Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
(OP)
Hello all,
Did a design for an exterior fire escape to service second and third floors of a commercial/residential building. Provided one row of new columns on one side and connected to the building on the other side. The client didn't like the columns and wanted the stairs supported by the old brick wall as shown in the attached sketch. Although this can be seen a lot, I did not like it and did not feel comfortable hanging the stairs off of the old brick wall. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks
Did a design for an exterior fire escape to service second and third floors of a commercial/residential building. Provided one row of new columns on one side and connected to the building on the other side. The client didn't like the columns and wanted the stairs supported by the old brick wall as shown in the attached sketch. Although this can be seen a lot, I did not like it and did not feel comfortable hanging the stairs off of the old brick wall. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks






RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
Seriously no, not unless you could somehow connect it to the floor and roof diaphragms.
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
Don't let them convince you that because it's been done that way it works. Everything that has ever failed was done that way and worked until it failed, then it didn't work.
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
Check out Eng-Tips Forum's Policies here:
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
Check out Eng-Tips Forum's Policies here:
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase. -MLK
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
I can't imagine what a 3 story fire escape would do with a few dozen people running down it away from a fire. Oh wait, I can, someone posted a picture of it.
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
http://www.uvm.edu/histpres/HPJ/AndreThesis.pdf
NYC Building Code requirements for fire escapes. If I'm reading section (q) correctly, it prohibits cantilever brackets for new fire escapes on existing buildings.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/downloads/rules/1_RCNY...
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
That will make the exposed column approach (4 of them, not 2) all the more attractive!
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
I get the willies when I think about hanging stuff off of old brick walls. Some old buildings are held together by little more than mass and gravity, the mortar has long since failed.
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
I doubt it's aesthetics your owner is concerned with...probably feels it is cheaper. But if he is only interested in aesthetics, some variation of this might be OK.
PE, SE
Eastern United States
"If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death!"
~Code of Hammurabi
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall
Ugly and probably too expensive, but no columns.
RE: Exterior fire escape connected to old brick wall