Smoke detector placement

[Firekatz04]

What is a good way to install a smoke detector "semi permanantly"? My daughter just went to college (we took her last week) and saw no detectors in her room. We're going out this weekend and I'm putting one in fer her and her roomates. The problem? Not aloud to "mount ANYTHING permanently".
Thx.

[fjbfour]

My first reaction is surprise that any college would have a dorm facility without detectors. Is this truly a dorm, or is it an apartment not owned by the college? How about the hallway? You might be more or less OK if there are detectors in the hall, especially if they are wired in to any kind of building alarm system.

But... in the name of personal and public safety, I guess I'd let rules blow, I'd mount it anyway. Permanently. Too bad if they don't like it, I like being alive more than that rule.

To answer your question: if the detector is not too heavy, you could use twine or light gauge wire and string it up to a light fixture. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would be functional. You could get creative, and tie it in a way to make it flat, instead of hanging on its side.

You could do a similar arrangement if the room has a suspended ceiling. Better yet, in that situation, go buy a ceiling panel for $2 at your local home improvement store, mount the detector directly to it, and then take it (tile and detector) with you and replace the original tile when you leave. You could store the original tile up out of sight in the ceiling in the meantime.

I once tried mounting a detector with "sticky tack" in a similar situation, but it didn't work out. No other inspirations completely jump to mind. Anyone else?

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Frank Billington, #11
Town of Superior Fire Online (http://superior.isonfire.com)
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily that of Town of Superior Fire.

[This message has been edited by fjbfour (edited September 08, 2000).]

[Les.H]

Makes me wonder why a complex such as this does not consider that they owe a 'Duty of Care' to those who stay on the premise. When will they ever learn.

As Frank stated, try wire to clip them up to something. Also try using stick on velcro strips or double sided tape.

Hope your daughter gets on well at college.

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Kindest regards & keep safe,

Sprinkle (UK)

[Firekatz04]

Thanks for the input. It IS a dorm... On campus. They DO have smoke detectors in the hallways and stairwells. They generally rehab a bldg. a year (what they do exactly I don't know). I just want to make sure that she has a little more protection than she does.

I've done the velcro... it doesn't come off to well, I'l take some bailing wire with me. Maybe I can find a screw in the wall or cieling somewhere. I guess I'll take velcro too.

[This message has been edited by Firekatz04 (edited September 09, 2000).]

[LadMike]

Sorry I've come to this late. I'm sure you've already hung a detector in some fashion.
Down the road from you a bit.
We use double sided tape. We have mounted thousands and they stay up. Just make sure the area is cleaned before placing tape. You have to scrape the stuff off when you remove or reposition the detector.
Codes for the college probably only called for hard-wired system in hallways.

Mike