3 Things To Know About Fire-Rated Doors

Do you want to add a fire-rated door to your home or business, but want to know more about them before you make the purchase? Fire-rated doors can give the structure of your home or business additional protection from a fire, and give you peace of mind as well that you will be safe and have time to get out. Here are 3 things to know about fire-rated doors that you may not be aware of. 

The Construction

There are different types of core material that are used to make fire-rated doors. As the name implies, a honeycomb core door uses a cardboard honeycomb material to make up the material's thickness, but it is all bonded to a steel sheet that gives the door its fire-stopping properties. A steel stiffened door is a bit different since it uses steel beams in the door to give the door its thickness and additional strength. The steel beams do leave a significant portion of the door hollow though. 

A polystyrene door uses a special type of foam slab as the door's core, which actually offers significant fire protection. Another type of fire-rated door core material includes mineral core, which uses a special mineral board material that will do a great job at preventing heat from transferring through the material.

The Inspection

Fire-rated doors require that an inspection of the materials takes place before the doors are even assembled. Since you can't exactly open up a door to verify the materials after it has been constructed, it must be done before assembly takes place. This is to ensure that the doors are being made with materials that are of the appropriate quality to slow down the rate that a fire can get past the door. Everything is looked at, such as the cores, bonding agents, steel, and hardware used to assemble the doors. 

The Testing

An independent testing facility will take finished doors and run them through various tests to see how effective they actually are at preventing a fire from getting through the door. Each type of door will be given a rating that specifies a specific amount of time that the door was able to prevent a fire from getting through. This means that the door that you purchase had a similar model that was tested in real-world conditions, so the fire protection that you see the door is rated for is not just an estimate where assumptions are made. 

For more information, contact a fire-rated door supplier.