Underwriters Laboratories Change in Width Limitation

a-fabco, inc. has recently been notified by all our Hollow Metal Manufacturer's that Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has issued a bulletin stating: effective immediately, any door smaller than 32" nominal in width may no longer have a fire label applied.  This applies to single doors & to individual leaves of pairs of doors. 

As of right now this applies to UL labels only not Warnock Hersey.

The actual FUSP Section General update will read:
   "The minimum width of the swinging fire door(s) covered by this procedure is not to be less than 32 inches unless there is a specific dimensional reference to a width less than 32 inches."

a-fabco, inc does a lot of hospital work and many of the corridor openings into OR rooms are unequal pair 4'0" / 2'0".  The majority of doors are specified as wood but now and again we get a request for hollow metal so this change is important to our customers.

Lori Greene has a detailed blog post on her blog I Dig Hardware regarding this change.

Thanks!

Always learning

Hillsborough County schools open in 3 weeks.  I don't have children but I know this because I provided doors, frames and hardware to two Charter Schools that are almost at the end of the construction process.   Most of my work is done except for the occasional phone call from the job superintendent about something that has gone missing.  Happens at the end of every project.  


Both jobs went smoothly but one ended up being a big learning lesson for me and I wanted to share it in case anyone else runs into this. 


I was bidding 4 schools at one time but there were only two floor plan prototypes.  All four projects were being built by the same General Contractor, who is one of my favorite companies to work with.  I had been part of two other charter school builds the previous year so everything was pretty standard.  I was awarded two of the schools and they happened to have different floor plans.  Both were being built at the same time so I wanted to make sure I kept all the paperwork and communication separate.  I didn't want maple doors showing up at the school that was supposed to get birch!


All the hollow metal frames, wood doors and hardware had been delivered and installed at one of the schools when I had a call from the project manager. They were seeing an potential issue and wanted to see if I could come up with a solution.  The issue was that the corridor doors were designed to open almost back to back leaving a small wall between them.  

It was impossible to use a wall or floor stop to stop the doors from hitting one another when opened.  And lets be honest - kids barrel through classroom doors when they hear the bell. (Is there even a bell anymore?).  The architect didn't notice it during the design process, the GC didn't notice it when reviewing the plans and I didn't catch it either.  The fix was relatively easy.  I supplied stop closer arms for all the classroom doors and this solved the issue. 


In my humble opinion this wasn't any one person's fault and hopefully all of us involved learned a lesson that will be applied to future projects.  I am glad I was able to come up with a solution that didn't cost a lot in either time or expense.


One thing about this job is I am always learning something new!

Handing a Lead Lined Door

After 17 years in the door business I was pretty sure I knew everything there was to know about handing a door.  I was wrong.

This is a typical door swing chart:

And the picture below is why it is an outswing door for shielding purposes. (Sorry for the small print).

Merry Christmas from Florida

myembodiment.com

Valuing Expertise - Let's Blog Off

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question How do we accommodate the Ikeas and the Wal-Marts of the world while at the same time making a living? Where does price stop and value start?

I am going to start this Lets Blog Off with a story that happened to me several years ago.  I was in a Home Depot trying to find something specific and was trying to decide between several varieties of some thingamabob.  Somewhere nearby someone mentioned doors and my brain started paying attention.  It turned out I was standing near the door department and a woman was trying to order a door.  The HD associate was asking her which way the door swung.  Unfortunately he couldn't convey his question in a way she understood.  After listening (basically eavesdropping) for a few minutes I walked over and asked if I could help since I was in the door business.  The HD associate was less than thrilled.  All I did was take a piece of paper and write exterior and interior on it, drew two lines that represented walls and one line that represented the door.  I was able to ask the woman, while showing her the crude drawing, when standing on the exterior side of the door which side were the hinges on and did the door swing into the room or out of the room?  She answered quickly and easily.  I looked at the HD associate and said there you go. He stilled looked less than thrilled but the woman thanked me profusely and I continued on my way.  

While this story proves that my expertise in the door business is valuable I still have to make a living which to be honest is very tough in Florida.  It is all about the bottom line versus quality here.  In order to be competitive I no longer put a dollar line item in my quotes for my time and knowledge to create submittals, key schedules, tag hardware, and all the other many small services that come up on a project.  If I did I would never close a job.  My hope is that because my service and expertise are given willingly the general contractor or end user will come back to me for the next project.  So far it has worked.

