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No, seals are tested as part of a complete door assembly and help to provide the required level of fire resistance depending on the type, size, location and configuration.
No, there are several different types of core material. The most common are ammonium phosphate, hydrated sodium silicate and intercalated graphite – of which there are many sub-types. The characteristics of these materials are quite different from each other and are suited to different applications with the fire door set. Please refer to the relevant door test evidence to correctly identify which seals should be used in each location.
Yes. Many intumescent seals are encased within a PVC sleeve and this does not restrict the flow of heat into the core. Indeed some intumescent seals are located under the door lipping but the pressure exerted by the seal can still break through. Even low pressure intumescent seals will be able to break through any paint layers on the surface. Most paints are thermoplastic which means they soften on heating.
No, while it was the industry norm for many years it has been proven that it will not provide significant restriction to leakage due to the imperfections in fit and distortion during heating. As such door stops have been reduced in size and smoke control provided by seals.
The seal will only prevent the spread of smoke when it is fully intumesced, therefore a smoke element is needed to prevent smoke spreading from the fire source. This can be an integral blade or strip, or a separate seal around the perimeter and threshold area of the door.
No, it has been proven that any gap at the threshold will mean the leakage rates exceed the allowance in the test method particularly for doors further away from the fire source. British Standards are being updated to highlight this.
Not necessarily as the current generation of automatic threshold seals, either rebated or face fixed, allow the inner seal to be pushed down to the floor when the door is closed, so there is nothing to povide a trip hazard.
