Doors & Hardware

Forum Post: Fire Door Openings

Carlos Alcantar — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:44:00 GMT

Written articles on NFPA 80, and ICC 1008, as well as other enforcement codes state the minimum mandatory requirements for installation, closing forces, door gaps, etc. on fire rated door assemblies.

Over 20 years repairing hollow metal door and frame assemblies for manufacturers and contractors alike in the field on both new and tenant improved projects, I have observed every type of door/poor installation and disregarded trade damage caused to fire rated door assemblies. Becoming somewhat of a 'forensic" door specialist!

Yes there are bad days even for journeyman, and apprentices in setting a frame or drilling and tapping holes for door closers or panic hardware. The consequences unfold.

A frame may be set with an 1/8 inch twist or bow from top to bottom this will put undo stress on either butt hinges or continuous hinges, or a broken or disregarded screw will shorten or even worse cause the opening or hardware to prematurely fail. The net result is added force to close and latch the fire rated assembly. A slamming door or high pressure adjusted door closer causes stress and torque on every hinge screw and mounting assembly, eventually pulling screws out or loosening them on hinges locks and closer's. Now you have a hazardous condition for both security and fire life safety.

Visiting some of the most critical and important facilities around the country, ie: hospitals, schools, even detention facilities, I have seen wood screws instead of 12/24 machined butt type screws replaced in a hollow metal frames, or when removing cover plates from panic hardware broken or missing screws or worse the wrong "self tapping" screws for panic hardware?? Please! Where is your passion? Professionalism?

Last year I was invited to re-inspect an ICU egress pair of 90 minute rated doors. The 8.0X7.0 hollow metal door/frame assembly contained several flaws, unfortunately causing a "mitigated" failed opening. 1) Continuous half surface hinges were mounted to the face of the frame and to the stile edge of the door, every time the power operators pulled the doors open the "sheer" mounting became "tension" as the power increased to the open position, within a short period of time the hospital engineers were installing 'eyesore" angle plates top to bottom to hold the face from pulling away from the drywall. The weight of each door easily being 170-200 pounds 'tore" the 16ga frame at the power transfer hinge area. Full mortise would have been the proper application. To add further insult to this critical fire door assembly, the drywall was removed and the center "Z" clips were not attached to the kong studs. At this point both door and frame were replaced at a final cost of $65,000!

There were at least 24 additional pairs mounted this way throughout the 7 floor facility. Yes a major lawsuit followed.

The very heart of success in an opening operating and lasting the intended life of a product is based on a few very critical things, 1) proper installation, 2 immediate corrective measures when a door or frame is damaged during construction.

In what ways are doors and frames damaged? How do we as inspectors catch these subtle indicators? What can be done to decrease or eliminate these re-occurring problems? In the future I will be sharing case study's and solutions in future blogs, it is my hope that many engineers and facility managers will be able to quickly identify and resolve problems that could haunt a facility for years.

Recently becoming a CFDI with Warnock Hersey, I have seen hundreds of door frame openings that were poorly set.

Forum Post: New Quick panic buttons for quick locking of outside doors.

jeff bensinger — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:47:00 GMT

We at indiana State University have now started using a button system on the outside doors to the buildings that will let anyone inside lock the panic hardware with the push of a buttun. If you go to quickpanicrelease.com you can see this button and how it works. Would love to here how other schools and universities are locking donw the building in a unwanted emergency.

thank you

jeff

Forum Post: We were looking of weather proof / water proof doors for facilities access area or any modification procedure to existing hollow metal fire rated doors.

Eng.Mohammed Taufiq Jafar Siddiqui — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:36:00 GMT

Please advice.

We were looking of weather proof / water proof doors for facilities access area or any modification procedure to existing hollow metal fire rated doors.

Forum Post: Re: Aluminum wall and door frames

Andree — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:07:00 GMT

DIRTT Environmental Solutions uses aluminum frames and smart software to allow designers ample latitude in the design of modular walls. No two solutions need ever be alike and the palette of material choices is immense. To learn more contact the company at info@dirtt.net

Forum Post: Don't get your love caught in the Slamming Door...or anything else for that matter

AGWilsonBS — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:00 GMT

Have a Slamming Door? I can help...click here

Forum Post: Are your profits blowing out the Door?

AGWilsonBS — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:40:00 GMT

I took this picture during a recent hotel stay in Florida. I couldn't believe the money and energy being wasted by the second. wilsonbuildingsolutions.com

Forum: Doors & Hardware Products & Services Marketing

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT

This forum is designed for managers seeking out promotional materials related to cutting-edge doors & hardware walls products and technology. This is the only forum in which manufacturers and service providers should participate.