Please read the other contributors point of view below as they are much wiser than me :)

Doors and Door Pulls of New York City

Some (most) people would find it strange that when I travel I look for interesting doors and hardware.  Thankfully my BFF and I are a lot alike in that regard.  While walking the streets of New York City here are a few of the more interesting doors and hardware we found.  I have to say I had you, JB @BuildingMoxie , in my mind with each snap.

Curved door pull built into the door

Arched Door at St. Thomas

Interesting door pull

A Door +

Large sliding doors

Beehive doors - unequal pair

Double Acting door

I guess you "wrench" the door open!

Guess what building this pull is on!

A gothic comedy club door pull

Park Plaza Doors

Door Pull at St. Thomas

Wrought Iron Gates at St. Thomas Church

Not a standard 1 3/4" Thick Door!

Beautiful hardware at St. Thomas Church

Very old hinges (see next photo)

Small door maybe just 6' tall St. Thomas Church

Chelsea Market Gate

Elevator Doors at Chelsea Market

Bridge the Gap

I have a meeting today with a general contractor and the goal is to help bridge the gap between the budgetary number on a project and what the hardware specifications are calling for.  In this case the architect was hired by the GC and I am pretty sure the spec writing was farmed out to a manufacturer's spec writer.  There must of been a lack of communication somewhere because the hardware specs are so over the top to what was budgeted there is a $100,000.00 gap.

I understand that a manufactures spec writer's job is to spec the products of their employer.  I just don't understand why it sometimes seems as if only the most expensive line of those products are included.  These days most manufacturers offer both a Grade 1 and Grade 2 line of products.  Depending on the building I can appreciate utilizing Grade 1 at the openings that will get the most use but on those openings that don't, bring it down a notch.

Just my opinion.  Feel free to offer yours in the comment section below.  

Winthrop Charter School

I am very particular about which projects I bid.  I am an A-Z type of salesperson, meaning I develop the relationships, bid, close, submit, order, tag material, project manage and if pay applications are involved I do the billing.  Yes I am very particular about the jobs I bid because I always want to make sure that both myself and the a-fabco team can provide the level of service I demand.  75 door openings or less is my typical comfort zone. 


So when one of my favorite customers, Ryan Companies US Inc, called me and asked me to bid a 116 opening I actually paused for a moment.  The thought that finally sifted out of the 100's in that 60 second span was this is a really good customer who always performs spectacularly so I said sure! (gulp)   There were actually two charter schools.  Both very fast track since they wanted to be open for the first day of school August 23rd.  I bid both projects and held my breath.  a-fabco was awarded the charter school located in Riverview!!  I was excited in that nervous, holy cow I hope I do a great job, sort of way.  My boss was ecstatic. 


The job was very fast track but with great communication from the GC's project managers Brian Smith and Eric Overgard and job superintendent, Jeff Lawler,  all material was at the jobsite when requested with only 1 incorrect door.  a-fabco was able to get a new door out to the jobsite in a few days.  Of course with any construction project there were changes and adds but all were able to be processed in a timely manner.  This is why I used the word spectacular in the first paragraph when describing Ryan Companies.  They run their projects so incredibly well it is a pleasure to be part of their team.


I received an email from Eric when the project was almost complete and let me say it made my day.  "Also, I wanted to let you know that you are by far the best door and hardware supply company I have ever worked with, and I have work with many.  Thank you very much for all of your hard work and again, excellent work all the way through this project.  I look forward to working with you again in the future."  Wow!  How awesome on so many levels not the least of which he took the time to write.  


Thanks to the entire Ryan Companies team for such a great project.  I also want to give a special shout out to Joe Gray with Ryan.  Though he wasn't part of this project I wouldn't have been a part of it without him.  It was his recommendation that got me in the door.  I have done many many projects with him through out the years, with current employment and previous.   His level of professionalism, organization and support is outstanding.  Joe is truly an exceptional human being.  


I will continue to be particular on which jobs I pursue but I feel a lot more comfortable having broken the 100 opening mark.  


Below please find a few pictures of Winthrop Charter School.  The photographer on noted pictures is Richard Steinmetz.  Ryan Companies - Tampa has been using him for 6 years to photograph all of their projects.  Richard's contact information is: Tel: 813-935-3293 and email: richardsteinmetz@hotmail.com.  Thanks to Jody Byler with Ryan for putting up with my constant requests and getting me these great pictures. 

