With the temperatures on the decline, have you noticed any of your fire doors are a bit stiff? Or perhaps you are in some doubt as to whether your laundry and trash chutes can stand up to another one of New England’s winters. Then there is the matter of an inspection going awry, leaving your property non-compliant and your tenants exposed.

Garage Headquarters is on hand to help. We have been in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts since 1973 and our people are at your disposal for any questions. Get in touch with our Rhode Island office (401) 381-5065 or the Massachusetts office (781) 628-5261.

The approach of winter makes fall the time to give fire safety equipment a once over. Moisture, heavy use and the kind of temperature swings we see here will wear on your chutes and fire doors. Better to find out about a deficiency now than in the course of an emergency or when an inspector shows up unannounced.

Why it is important in New England

Buildings in this part of the country are put through their paces by the weather. The humidity of summer is replaced by a cold, dry autumn and materials do what they do and expand and contract. A fire door that was fine in July can be latching poorly come October. The same goes for chutes; after all summer’s traffic they may have some corrosion or worn hardware where waste and laundry used to go without a hitch.

Addressing these things in the fall is the way to avoid costly repairs down the line when winter has made access difficult.

Fire Door Maintenance Checklist

In a multi-unit building the fire door is paramount but not something one thinks to check often enough. Make a point of the following on a fall walk-through:

• Any gaps at the edge of the door wide enough for smoke or fire to get through
• Hinges that are self-closing but do not quite latch
• Labels denoting the fire rating that are painted over or otherwise in poor shape
• Tenants who have wedged, propped or made changes to a door
• Handles, latches and closers with signs of damage
• Gaskets and seals that have cracked or dried out
• Swelling or warping from seasonal moisture

A door is of no use if it will not seal and latch by itself; before long smoke will be in the stairwells and hallways.

Chute Maintenance Checklist

You will find your share of mechanical wear and odors in the chutes of a condo or apartment building from all the use they get. Fall is a suitable time to assess them and the fire safety elements:

• Intake doors that will not stay latched
• Debris, lint or grease which is a potential hazard
• Fusible links and dampers meant to stop flames between floors
• Corrosion on the hardware or chute walls
• Panels or fasteners that have become loose
• The discharge components at the bottom

If a chute is compromised it is not just an annoyance, it is a conduit for fire to run through the building, defeating the purpose of the system.

Put it in writing

There is no substitute for good records. Log the date and location of any adjustment or repair, and what you found. Should you engage a professional, put their reports on file. It is a matter of compliance and provides a history for any future queries.

Make a call

Your staff can handle the easy end of maintenance like putting in a report on some worn hardware or removing a propped door. For actual repairs to a fire door or the fusible links on a chute, you need a certified technician to ensure your tenants are protected. Certified fire door drop testing is also part of keeping your building compliant.

We are Garage Headquarters, licensed and insured with more local certified technicians in New England than anyone else. Our 450 plus Google reviews and 50 years of business speak to the experience we bring to a property, and we put a 100 per cent satisfaction guarantee behind it. Free estimates are available.

Do not put it off until winter to find a problem that could have been put right in the fall. To set up your fire door and chute maintenance, phone the team in Rhode Island at (401) 381-5065 or in Massachusetts at (781) 628-5261. We are open 8am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday and 8 to noon on Saturday. It is worth it for the peace of mind.