Are you curious how fire doors protect your property by preventing the spread of fire to other rooms? Learn more about the mechanism and importance of fire doors in this article.
Fire doors provide you with temporary relief upon fire emergencies. They are made using fire-resistance materials that provide passive measures for countering fire attacks. It prevents the spreading of fire and smoke to other parts of the building and gives you time to gather reinforcements to put off the fire.
How Do Fire Doors Work?
Fire doors are made with a combination of high-quality fire resistance materials such as gypsum, steel, aluminum, and high-quality glass. They also feature windows made of ceramics or borosilicate glass with higher fire resistance than ordinary glass. Moreover, the glass might be reinforced with anti-cracking mesh that will prevent it from cracking abruptly due to a sudden temperature change.
Fire doors have fire-resisting abilities due to the mode in which they are made. For instance, they are flushed with frames, and the tiny crevices filled with silicone-based fire-resistant sealant material to prevent fire from leaking out. The doors are accompanied by intumescent material attached to the edges of the door. It expands when the temperatures exceed 200 degrees Celsius thus closely fitting the door to the frames to prevent smoke and fire from seeping through it.
Most fire doors are designed with closing mechanisms fitted at the top of the door and the frame. They are hydraulic mechanisms with springs that force the door back into the frames after a person has passed through it. That makes sure that the door is always closed so in times of emergency you will not have to worry about going back to close. The closing mechanism should be included in any fire door and that is the work of the manufacturer. Once a fire door passes through several approvals, it is awarded. The basic thing looked at during approval is the stress and fire stimulation of the door.
Although many doors contain some or all these incredible features, it does not imply that they are fire doors. A fire door with a closing mechanism should be crafted by the manufacturers and not anyone else who knows how to fit doors. A fire door must be approved after manufacturing to prove its fire resistance strength. The labels can be attached to the edges of the door and it is not difficult to know whether it is real or fake. Moreover, they are rated according to the quality and fire resistance duration hence you must be careful when going for one.
How Long Does a Fire Door Protect You For?
Fire doors come in different grades and qualities. Each is graded according to its ability to resist fire and smoke. The grades depend on how long the fire door lasts when withstanding fire before failing. The main grading methods are:
- FD30 – Can withstand fire for at most thirty minutes
- FD60 – Can withstand fire for not more than an hour
- FD90 – Can resist fire for not more than one hour and thirty minutes
- FD120 – The best grade that can hold up the fire for at least three hours.
The main difference in the grade of the fire door is the approved core thickness of the fire door. It is the core material in a fire door. It can be an anesthetic or a layer of different fire-resisting material. The FD30 and FD60 are mostly used in offices for regular protection of high-quality products or infrastructure such as the service centers and archives.
The Benefits of Fire Doors
The fire threat is the worst calamity to guide against especially when it catches you off guard. Moreover, fire accidents will not wait for you to be ready before attacking; they will always arrive when you are not ready. For that reason, every house needs fire safety strategies whether it is a public house, commercial, or a multipurpose commercial building. Fire doors come in handy when experiencing emergency fires. It prevents the spread of smoke and fire to the nearing rooms thus saving a lot of products
Fire doors will give you the amount of time to bring reinforcements to fight the fire. By delaying the fire's spread, people in the house or the room will also have sufficient time to dash out of the room without suffering collateral damage. Fire doors play a crucial role in preventing the loss of life and property.
When installing a fire door, look for an experienced expert as there is a thirty percent chance that it will fail when it is installed by anyone. During installation, the door shouldn’t have any gaps or crevices that allow air passage. It should form a tight seal on the frame and the door. When the seals are tight, there is a high chance that fire will put off idles due to lack of oxygen in the room so it’s best to always go for high-quality fixers.
How To Install and Maintain Fire Doors
Fire doors are not for decoration but safety. So, you should always get a qualified engineer for the work. A qualified engineer will always make sure that the fire door is efficient in resisting fire attacks. The standard regulations for installing fire doors may be maintained. Failure to you will face the law and be punished depending on the rules of your state.
For maintaining the fire door, always check the self-locking mechanisms. Check if the seal is loosening or if there is any crevice in the door. If there is, call qualified personnel for fixtures. Oil and grease moving pivots to reduce wearing out by friction.
The Bottom Line
Every house needs fire safety strategies whether it is a public house, commercial, or a multipurpose commercial building. Fire doors come in handy when experiencing emergency fires. It prevents the spread of smoke and fire to the nearing rooms thus saving a lot of products. Fire doors have fire-resisting abilities due to the mode in which they are made. For instance, they are flushed with frames, and the tiny crevices are filled with silicone-based fire-resistant sealant material to prevent fire from leaking out.