Photo by Richard Steinmetz - Exterior  HM Frame installed

Photo by a-fabco.  Exterior HM Transom Frame x HM Doors

Photo by a-fabco.  Exterior hm doors rim x rim x removable mullion

Photo by Richard Steinmetz  Exterior HM Opening - finished

Photo by Richard Steinmetz  Exterior of school

Photo by a-fabco  Interior Rotary Natural Birch Door

Photo by a-fabco  Pair of interior rotary natural birch doors

Photo by a-fabco  Interior hallway of doors

Photo by Richard Steinmetz  Interior

Photo by Richard Steinmetz  Office

Photo by Richard Steinmetz  Cafeteria

Photo by Richard Steinmetz  Exterior Shot

  

Historic Shed

The cool thing about writing a blog is being able to toot a horn when you come across a great company.  So this is me tooting about Historic Shed.

I met Historic Shed on Twitter.  I am not sure how our tweets crossed but I am glad they did.  I do remember seeing a tweet with a picture attached and given the name of the business was intrigued. Once the picture came up I drooled.  I am sure I have mentioned I have a large backyard and in my vision a cute shed with a little porch, and a couple of chairs out front sits on the southeast corner.  I could pick any shed from their website and be happy.  I told my BFF about it, she checked it out and drooled. Seriously some incredible workmanship.

Months past and @HistoricShed became Jo-Anne as we got to know one another.  What was funny is how we hadn't crossed paths before.  Jo-Anne is very involved in preservation and since I live in Seminole Heights with 1920's bungalows all around that word carries importance here in the 'hood. We know some of the same people.  Heck they have even  advertised in previous Seminole Heights Home Tours.

We finally ended up meeting a few months ago when a day trip came up between Jo-Anne, Amanda (BFF) and myself.  We went to Lakeridge Winery in Fl but that is for another day.   We decided to meet at Historic Shed in Brooksville since that was a good middle spot and it meant Amanda and I were able to take a tour!

I had never been to Brooksville so naturally I got lost.  Once I was on the right road I was able to find their shop quickly because out front is the cutest little shed!  Isn't it nice to meet people for the first time and yet feel like you have known them forever!  Jo-Anne, with her husband Craig, gave us a tour and luckily for us they were in the middle of two projects.  The first will be a guest cottage for a client in Ybor.   The quality of material and craftsmanship is just superb.

Cottage

Front Door to Guest Cottage

Side of guest cottage

The second project was born knowing how challenged homeowners are these days. Jo-Anne and Craig wanted to come up with a shed that was more economical without giving up the quality.  A few tweaks here and there and here it is!

Board and Batten Economy Shed

Great details

Another aspect of working with a customized company is if you want to make modifications Historic Shed is willing to work with you.  You can't get that from the box stores.  All the sheds are Florida Wind Load approved.  Also offered are some delightful garden accessories (think Christmas and Birthdays people).

Someday I will own a shed from Historic Sheds and until then I will continue to dream.    

The Chihuly – Part III A door really isn’t just a door

How many doors have you walked through today?  Did you notice the door?  What type of material was it? What type of handle was on the door?  As long a door works it is just a door, right?  Well it doesn't have to be. 

A door definitely should be functional so get you through to the other side without hassle.  However a door can be a piece of art.  Did I just hear a scoff? Well let me share with you a door that is, without a doubt, the most beautiful and functional door I have ever seen.

That door is at The Chihuly Museum located in St. Petersburg, FL.  When plans fell into place to visit the Chihuly (see Part's One and Two) all I could think about was THE door.  It had been discussed with fellow local industry professionals so I was anxious to see it. 

This door is 10’ x 10’ of steel which hangs on pivots and I think is quite the manufacturing marvel!  The door handle is wood and installed within a cutout of the steel.  

Wayne David Atherhold, Director of Marketing/Communications

The door hangs on both a top and a bottom pivot that are installed through the piece of metal that is being used as the door frame. I have no idea what this door weighs but I would think it is comparable to some of the lead and vault doors the company I work for, a-fabco, inc., makes.  We use pivots to hang our doors also.

 

Top Pivot

 

The thickness of the steel door

Not only were Alfonso Architects the architects and designers on the project but also served  as the contractor.  They were able to conceive, design and build their vision. There is nothing standard about this door.  On Interior and Sources blog   the steel fabricators are listed as Alfonso Architects and Stack Design.  I would have loved to have seen the this door being fabricated.  

Top of door in a almost closed position 

The bottom of door also in an almost closed position

The very slick looking door floor stop

This is a very simple but streamlined looking door stop that, as you can see, is installed into the floor.  

The combination of steel for the door, marble floor and wood walls along with the fantastic wood door pull really makes this whole opening a feast for the eyes.  Ok maybe just my eyes because I like doors but it really is beautiful! 


The doors in your office or home don't need to be this elaborate but you also don't have to settle for the off the rack door either.   Feel free to post any cool doors you have seen along your way.