When refurbing or building your own home, choosing a fire door may be the last thing on your mind so you may leave it up to your trades person to choose and install a door that meets specific fire or building requirements.
Whilst the installation of your fire door is best left to the experts, choosing which style of door you would like in your home is something you should consider because not all fire doors have to be plain and boring.
What is a fire door?
Fire doors are designed and manufactured to specific standards to ensure that they resist fire for a period of time to prevent the spread of fire through a building. An FD30 door will resist the spread of fire for a minimum of 30 minutes and an FD60-rated fire door will provide a minimum of 60 minutes of protection.
Fire doors are fitted with intumescent strips along the edges of the door and/or frame. In the event of a fire, the heat activates the intumescent which expands to form a tight seal. This prevents flames from licking around the permitter of the door and also reduces the volume of smoke emitted from one room to the next – protecting evacuation routes out of the property as much as possible.
As well as intumescent strips, you also need to consider the hardware you specify on a fire door as this will have an impact on its fire-rated performance. CE marked, and in some cases, Certifire-approved hardware and intumescent strips must be installed correctly, specific Certifire certification for your JELD-WEN door can be downloaded on our website.
As fire doors are such an important line of defence against the spread of fire, it is vital that the door installed will provide an adequate level of protection - so always check with your local Building Control office before specifying your fire door.
What is important to look for in a fire door?
JELD-WEN’s range of fire doors are rigorously tested, designed and manufactured in the UK and accredited by third part certification, giving you extra peace of mind that the doors installed will provide the fire protection that you expect.
As part of the BWF-Certifire scheme, all of the fire doors and doorsets we manufacture are issued with a label that includes a unique identification number that traces the door back to the date of manufacture. This means you can have confidence that JELD-WEN fire doors and doorsets are manufactured to the highest standards. This is placed on the top edge of the door and should never be removed.
We recommend you chose a third-party certified fire door as their performance has been independently verified through rigorous testing and quality audits. The specific requirements to install all JELD-WEN fire doors can be found on the specific Certifire certification for your door which is available to download on our website.
What Fire door should you install?
When a fire door is required in a domestic property this will typically be either an FD30 or FD60-rated door. The rating will depend on the specific requirements of the building therefore you should always seek advice from your local Building Control Office. In certain applications, such as buildings with loft conversions, or buildings with a garage that adjoins your home then you will be required to install a fire-rated door.
How to maintain a fire door
Like most doors, once installed there is very little maintenance to undertake. However, they do need checking from time to time to ensure that there are no obvious signs of damage or issues.
Here are a few things for you to consider:
• Has there been any alterations or damage to the door’s glazing?
• Ensure the gaps around the door are less than 4mm (at the threshold of less than 10mm)
• Are the hinges still intact?
• Does the door close fully against the frame?
• Is the door closer functioning correctly
Moulded, flush and oak fire doors
Fire doors don’t have to be boring - JELD-WEN’s extensive range of both moulded and flush fire doors match our standard interior door designs giving you a fully coordinated look throughout your property.
All manufactured to the highest standards you can select from a variety of finishes and styles to complement your interior design choices.
For a more luxurious finish why not choose from our range of heavyweight oak interior doors which not only look great but also help reduce sound transmission between rooms? Available in a number of styles you can also choose one of our independently tested FD30-rated oak doors to really finish your project.