FAQ | Intumescent Seals | All You Need To Know About Fire Protection

Adding a fire seal to a standard door does not make it a fire door, a tested constructed fire door is compatible with our fire seals.

There are a variety of fire doors out there that require different specifications, so not one individual seal is the solution. Find your doors test evidence to discover the type of door that needs to be specified – whatever type and size (or sizes) of seal they have tested with us is what you should buy.

Where door manufacturer’s test evidence isn’t available, the usual recommendation is to use a 15 x 4mm seal, fitted centrally at the head and both jambs of a single leaf, single acting door. (If you are in any doubt, or have a particular application you would like to discuss, please contact our technical services team on 01223 832 851 for details).

If it’s a fire and smoke door (which will be denoted FD30S), then do also remember that a fire seal alone will not be sufficient – you should purchase a combined smoke and fire seal, with a threshold seal.

Painting over smoke seals will compromise smoke containment performance, however over painting fire seals should not compromise performance in a fire situation. The majority of our seals already come with a colour option so painting should not be a neccessary requirement.

The simple answer is to check the door manufacturers’ specification and test evidence. If they have protected ironmongery then you will also need to; if not, then you are clear to work without it. In best practice, ironmongery products are described as ‘hot spots’ in a door.

The best way to protect against early failure is to either put a layer of intumescent behind the hinge or wrap the ironmongery in a thin layer of intumescents. This is known to be an excellent insulator and resists the passage of fire through the affected area.

Intumescent strips are generally fitted into the door frame but are sometimes into grooves in the door itself. If you don’t have grooves in your fire door or frame, you can use a router to make a groove suitable for the intumescent strip.

The cold smoke rating has now been formalized into the BS 5588 standard.

This ‘S’ decal is used in the FD rating; for example, FD 30S means the fire door has a minimum of 30 minutes resistance AND a smoke sealed door.

More than half the ratings are now required to be the latest ‘S’ type door which under the British Standard 476 Part 31:1 criteria. The seals must be able to perform to a minimum leakage rate of 3 cubic metres of smoke passing through 1 metre of door edge per hour.

Intumescent is a substance that swells as a result of heat exposure, thus increasing in volume and decreasing in density. Intumescent is predominately used in passive fire protection although a product of any material which expands under the single introduction of heat may be called intumescent.

In essence, all intumescents do the same job, but not necessarily in the same way! You’ll need to know which specifications you require; consult our technical team to discuss this area in depth.

Intumescent materials though diverse in their chemistry, have the common feature which their name suggests; they will increase in volume by many times when subjected to high temperature. They can be built into fire doors without affecting the normal operation of the door and will only be activated in a fire.

Many of our more popular products are held in stock, ready for quick despatch. To check availability, please contact our Sales Team on +44 (0)1223 832851, or email: [email protected]. Please remember to include your company name and telephone number so we can respond to your enquiry without delay.

We know our products often need to be with customers quickly, so we do keep most of our more popular products in stock. If the products you require are on our shelves and your account is in good standing; then we will, where possible, despatch the goods the same day. That usually means the goods will be received the next working day (guaranteed timed deliveries can be arranged if required).

Given the number of colours, sizes and special profiles we offer, there may be times when the products will need to be specially manufactured. In this case, we recommend allowing a lead time of 7-10 days – but if we can despatch the goods any more quickly than that, then of course we will.

Lead times vary considerably depending on the product/quantity required. Estimated lead times can be obtained by contacting the sales team from either +44 (0)1223 832851 or [email protected] and will be confirmed at point of order.

Yes, subject to stock availability, we can deliver direct to site. Guaranteed timed deliveries can be arranged on request for an extra charge – please contact our Sales  Team from either +44 (0)1223 832851 or [email protected].

Deliveries to customers can be arranged, subject to a minimum £16.75 charge regardless of order value.

Please refer to your order acknowledgement which will confirm a despatch date.

Deliveries of a value of £1250.00 or more (excluding VAT) are delivered to locations in the UK mainland free of charge, using our standard carrier service. That includes deliveries direct to site.

If the value of your delivery is less than £1250.00, then a carriage charge of £20.00 applies, per shipment.

Guaranteed timed deliveries can be arranged on request for an extra charge – please contact our Sales Team on +44 (0)1223 832851 or [email protected] for details.

If you are ordering outside of the UK, please contact the Sales Team for further details.

This can be paid by debit/credit card or BACS transfer. Please contact our Sales Team on +44 (0)1223 832851 for details.

For deliveries to UK mainland our carrier is either DX Delivery or Tuffnells.

Offshore deliveries are charged by weight and will be calculated at the time of shipping. Customers can arrange their own collection if preferred.

Sales and Technical Support

An Intumescent Seals expert is on standby with all the information you need for your sales related enquiries and to provide you with all the technical information you need for your bespoke solution or product.

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