JobSuper7 said:Good question all I can think of is if your willing to demo the flooring they do make fire treated plywood you could install and then fire caulk the seams and walls and rock wool other voids you may come across but that could very costly. But what I would do first is compare the cost to sprinkler the building vs the fire treated lumber.
Hi everyone, I have a question on fire rating.
I am converting a home built in 1914 from a 2 story 1 family unit into 2 units. One upstairs and one downstairs. TRhe lower floor is finished and the upper floor is where we will be doing working.
By code, I will have to fire rate between the two units.
Typically, I would put two layers of 5/8s drywall on the ceiling of the the lower unit, but that is where I run into the problem.
The celings are covered in decorative moldings, not just at the top of the wall where the crown is, but throughout the ceiling, making it an extremely difficult and cost prohibitive solution.
I have wood floors above, I am wondering if anyone knows of a way to fire from the floors above?
I would be willing to remove the wood floors, apply a solution with the fire rating and then re-install them, but I do not know of a solution that would give me the 2 hour rating that a require.
Does any one know of a solution?
JobSuper7 said:Good question all I can think of is if your willing to demo the flooring they do make fire treated plywood you could install and then fire caulk the seams and walls and rock wool other voids you may come across but that could very costly. But what I would do first is compare the cost to sprinkler the building vs the fire treated lumber. Is this an insurance requirement? Or is the building department or fire dept requiring you to do this?
Good question all I can think of is if your willing to demo the flooring they do make fire treated plywood you could install and then fire caulk the seams and walls and rock wool other voids you may come across but that could very costly. But what I would do first is compare the cost to sprinkler the building vs the fire treated lumber. Is this an insurance requirement? Or is the building department or fire dept requiring you to do this?
As a side note, putting in a sprinkler system will either result in ugly pipes obscuring some of that decorative plaster, or the plaster is going to get all chopped up for the install. It's an expensive proposition and is going to detract from what's there right now.
He said he's willing to rip up the floors above
He said he's willing to rip up the floors above
The main reasons for having fire rated assemblies is to stop/slow the spread of flame, contain it in an area and protect structural members.
If some manner of fire rated assembly is installed from above it seems that it will be rather difficult to protect any structural members in the floor system. If the floor joists or any structural members of the floor system were to collapse from flame below, the fire would no longer be stopped/slowed or contained.
The main reasons for having fire rated assemblies is to stop/slow the spread of flame, contain it in an area and protect structural members.
If some manner of fire rated assembly is installed from above it seems that it will be rather difficult to protect any structural members in the floor system. If the floor joists or any structural members of the floor system were to collapse from flame below, the fire would no longer be stopped/slowed or contained.