Fire doors in Minneapolis
Overhead Door
Company of the Northland has installed fire doors for a while now, and we
have also done our fair share of repairs on fire doors. Here are some tips to
prevent your fire door from malfunctioning during a fire.
Don’t forget you have a fire door
It’s not like your building will catch on fire on a daily
basis, so it is fairly easy to forget that you have a fire door. But it is very
unwise to completely forget about it because without regular maintenance the
door will not close properly.
Also, when people forget they have a fire door they tend to
start storing brooms, barrels, and other items in the doorway, which will
prevent the door from closing.
Test it periodically if the fire door is a main traffic path
If the fire door is a main traffic path, the guide rails of
the door will definitely get subjected to repeated damage from forklifts, lift
trucks, and carts as they accidentally bump, bend and knock the rails out of
alignment.
However, a lot of times, it isn’t very clear if the damage
is substantial enough to prevent the doors from closing properly. That’s why
it’s a good idea to drop test the door often.
Beware of maintenance workers
Maintenance workers are there to keep the building in tip
top shape. Oddly enough, it’s usually
well maintained buildings that have a problem with fire doors. That’s usually
because well-meaning painters will often paint or spray over the hardware of
the fire door.
If the Release Device of a fire door is painted over it can
be enough to prevent it from closing or closing properly. In addition to that
paint on the fusible link or release devices alters its thermal properties thus
making them inoperative.
So be sure to let your maintenance workers know that you
have a fire door, and what areas they should be careful with.