Forum: Doors & Hardware Discussions

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT

This forum is designed to create dialogue among facility, maintenance, and engineering managers — not sales and marketing professionals. Managers can share their experiences related to doors & hardware walls with their colleagues.

Files: Door & Hardware Media

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:29:00 GMT

Forum: Doors & Hardware

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:39:00 GMT

Forum Post: brand new door system launching in US

Barry Ritman — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:54:00 GMT

greetings to one and all. I have some really great news to share. First of all in about a week or so we are going to be launching a spectacular state of the art DOOR system. Here are just a few hightlights.

1) the frame and door are one. meaning there are NO SWEET spots that a burglar can stick a tool or crowbar.

2) special hinges built into frame completely hidden again no sweet spots. Withstands 10 tons of pressure.

3)Front and back totally customizable different colors or styles add a logo

4) specialty lock systems installed

5) anti -slamming

6) auto locking

photos coming soon

Mrtechlock@att.net

Forum Post: Protecting hospital patients and truck dock doors at the same time

idealshield — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:38:00 GMT

At the Portsmouth Regional Hospital Ideal Shield heavy guardrail was installed at the truck dock to keep trucks from backing up into the building. This was needed for several reasons - one being the need to protect the dock from damage as multiple trucks hit it but more importantly surgery takes place on the second floor and any movement in the building could put a surgery in jeopardy.

This piece of guardrail is placed far enough away from the building to stop the truck trailer from hitting the wall and is strong enough to withstand multiple hits. The rail was also modified to increase the strength of the heavy guardrail; a third post was added and the unit was installed in 46″ deep floor sleeves.

Forum Post: Protecting Dock Doors and working around drainage

idealshield — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:44:00 GMT

Ideal Shield manufacturers goal posts that help protect costly dock door systems from forklift damage. Frequently, we have customers who have unique situations, this is just one of them.

Customer Need
A customer came to Ideal Shield because the dock doors in their banana room needed door protection to help avoid forklift damage. This unique situation required that the goal posts not be cored into the floor because their drainage system flowed in front of the doors.

The Ideal Shield Solution
We built the goal posts with base plates for a non-cored installation to avoid damaging the drainage system and added an extra post on each side for more support for the 23 foot tall goal posts. The customer is very happy with the door protection and the custom solution we provided them.

See pictures here

Visit our blog to see more unique customer solutions and visit our website to see additional products

Forum Post: Do you know your Fire Door Safety responsibility?

BWF_CERTIFIRE — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:03:00 GMT

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Hi All,

I hope it is OK to start a topic about fire safety and fire doors in particular. I think the BWF-CERTIFIRE scheme will be of interest to many of you here, but if there is a more appropriate place for this post let me know.

BWF-CERTIFIRE has been providing fire safety advice for over a decade and is the largest independent third-party fire door certification scheme in the UK. They have a range of information, clearly explaining your responsibilities along with a list of members that can help you with your fire safety responsibilities.

A fire door spends most of its life as just a door, but with thousands of property fires each year, we need to remember it is also a crucial safety device. There remains however a lack of understanding of fire doors and how they work, even amongst those responsible for installing, inspecting and, yes, maintaining them.

The BWF-CERTIFIRE Fire Door and Doorset Scheme aims to increase the standards of fire doors and to educate the construction industry and its clients about the importance of third party certification of fire doors.

They can help you fulfil your RRO responsibility to ensure fire safety and also have a short film highlighting what can go wrong.

What are your thoughts on fire door safety? Do you have any questions about the scheme?

Thanks,

Stefan

Forum Post: High Speed Doors, High Performance Doors - ASI Technologies

asidoors — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:37:00 GMT

http://www.asidoors.com

Established in 1965, and classified as a small business, service disabled veteran owned company, ASI Technologies designs, manufactures, installs and services high speed, high performance and custom door systems for commercial, Govt./security, clean-room, refrigerated and industrial applications.

From Marathon ™high speed roll up doors and fire doors, to CleanSeal™ clean-room and Enviro™ cold storage doors, ASI Technologies strives to offer the most comprehensive selection of innovative door solutions available.

Due to the wide variety of door models, sizes, colors, custom configurations and activation options that can be designed and manufactured to suit your specifications, we encourage you to, contact us at (800)558-7068 for a comprehensive proposal based on your specific application.

ASI Doors are manufactured in the U.S.A.

Forum Post: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LOCKS AND DOOR HARDWARE

FBIsecurity — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:18:00 GMT

For a complete list of all door locks, door hardware and access control products check out www.FBIsecurity.com

Forum Post: Door Installation Safety Kart

DoorJak — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:52:00 GMT

The Only Door Installation Safety Kart On The Market.

Saves You Time And Money.

http://doorjak.com/PDFs/DJ100_Brochure.pdf