What Makes A Fire Door, A Safety Fire Door?

At a glance, it might be hard to spot the uniqueness of fire doors. After all, they look like other internal (wooden) doors. So, why are they SPECIAL?

Why are fire doors the main choice to prevent the spread of fire? What even makes a fire door a fire door? Our experts at Internal Doors have the answers you seek. And it's all in this article.

Here is a quick preview of what to expect here:

• What is a fire door?
• How to tell if a door is a fire door?

What Is A Fire Door?

The first step in understanding what makes a fire door a fire door is knowing why it is called so to start with. So, why?

For a door to be a fire door, it must limit the spread of fire within a building. During emergencies, these doors provide time (from a minimum of 30 minutes) for people to find safety.

So put simply, a fire door is a fire-resistant, safety utility designed to prevent the spread of fire within a building long enough to save lives and crucial properties/documents.

That said, let's see why fire doors are different. More importantly, let's help you identify one.

How To Tell If A Door Is A Fire Door?

The Components

Unlike typical internal doors, fire doors are not strictly wooden, glass or metallic. And while their frames are usually solid timber, other parts are a combination of different materials.

For specifics, fire safety doors are often designed with materials such as aluminium, glass, gypsum, timber, and sometimes steel.

As a result of the different components, safety fire doors are sturdier than other internal doors. And often, that results in weight differences.

For example, an average internal door weighs about 45kg. Funnily enough, that is the weight of an FD30 (the least fire-resistance rating) fire door.

On the other hand, FD60 (the medium size) can weigh up to 75kg!

Note: FD30 and FD60 are fire-resistance ratings; the former means a fire door will resist fire for 30 minutes, and the latter is 60 minutes.

You can find  more information on rules and regulations for fire doors here

Intumescent Strips

Intumescent strips are the most distinguishable features of fire safety doors. They are the one thing you won't find in typical internal doors.

So, what are intumescent strips?

Intumescent strips are the heart of what makes a fire door a fire door. In short, a fire door can't keep out a fire without the strips. How so?

For fire doors to work, they need to completely shut out fire and flames during emergencies. Ideally, that is not 100% possible, given that there will be spaces around the frames and edges. That is where intumescent strips come in!

During fire outbreaks, the heat expands the intumescent strips in a fire door. When that happens, the strips fill up all the empty spaces between the door and the frames.

In essence, the strips are the elements preventing the spread of fire. And often, they determine the fire-resistance ratings.

Also read: How To Look After Your Doors Once They're Delivered!

Summary

What makes a fire door a fire safety door is its components - mostly the intumescent strips. In addition to the "strips," fire doors contain other fire-resistant materials.

Together, the components make fire doors fire-resistant and sturdy.