It is quite a surprising phenomenon that the one place where we relax the most and spend most of our lives is usually not built to sustain fires. Residential properties, especially those that are not in apartment complexes, are often built without fire isolation of any kind. While laws in some areas do require installing fire alarms and even water sprinklers, it is mostly ignored in many parts of the world. In fact, even solutions like water sprinklers can sometimes fail to contain fires. Not only are metal fire doors a requirement in residential properties, but they are also worth learning about.
Where to Install a Metal Fire Door in Your Home?
While you could isolate almost every part of your property from other sections using steel fire exit doors, there are some places where it is pretty much mandatory to install them. The most important of all is the staircase in case you have two floors. This allows you to isolate the floors from the exit point and make it easy to escape the building. Garages also need a metal fire door to isolate it from the rest of the property as the chances of having something flammable there are usually quite high.
How to Choose the Right Fire Door?
There is no one size fits all policy when it comes to fire doors as each location has its own unique requirements. When you are trying to find fire doors for your property, you need to consider several aspects and decide accordingly.
- Fire Tests: These are the testing methods standardized by your local government to ensure that the metal fire doors being sold to customers are truly capable of doing their job. You can use these tests to determine which door would suit a particular location. Each door comes with the testing specifications that it has passed to make it easy for you to decide.
- Manufacturing Audits: This is another feature that some areas make mandatory to ensure product quality. Your focus should be to get steel fire exit doors that have been audited thoroughly by a competent authority and deemed useful for a specific purpose.
- Ongoing Tests: While the above two functions are meant for decision-making, your work does not end there. To ensure that your safety is not compromised over the years, every metal fire door needs to be tested regularly for its integrity. For larger residential buildings, landlords can also get professional auditors to check each door and give it their seal of approval.
Inspection and Maintenance
Apart from getting a professional audit, you can also check your steel fire exit doors for integrity. This involves checking the door hinges, inspecting the sealant around the door, and the gap sizes between the door and the wall. The door should also open and close smoothly and create a sufficient seal to be functional.
Having metal fire doors in residential buildings is essential and these can also be used as a selling point to attract tenants in large buildings. After all, fire safety is a crucial part of our daily lives.
