Places of business can always benefit from one or more fire doors. Fire doors have very specific properties that can be extremely useful to any business that is concerned about potential fires. Because a fire can happen at any time, added precautions can help in providing various benefits to employees, products, and even the building itself.
The main function of a fire door is to help restrain the fire, acting as a barrier between it and the next room. Regular doors typically cannot withstand the heat of a fire for very long and can be the entryway for the fire to spread. A fire door, however, can be treated in various ways and be given different ratings to show how long it can withstand heat from a fire. Doors can start at ratings of 20 minutes and go up as high as 90 minutes.
Most people tend to assume that a fire door cannot be made of wood, but this is actually not the case. Fire doors can indeed be made of wood, as long as they are given the proper attention that enables them to act as a fire door. In fact, even with some lower rated doors, glass lites can be included. No one will know it is a fire door, but in the event of a fire, people will remain safer, longer.
Fire doors are very important because they can give people a chance to escape the building. They can hold off the fire to one location and help prevent further destruction of products and property. A fire door may mean the difference between rebuilding a small location and rebuilding the entire location.
Each fire-rated door will have different specifications when it comes to size, door jambs, materials, whether or not it can include double doors, bolts, frames, and more. You can always discuss the matter with a manufacturer in order to decide which fire-rated door would be best for your establishment. Do you need double doors? Then you will have to forgo a 90-minute rated door. But if you don’t mind a steel frame and a single swing door, then you can easily have a 90-minute rated door.
The choice is ultimately yours on what rating you want (20, 45, 60, 90). If you ever have any questions, you can talk to the manufacturer. They should have all the details ready for you so you feel at ease with whatever door you decide to install. It’s always an excellent idea to have one or more fire doors at your business, and with the great quality provided, no one will even know that they are made to be fire doors.