kwhitelaw

Hello,

I am going to be doing some work for a client in a new townhome development. The builder will not allow me to do a prewire as they have an exclusive installer, so I'll be going in after the fact..anywho,

My question pertains to green fiber and more specifically, the "blue board" that is placed between the units... We noticed that my clients home, which is an end unit, did not receive this blue board between his and the next unit over. That next unit and the units following it did receive the board, up until the other end unit, which did not receive it.. Note* all units are receiving the spray in greenfiber setup.

Im sure this is a code situation, I guess not requiring the blue board, but does anyone have any idea why? All the interior homes on this row received the board, only the end units did not..

Was just curious and wanted to make sure my client gets any potential issues resolved before drywall and my wiring goes in..

thanks in advance

kevin

bwalley

Without knowing where you are, how are we going to be able to answer your question?

another thing is, why do you think this is something that should concern you as a security installer?

The units should have been inspected by the building department, if you want to be a building inspector or a builder, apply for the job instead of trying to MMQ the job.

BTW on jobs like this the drywall in the attic is a firewall and many times it goes up as the trusses are being installed so it gets exposed to the weather, that could be why the blue board or purple board was used, as it can take a certain amount of water and not get damaged like type x will, the end units may have been able to be sheated quicker or have the type x installed when no water was going to get on it.

kwhitelaw

man, tough crowd in here...

Im in Nova, so I assume you wouldnt be able to honestly answer you're in Fl.. I assumed a generic answer might be possible as to why the end units dont get that board, from someone who is knowledgable..

I dont know what MMQ means. And im not trying to be an inspector or a builder, as nowhere did I state that. Instead, I was merely trying to help my client get an answer to a question on a Sunday afternoon since the builder would not answer a call on a Sunday...figured I could kill 2 birds, sign up here and try to contribute/ absorb more knowledge, and help a client by asking people who are smarter than me on the topic.

thanks

genecarp

Kevin, welcome to CT, good to have you, go to the intro page and introduce yourself to the gang, tell us a little about yourself, complete your profile , and enjoy forum, many good people here, GMOD

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kwhitelaw

will do.
thanks

bwalley

Nova Scotia?

You are correct, I have no clue, but Florida Building Code is based on the International Building Code.

I still think it is a firewall and 1 type was used that could be exposed to the weather during framing and the other type was used with no weather exposure.

MMQ= Monday Morning Quarterback.

If a sub called me on a sunday, it better be important, especially if the sub didn't work for me and it was a question like this.

Just ask one of the guys at the jobsite tommorow, they will be able to answer your questions.

kwhitelaw

Northern Virginia.

And I understand that no one can fully answer a question without possibly seeing it in front of them...was more looking for a general answer... and wasnt trying to "MMQ" anything. hell I understand how it is to have someone look over your shoulder or question your install or motives.

And you took my comment about calling the builder too literal..I wouldnt call the builder (especially on sunday) as I dont have any need to, moreso, just trying to help my client who is nervous about their new home purchase and needs a little hand holding. If talking to me about this, or asking me my opinion on something, comforts him and continues the client relationship thru the future, im all for it.

we walked the property during framing to discuss wire run locations and equipment placement and we noticed how his unit has nothing between his and the next unit, but all the interior units are separated by a blue board? Just seemed weird that each end unit on the townhome row did not include this but the 4 or 5 interior units did. we were concerned that this board may be beneficial to sound proofing, which would be great as we are planning an extensive audio/video setup. but it appears to be all for nothing as they cant put the boards in now as its had the insulation sprayed in etc, and I guess they deemed it not necessary for the end units.

no biggie, ill ask the builder next time i see him.

bwalley

If there is no firewall between his unit and another unit, that will be a problem, with not only fire but if the units have attic access, security as well.

If you are penetrating firewall you will need to sleeve them and use firecaulk, the 3M red firecaulk is 4 hour rated, the Blue is 2 hour rated, I would use the Red just to make sure.

can you tell how many layers of drywall there is between the units?

kwhitelaw

90% of the adjoining walls between the 2 units were just framed, then had insulation sprayed in (greenfiber iirc), then white "plastic" stapled up to keep the insulation in. I do not remember seeing anything other than framing between the units on the 3 floors (didnt pay attention to the attic area).

it really did seem odd that there was no 'solid' material between the units, but all the other interior units had this blue board separating them..

I cant believe that they forgot to install the blue board on both end units...??guess i'll do some legwork tomorrow for my client as now my curiosity is piqued.

bwalley

They definately need a firewall between the units.

take some pictures if you can.

kwhitelaw

I am having a hell of a time getting photobucket to upload these pics, so I'll have to figure that out.

heres the response from the superintendent...

"Outside walls do not require shaft liner ( purple wall ) because the shaft liner is a separation wall between dwelling units. The way these houses are designed is 2 units then shaft liner, 2 units then shaft liner, and then 2 units. The separation / fire wall between the 2 units not separated by shaft liner consists of 2 layers of 5/8 fire rated type X drywall on both sides of a double 2 x 4 wall w/ 1" space between the walls. This wall is filled 8' thick w/ the greenfiber cellulose insulation."

The only discrepancy I can find in that is the wall is filled with 8", not 8', of greenfiber..

any thoughts? At this point, nothings going to get changed, and my client seems content with this answer...

I just want to get in there and get my portion done. Good thing is the contacts I have made with the builder in regards to my scope of work, hopefully will bring future business.

Thanks for your feedback on this.

kevin