Internal fire door advice

[sunjue100]

Morning

We need to replace the door between the garage and the kitchen as there is significant gap and therefore draught. I've tried draught excluder makes very little difference so think its time to bite the bullet.

Just wondering whether to replace with a wood or composite door and would appreciate any thoughts/advice .

TIA

[meboo]

I’m no expert but depending on the set up of your house, do you need to think about security, insulation or just a fire door? We had a loft conversion and needed fire doors but we were able to buy ones that looked like all our other doors ( they are just a bit thicker and more expensive !). In my experience composite are fab for security and insulation but the most expensive option. I would think a well fitting wood one would do the job. How it looks may also matter if it leads directly to your kitchen - less so if it comes via a utility or hidden wall.

[ERICSMUM]

My brother is a fire door specialist. I’ve sent him your question and I’ll post back when he replies.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. I would await EricsMum response as always best to have an expert on board which her Brother is

My limited knowledge is:-
Fire door, fireproof seals, must have a closure arm so it can never stay open and if I am right it must open in to the kitchen not the garage. The reason being a car could block the door from opening.

Edit. They are heavy! Years ago they had plasterboard in the core albeit that has changed now. We loathed hanging them. Oh they need 4" hinges x 3 not the normal 3" x 2 most doors have.

[sunjue100]

Thank you all and I will await ericsmums feedback 😀👍

[sunjue100]

Originally Posted by ERICSMUM

My brother is a fire door specialist. I’ve sent him your question and I’ll post back when he replies.

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Thank you 😊

[sunjue100]

Originally Posted by meboo

I’m no expert but depending on the set up of your house, do you need to think about security, insulation or just a fire door? We had a loft conversion and needed fire doors but we were able to buy ones that looked like all our other doors ( they are just a bit thicker and more expensive !). In my experience composite are fab for security and insulation but the most expensive option. I would think a well fitting wood one would do the job. How it looks may also matter if it leads directly to your kitchen - less so if it comes via a utility or hidden wall.

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Hi. It’s about insulation to be honest and yes it leads straight into the kitchen, every other room in the house is warm can’t seem to get the kitchen warm atm.

[tspill]

I am also interested in the answer to this.

The problem with fire doors is that they must have automatic closers.

To stop drafts, the traditional way is to put seals along the jambs and some form of draft excluder at the bottom.
The problem is that for this to be effective, they must be tight against the door, and therefore take quite a shove to close properly.

The closers in fire doors won't generally have enough strength to close against the draft proofing if it is fitted correctly. And therefore breaks the fire door regulations.
Fire doors need to be properly closed as there will be a smoke barrier routed into the edge of the door that expands with the hear of a fire. If the door isn't closed properly, this won't work.

Hence the problem.

When we did our refurb., we knew this was going to be a problem in our utility room. Our specification was for UFH. But I asked for a big radiator to be fitted at the door to help with the problem. This works well when the radiator is on and for maybe 2/3 hours afterwards. But then it gets cool. Thankfully it is only our utility room.

[ERICSMUM]

My brother’s reply (cut & pasted from his WhatsApp message) . His offer to supply his e Mail isn’t touting for business 😱😂. He could give you details of qualified fire door suppliers/fitters in your area.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by ERICSMUM

My brother’s reply (cut & pasted from his WhatsApp message)
:

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Thanks. Useful to have this info.

The way I read this is that we just have to manage the draft as a wooden door will never seal properly.