) is "the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of urban areas or industrial facilities."

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2 12, 2009

Too Many Pivots

By |2012-01-27T22:08:05-05:00December 2nd, 2009|Hinges & Pivots|5 Comments

I was walking down the street the other day, and I noticed that all of the entrance doors on the building I was passing had A LOT of intermediate pivots.  I didn't have much time to investigate, but I took a picture in case I decided to do a blog post about it someday.  Well, someday is today because I just got an email from one of our specwriters about how to determine the required quantity of intermediate pivots.

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30 11, 2009

Not a Door

By |2014-10-08T09:18:31-04:00November 30th, 2009|Funky Applications, Reader Photos|5 Comments

The cool thing about writing a blog from my little office within a very large company is that I write about whatever strikes me at the time. Unlike many corporate bloggers, I am not told what to write about and my posts aren't approved before they're posted. I'm grateful that I have that freedom, because I use this forum to teach people about doors and hardware, and my favorite topic - codes related to openings. At the same time, I am constantly learning by answering questions, looking at applications, and researching new requirements.

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