Fire door fillers

[Guest Loughlin09]

Hi all,

We thank you for reading our post.

 We have a fire inspection coming up in 5 days. When i did a fire door inspection today, the concealed door closers have been taken out. (This is going to sound bad but- they have been out the doors for over 5 years). Overhead closers have been fitted where required, and a concealed door closer in the cleaners cupboard. However, this means that the other fire doors have holes in them from the concealed door closers which have been removed.

 

So my question is What can i use to fill the holes in the fire doors, Please relate to the pictures provided .

I have found so far about: "

To fill fire doors, you can use the following materials:

• Intumescent Foam: Specifically designed for fire doors, it expands to fill gaps effectively. 

   

  2
• Expanding Foam: Suitable for filling large gaps during installation of fire-retardant door frames. 
   

  (SafeLink's site)

If anyone knows the best place e.g screw fix, that is cost effective please also advice.

Here is an example of our timber/wood fire doors, unfortunately i am not at the location at the moment so cant get picture of the holes

 

[Neil ashdown]

Assuming the doors are made from timber?   You don't say the fire rating for the doors, assuming FD30?  You don't say if the self-closers were removed from the top edge or vertical edge of the door?

In my opinion:

Foams and mastic are unsuitable for filling large holes and voids in fire doors. Use hardwood timber (min density min 640 kg/m3) tightly fitted without any gaps or voids after the repairs have been completed. The very smallest of gaps can be filled with intumescent mastic or fire rated woodfiller. Quality of work should be the same as expected from a skilled joiner, so that once painted the repairs are undetectable without close examination. 

I wouldn't recommend repairs to the top edge of the door, if its in a life-safety critical location. Replace instead.

Keep records of the work carried out and details & certification for the products used. 

[Mike North]

I assume that the removed closers where Percos? 

Why did you not just cut the chains, problem solved. 

I don’t think you could certify a repair

[Guest Loughlin09]

5 hours ago, Mike North said:

I assume that the removed closers where Percos? 

Why did you not just cut the chains, problem solved. 

I don’t think you could certify a repair

They are older and have more of a bar than a chain. Building was built in 2004/2005. Concealed door closers, i think they are the same as what you are saying. They where taken out a while ago, so nothing to do with me then. Just out of interest, why could i not certify a repair, hole to big?

[sarataylor]

I’d avoid standard expanding foam it’s not usually rated for fire doors unless it’s a specific fire-rated type. Intumescent paste or filler is much safer. You could also use hardwood plugs if it's a bigger cavity, but check it won’t affect the door's integrity. Definitely worth asking the inspector if in doubt!

[Mike North]

To certify a repair to a fire door you must know what the original certification was and what is allowed to be done to the door under the certificate if approval.

I also don’t think that this would be covered under an Approved Repair Technique

[Neil ashdown]

Generally speaking, product performnace certification for fire doors does not cover repairs to the fabric of the door. There are certification schemes for repairs and they have limited scope for the extent of a repair.

If you are unsure about whether a repair is appropriate, consult a specialist. They can issue a report stating whether the repair is fit for purpose..............or not.