Fire door seal replacement in Uxbridge
A seal that has been painted over cannot do its job.
Get a priceRun a fingertip round the edge of the door, in the rebate where the leaf meets the frame.
A fire door normally carries a strip of intumescent material set in a groove. It looks like a flat band of grey or black. Alongside it you may find a soft rubber or brush strip, and that is the smoke seal. Some makers combine both in one profile.
How they get ruined
Decorators are the biggest cause. One coat of gloss over an intumescent strip stops it expanding as it was tested to do.
Next come hands. Seals get picked out by tenants, or pulled when a door is taken off for a new carpet and nobody fits the strip back afterwards.
Choosing the replacement
Whatever fits the groove is the wrong answer. The seal must suit that door, and the door maker's information says which type.
If there is a label on the edge or the maker is known, we match to it. If neither can be found, we tell you what we can and cannot confirm and suggest the next step.
Fitting
The old strip comes out and the groove is cleaned back to bare timber. The new seal is pressed or stuck in, depending on the type, and cut so the corners close without a gap.
On a pair of double doors the meeting edges matter as much as the sides. The two leaves must close against each other and not leave a slot you can see light through.
The bottom edge
Seals at the bottom work differently. Where a door shuts over a threshold, a drop-down seal or a brush strip is common, and we check what the door can take before quoting.
Questions we get asked
Can a seal be painted afterwards?
Not if you want it to work. Mask the strip before decorating, or tell the painters to leave the doors alone and we will do them afterwards.
Do all fire doors have smoke seals?
No. Many have only intumescent strips. Some need smoke seals as well, and your report or fire risk assessment will say which.
Send it over with the postcode and we will price it door by door.
Get a price