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  • Height restrictions

    Has anyone dealt with situations where you have a limited height restriction for your haunt? I have some 7' diameter steel pipe I want our customers to walk through for a short section of a haunt. By the time we install a level floor we will have about 6'6" headspace. Allegedly the minimum allowable head clearance is 7'6". We met with our engineer today to discuss modifying the pipes for dropping a floor, or raising the top, so those are options. Of course, I would rather use them as-is. Any suggestions around this height restriction? Our inspectors are working off of the NFPA 101 life safety guidelines, which includes sprinklers in any buildings over 160 square feet, no use of foam or vacuform material, etc.

    Patrick
    Patrick Barberry
    www.legendsofthefog.com
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  • #2
    Just use a disclaimed at the entrance about there being areas of crouching.

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    • #3
      I'm not so sure this is gonna work or not, but in my head it makes sense.

      Cut the bottom off of the steel pipes, to make an even walkway. Raise the entire pipe up an extra foot or so to reach your height required, and just shape the entrance of the tube with foam and spray painted to look like metal, so it gives the appearance of a rounded tube, when in all reality the floor is just on the floor and the sides are raised. As long as the customers can't see the outsides of the pipe, the illusion should work just fine, given the presumably dark lighting.. =)

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      • #4
        Not sure about your head clearance. A standard door frame is less than that. I thought it was 6'8" clearance. I would double check the clearance, It does not sound correct.

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        • #5
          Thanks for the input...

          Thanks for your input guys. Any other input would be appreciated. I am not trying to be unsafe by any means, I just find it odd that you can't use something with 6'6" head clearance. What about haunts that use a crawl space or the overhead claustrophobia bags?
          Patrick Barberry
          www.legendsofthefog.com
          sigpic

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          • #6
            Height

            Legends.....I am a fire marshal here in SC....I looked it up in the IBC.....International Building Code.....and it says a minimum of 7'6" clearance on ceilings in a commercial building in any walkway or commons area. The IBC and IFC are probably what your local building and fire officials use. However, I'm sure there is a way around it since you say that it is only for a short distance. I would just talk it out with them if you think it will be a problem. It really makes no sense at all.....and I completely agree that it is no different than a claustrophobia ceiling. Also, in the case of a fire or emergency people will get down and crawl or walk out, they don't climb up so I can't really see why the code is in place, but it's there. Hope this helps.

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            • #7
              Not exactly...

              SCfearfarm - I have some updates on this subject. I don't know that I would call it a "short" distance... we have a total of 230 linear feet of this pipe. We were considering running them end-to-end to create a "sewer" themed short walk through. This will just bridge the gap between our hayride and our last house. We met with our engineer last week and he has devised a cost-effective way to mount the pipes, and drop a floor to create 8' of head space. We'll cut in a 36" emergency exit door every 50' and add the emergency battery back-up lights and house lights. Otherwise, do you see any issues with this arrangement as a fire marshal?

              The pipes have some particularly cool features to them, they were previously a conveyor system for a hydro-electric plant.
              Patrick Barberry
              www.legendsofthefog.com
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