What are Fire Doors?

People are getting increasingly aware of the fire protection, when it comes to safeguard their residential and commercial property. A regular door, irrespective of high quality and cost, is not designed to withstand extremely high temperatures and smoke. That is why a fire door should be an important consideration for your home and offices.

Fire door serves a very important purpose. It compartmentalizes a fire and allows for fast, safe egress during an even of fire in a building. And it does so many other things too.

Fire Doors

A properly built and properly installed fire door can keep flames and smoke contained for some time, which depend on its rating. For example, A door with FD60 rating will be able to prevent the fire and smoke from getting in for about 60 minutes. By doing so, it will give people time to escape without getting injured.

Fire doors are made of materials that are capable of resisting high temperatures and that can prevent smoke from dispersing from one space to another within the building. These doors are equipped with self-closing systems to keep the door shut and make escape process go smoothly and without interruption.

So, basically a fire door:

1. Keeps the fire and smoke from spreading
2. Facilitate escape procedure and save lives

Important considerations for a fire door

• A deadbolt lock should never be installed to a fire door.
• If a window is needed in a fire door, then it must be made from fire-resistant glass, or this would be a weak point in the fire door and eventually allow fire and smoke through.
• Every fire door must be installed with an automatic door closer that conforms to the obligatory standard. It should allow the door to close, failing which the smoke and flames may spread.
• A fire door is equipped with an intumescent seal around the edges. And it is there for a very important purpose. It expands due to the heat when there is fire and seals any gaps whatsoever around the door and the frame. You should also check out for cold smoke seals in your fire door as it helps prevent the smoke from spreading from one area to another. It is a well-known fact that most deaths that occur during a fire are due to inhaling smoke.
• Last but not the least, always look for a certification mark to ascertain it is a fire door.
• While existing, non-fire doors may be converted into fire doors to some extent (for example, by coating it with specialized material), it is still recommended that you always install a new fire door.