Now, if I said the word ‘intumescent’ to you, would you know what I meant? Chances are, the answer is ‘no’. Or at least I hope it is, because until I wrote this blog, I had absolutely no clue what the word meant, in fact I had never actually heard it, so it didn’t even register on my list of words that I do not know the meaning of.
Well, fear not though English language lovers – I have the definition for you, kindly supplied by the lovely people of Wikipedia. An intumescent substance is one “which swells as a result of heat exposure, thus increasing in volume, and decreasing in density. Intumescents are typically used in passive fire protection.” And what is passive fire protection? Well, once again the Wikipedians are here to assist us in our quest for knowledge by telling us this: “Passive fire protectiong (PFP) is an integral component of the three components of structural fire protection and fire safety in a building. PFP attempts to contain fires or slow the spread, through use of fire resistant walls, floors and doors (amongst other examples)”
So there you go. Now you know. So intumescent substances provide fire-proof smoke seals or barriers when the temperature rises because of a fire. Now, intumescent fire door seals are a bit of a natty device, as they provide automatic protection that can buy you valuable time in case of a fire. Fire doors themselves are highly effective in containing fires for a period of time, but they have a weak point – their fit to the door frame. Fires are very sneaky and will get themselves through even small gaps to get to the lovely oxygen-rich air beyond, so having good seals around your fire doors is very important. Having an intumescent strip which fits into the channel on the frame of the fire door can give you up to 60 minutes of flame free escapage-time. These magical little door seals also stop smoke from seeping through into rooms as well. This is because there is a nylon pile which stops smoke from entering the door frame gap before the intumescent seal forms. Even better.
So, if you’ve got fire doors in your office (which I’m fairly sure you have), investing a few pounds in some of this fire-stopping stuff sounds like a jolly good idea. Remember, the more time you have to get yourself and others out of a building in case of a fire, the better, and these smoke seals will allow you just that – more time. So get ordering!!
