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It’s Time to Talk About Fire Doors

A fire can be absolutely devastating to a home and family. That’s why it is extremely important to be prepared in the unfortunate case of a fire. Fire doors act as an excellent way to segment and separate parts of homes to reduce damage from flames and smoke.

Fire Doors can help you escape a house fire by delaying a fire's spread.

A fire door is a door with a fire-resistant rating (sometimes referred to as a fire protection rating). All components of a fire door must adhere to product certification requirements of the local building code and fire code.

Krosswood Knotty Alder Two Panel Square Top Fire Door with V-Grooves

Fire doors aren’t actually noncombustible. Portions of the door are allowed to be destroyed by combustion during a fire as long as the door meets the fire test criteria. This is in accordance with the overall goal of slowing down the spread of the fire until occupants can evacuate or fire fighters sent in to battle the spread of the fire.

In the US, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requires an annual inspection for fire-resistant doors to ensure they are up to code. So how are fire doors rated? Here’s a list of the items that must be verified by the NFPA:

  1. No open holes or breaks exist in surfaces of either the door or frame.
  2. If glazing, vision light frames or glazing beads are equipped, then they must be intact and securely fastened in place.
  3. The door, frame, hinges, hardware, and noncombustible threshold are secured, aligned, and in working order with no visible signs of damage.
  4. No parts are missing or broken.
  5. Door clearances at the door edge of the door frame (wood door), on the pull side of the door, do not exceed clearances listed in 4.8.4 (the clearance under the bottom of the door shall be a maximum of 3/4″) and 6.3.1 (top & edges 1/8″) Metal door (top & edges up to 3/16″).
  6. The self-closing device is operational—the active door completely closes when operated from the full open position.
  7. If a coordinator is installed, the inactive leaf closes before the active leaf.
  8. Latching hardware operates and secures the door when it is in the closed position.
  9. Auxiliary hardware items that interfere or prohibit operation are not installed on the door or frame.
  10. No field modifications to the door assembly have been performed that void the label.
  11. Gasketing and edge seals, where required, are inspected to verify their presence and integrity.

The standard residential fire doors at Krosswood.com are Krosswood Knotty Alder Fire Doors and are 20-minute positive pressure rated fire doors. There are additional options for making your UberDoor even more fire resistant. We can make our doors fire-resistant for up to 90-minutes. Visit our collection to find out the best way to prevent the spread of fire in your home because the best time to start thinking about the unthinkable is now.

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