Fireproofing

[Selfbuildsarah]

With the shocking fires yesterday my mind is on our future build method. We are currently timber frame, part render, part timber clad, large brick plinth. Seeing some of the photos of the aftermath this morning it is clear that some houses fared better than others. Obviously some of that can be because of sudden change of wind direction and other factors but partly because of the build type. Can someone reassure me a little? How would our chosen method fare? I am, perhaps wrongly, assuming that a lot of materials are fireproof these days but guess I ought to do some in depth research. I remember post Grenfell there was a lot of discussion re Kingspan insulation and there was a demo video online showing a fire test but I can't find it now. Any thoughts people?

[Russell griffiths]

Your house will burn down in the blink of an eye. 

The only reassurance is looking at the numbers and then the probability. 

How many houses in England ?

how many houses burnt down this week ?

calm down a bit and have a think. 

 

I lived in oz and they made some significant changes to building design following a major fire and many deaths. 

 

So you can design it out if you want, but you will need to scrap your design and go back to the drawing board, or look at the probability of it happening and carry on. 

A friend of mine had a whole house external sprinkler system set up on his roof, you could do that or again look at the odds, he was in a mountainside location where temperatures reached 30 plus for 3/4 of the year, a whiff of a flame and it would rush up the mountain. 

 

I think what happened yesterday was just very unfortunate and probably very unlikely to happen again. 

[markc]

Many materials are fire retardant but not fire proof, in that they will resist ignition from a small flame. A raging fire and/or intense heat changes the way fire behaves and it’s rate of spread.

I do worry about the new housing estates with properties so close together and the semi detached or terrace types with a single roof structure where fire can jump between property easily.

a good few years ago we worked on a factory producing beds, a big pile of foam marked fire retardant went up alarmingly quickly when we (I) dropped a spark on it.  

[CharlieKLP]

I would always put render/timber cladding on block rather than onto the timber frame, I think that’s even the kingspan advice. That’s for warranty reasons caused by Grenfell, rather than actual fire risk. 

 

In wales they have been putting in sprinklers as standard, which is what I would do. 
 

 

[George]

We fill our homes with flammable things, the structure is worth protecting, but only for as long as it takes to escape.

 

The only other approach is a sprinkler or misting suppression system, but you will be looking at substantial investment and ongoing maintenance costs - likely more than decent insurance.

[joe90]

Get house insurance quotes for the various types of build, that will give you an indication of “risk”.

[Russell griffiths]

2 hours ago, CharlieKLP said:

I would always put render/timber cladding on block rather than onto the timber frame, I think that’s even the kingspan advice. That’s for warranty reasons caused by Grenfell, rather than actual fire risk. 

 

In wales they have been putting in sprinklers as standard, which is what I would do. 
 

 

A sprinkler won’t stop your house burning down from an external fire source. 

[Russell griffiths]

The only way to do this is look at the Australian standard for high fire risk areas. 

 

Looking at those houses in dagenham that burnt down a few of them had metal roofs. 

So brick walls and a metal roof, it would be interesting to see footage of how the fire spread to the houses and what bit caught fire first. 

[CharlieKLP]

36 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

A sprinkler won’t stop your house burning down from an external fire source. 

Don’t have one then lol

 

No if I had a timber frame, I’d have a block skin and a sprinkler to protect the frame and my possessions.  It would actually help slow the heat down but your house obvs.
 

[saveasteading]

It takes a lot of heat and time to burn a house from the inside. All the timber structure should be protected by plasterboard or other.*

Wood doesn't burn unless it gets heat and oxygen.

From outside is a different matter. My house is all wood walls. However with no buildings nearby the risk is very low.

 

A  metal roof will make no difference at all. In fact a metal roof on a mature house suggests the hiding of other problems. 

 

In terraced housing fire often spreads through the roof space if the walls are not full height.

 

* A real fire test of an office showed that one layer of plasterboard on timber stud resisted fire for much longer than the books suggest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Adsibob]

I was looking at a special clear oil/varnish that fireproofs wood. You can get an FD30 version and an FD60 version. It obviously isn’t going to save your wooden house from a forest fire, but it might give you peace of mind that you have a bit more protection.

i think overall risk is very low in the country. Just be sensible about things like barbecue, cigarettes etc and you will be fine.

[Simplysimon]

we have render and cladding on a timber frame. was supposed to be larch cladding but we went for fibre cement due to wanting a fireproof exterior.

[TonyT]

It looked like the houses that went on fire were BISF to me, possibly then rendered which is quite common 

[saveasteading]

15 hours ago, Adsibob said:

oil/varnish that fireproofs wood.

It has to be applied rather thickly, although many painters don't, which defeats the object.

You would want to see it in life before committing as it doesn't always look great.