Can You Repair A Fire Door

Bondo type automotive body filler is allowed for the repair of dents and creases not holes in fire rated hollow metal doors and frames.

Can you repair a fire door.

Any slight alteration to the door or its surroundings can affect the performance of a door. Adjust or resize the door to ensure frame to door gaps are consistently 3mm 4mm. Fire rated doors will sometimes have a metal plate on the hing edge indicating the door is fire rated. Pro servicing ltd has extensive fire door experience.

And no you cannot put drywall over the surface of a door to make it fire rated either not only are metal kick or pull plates prohibited on fire doors but there was a famous court case in nyc about that where a highrise apartment building owner hundreds of units thought he could get away with drywalling hollowcore doors to meet the then new fire door code. It is possible for the issuer of the certificate to issue a variation to the certificate this is to cover diffrent hinges locks etc. Fortunately there are two methods to seal small holes caused by the removal of hardware. But you are correct to raise the issue because most fire resisting doors are made from naturally insulating timber.

Fire door caulk from fire door solutions is listed by intertek under the warnock hersey mark. A filler has been successfully tested for use on wood fire doors and can be used to fill holes a maximum of 3 4 in diameter on a wood door rated for up to 90 minutes. If you can identify the manufacturer of the fire doors by finding a label on the top or vertical edges of the door you can then contact their technical department for advice. Go to nfpa 80 fire doors and fire windows 1999 edition and check out paragraph 15 2 5 4.

However many doors conform to the fire rating requirements but do not have a plate or tag on the edge of the door. If you remove timber from a door to fit a concealed door closer mortice lock bolt through handles or in some cases hinges then you are replacing timber with metal which will conduct heat and may contribute to increased charring and thus early integrity failure of the door. They will not issue one for a door blank that is split following a forceful entry. These repairs are limited to dents that are no greater than 1 8 inch deep and 14 inches long.

It should be considered in exactly the same way as testing a smoke alarm or a fire extinguisher. Replacing a fire door is a costly endeavor especially when there are only small holes located in the door. Another requirement of a fire door is that it be self closing. The fire certificate for the door will only be valid provided that the door and its frame are as specified on the certificate.

If you are unable to identify the door manufacturer and any performance certification and you have the necessary competence then you may be able to repair the door and frame.