Why You Should Think About Installing Internal Fire Doors in Your Home

If you’re thinking about upgrading your home’s interior doors, whether it’s a quick refresh or part of a bigger renovation project, don’t overlook the option of installing fire doors. These can make a lot of sense for safety reasons, providing crucial protection in case of a fire.

Topics:

What is an Internal Fire Door?

Are Fire Rated Doors Required in Private Homes?

Why Install Fire Doors During Home Renovations?

Where to Install Fire Doors

How to Fit a Fire Door

Design Options for Fire Doors

Choosing the Right Fire Door Hardware

In this post, we'll explore internal fire doors for your home—what they are, why they matter, and what goes into installing them. Let's start with a basic definition.

What is an Internal Fire Door?

Internal fire doors are specially designed to hold back flames and smoke for a specified amount of time, usually 30 minutes (FD30) or 60 minutes (FD60). This gives people more time to escape safely and limits property damage.

Resisting Flames

Unlike regular interior doors, which are typically made of materials that burn easily, fire doors are constructed to slow the progress of fire within a specific area, creating a safe path for evacuation.

Containing Smoke

A fire-rated door not only resists fire but also features seals that prevent smoke from seeping through gaps around the door and its fittings—smoke can be just as dangerous as flames.

It’s important to note that fire protection laws vary depending on the type of building. Understanding these regulations is key if you’re planning to install new doors in your home.

Are Fire Rated Doors Required in Private Homes?

In the UK, building codes require the use of internal fire doors in certain situations. While not every interior door needs to be fire-rated, specific rooms should have fire doors as part of your safety strategy. For instance, if a room connects directly to an escape route like a corridor or staircase, installing a fire door can help stop fire and smoke from spreading.

New Builds, Rentals, and Public Spaces

These regulations mainly apply to new constructions, rented properties, multi-occupancy homes, apartment blocks, and public buildings. Unless you’ve built your own house, manage rentals, or own a business property, you likely won’t face strict fire safety rules. However, if you do fall under these categories, diving deeper into UK fire door regulations could be beneficial.

Major Home Renovations

If your renovation project requires planning permission, you might need to include fire doors as part of the approval process. Your architect or contractor should guide you through this.

Assuming you don’t fit into any of the above scenarios, you’re not legally obligated to install fire doors in your home. However, there are strong reasons to consider them.

Why Consider Installing Fire Doors?

Face it—safety features often take a backseat during home improvements in favor of aesthetics and budget. But fire safety should always be a priority, no matter the size or layout of your home.

Many homeowners already take steps to improve fire safety, like installing smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and fire blankets. Replacing interior doors presents an excellent opportunity to upgrade to fire doors, which could literally save lives.

Where to Install Fire Doors

Data shows that 67% of house fires originate in the kitchen. Garages also tend to store flammable items like petrol, gas, and oils. Therefore, fitting fire doors between the kitchen and attached garage makes perfect sense.

Additionally, if your home is large, consider installing fire doors where a door leads to a hallway or another evacuation route. For example, connecting rooms on the lower floor that open into the hallway leading to the main exit.

How to Fit a Fire Door

Installing an internal fire door isn’t much different from putting in any other door. Fire doors are slightly heavier than standard interior doors, but their size and appearance are similar. The main differences lie in their hardware.

Fire doors come equipped with fire-tested handles, special hinges, and intumescent pads to block smoke leaks. We’ll cover more details about fire door hardware shortly. First, let’s talk about the design options available for fire doors.

Design Options for Fire Doors

When people hear "fire door," they often picture heavy, industrial-looking doors found in public buildings. But fire doors for homes come in all shapes and sizes, matching any interior decor.

Just because fire doors are built stronger doesn’t mean they have to look boring. You can find fire doors in laminate, veneer, or painted finishes, offering both modern and classic styles.

Choosing the Right Fire Door Hardware

While fire doors look similar to regular interior doors, their hardware differs significantly.

Fire door hardware—or “door furniture,” as it’s sometimes called—is made from high-quality materials and undergoes rigorous testing to ensure it can endure fire and smoke exposure.

Fire-Tested Handles & Hinges

Fire-tested handles are designed to last 30 or 60 minutes in extreme heat before failing. Learn more about these specialized handles in our dedicated article.

Fire door hinges must carry the UKCA mark and comply with BS EN 1935. They are rated based on load-bearing capacity and usage frequency, ranging from grade 1 to 9. For more information on fire door hinge ratings, check out this resource.

Fire Door Hardware Kits

To simplify the process of getting the right fire door hardware, many suppliers offer kits that include hinges, closers, intumescent strips, locks, latches, and “keep closed” signs (which are optional for personal homes).

Final Thoughts

We hope this article has helped you weigh the pros and cons of installing fire doors in your home. Their benefits are clear when it comes to peace of mind and safety during emergencies.

As we’ve seen, internal fire doors look just like regular interior doors, offering a wide range of designs, styles, and finishes. Buying fire door hardware in a kit can also help keep costs manageable.

For more information about fire doors, browse the full selection at Hiatt Hardware. Stay tuned to the Hiatt Hardware Blog for more DIY tips and how-to guides like this one.

Aluminium Awning Windows

aluminum window awnings,aluminium awning,aluminum awnings for houses

SMIRO DOORS AND WINDOWS CO., LTD , https://www.smirowindows.com