Upgrading Internal Doors to 30 Mins Fire Resistance
with Timbercoat Intumescent Paint.
Most modern, normal internal doors can not be upgraded to achieve
30 min. Fire Resistance.
Issues are:
they often have a hollow core,
can be very thin and lightweight or liable to warping shortly after
installation.
No door answering such a description can be upgraded and should be
replaced with a new Fire Door where one is required. However,
while we broadly recommend the installation of custom-built
fire doors, there can be reasons, eg conservation, not to do
so.
Thermoguard Timbercoat Paint
is capable of upgrading doors that can afford to lose 2mm to
charring, for example:
Solid, joint-free doors with compressed core and reasonable thickness
(6 mm+ ) veneer faces bonded to either side. These can be flush doors
or pressed to create a molded look.
Well seasoned or old, sturdy doors with 35mm+ thick frames
and panels 10mm+ thick
Certain other doors not prone to premature collapse.
Note - Well seasoned or old, sturdy doors with panels 6mm thick
can be upgraded if additional “sacrificial” ply panels 6mm
thick are fitted in panel recesses, held in place by the door’s
beading.
If your doors are in a category which could be upgraded, phone Thermoguard
Tech Dept. 01624 825115 to discuss. Once a specification has been agreed,
we will put it in writing for you to submit to your Authority, along
with this explanatory Technical Note, prior to purchase and commencement
of work.
Thermoguard UK will issue a Fire Certificate for agreed projects upon
notification of completion.
JUSTIFICATION
As doors vary so greatly and the great majority are unsuitable for upgrading,
it is neither meaningful
or realistic to carry out an official NAMAS / UKAS Fire Door Fire Test
on all of the many door types. However, Timbercoat's protective action
has been tested on some softwood doors.
Thermoguard's Timbercoat's uniquely effective formula resulted in the
UK’s only successful official
UKAS / NAMAS Fire Test Laboratory Fire Resistance Test to 60 mins on
softwood, with timber lost
to charring restricted to 7-10 mm at 60 mins (on unprotected, softwood
charring is approx 50mm).
Timbercoat was also demonstrated by the Megastructures
TV documentary Building from Disaster.
Identical, unprotected panels burnt in parallel with a Timbercoat
protected panel were shown to burn through completely within as
little as 6 mins.
In the video clips (right) the nearest panel has a Timbercoat
coating, the middle panel has a normal paint finish and the end
panel is untreated timber.
On the Timbercoat panel charring was restricted to 2mm, retaining
integrity and insulation throughout a 45 min maximum severity
burn (more severe than BS 476 part 22).
At the end of the test the protected panel was not burned through,
as the other panels were, and the back of it could be touched
bare-handed.
Timbercoat
Burn Test
Thermoguard Tech Dept assess doors as suitable based upon the customers’
description, which
features on the Fire Certificate issued, so this information should
be checked before ordering.
We require that in a fire, the door be capable of losing 2mm, plus 2mm
additional safety factor, to
charring, without risk of splitting or cracking of the thinnest areas
(usually the panels) or other
premature failure, while maintaining insulation.
Thermoguard Timbercoat intumescent paint system should be applied to
the room side of doors, to
protect corridors and stairways from fire within a room. In some circumstances,
it may also be
required on the corridor side, so please check with your Authority.
Timbercoat 2.5 Kg 2 door sides, 5 Kg 4 door sides. Flame Retardant paint
2.5 lit 12 door sides.
WARNING
One company, infamous within the industry, provides literature suggesting
their fire coatings can upgrade normal doors, having disgracefully BS
476 tested on a fire door, and pass off their own (misleadingly high
smoke but low heat ) vastly less severe “Test” than BS 476
part 22, on a
combination of their fire coating and fire “card”, as relevant
.
To avoid all-too-common costly ( for the customer ) “misunderstandings”
, both in this and other dealings with fire coatings suppliers, customers
should obtain written confirmation, in advance, that the manufacturer
will issue an unqualified Fire Certificate for the customer’s
particular, specific detail for the building or project in question
. Evidence that testing was in a NAMAS / UKAS Fire Test Lab, was reasonably
relevant and not perverse - and that it actually passed - is strongly
advised !
