Fires that develop in buildings can have devastating effects. That's why it's important for the doors in these buildings not to have any gaps because if they did, excessive heat and smoke could affect more areas. Fire door gap fillers exist for this reason, and you'll succeed with purchasing them for your property if you're analytical in the following ways.
Ensure Fillers Meet Certain Standards
There are standards in place for gap fillers for fire doors. They're in place to ensure manufacturers comply with certain material and design requirements, which are both needed to keep properties better protected from fires when they develop.
While you're looking at these fire door gap fillers, make sure the right standards are met by the manufacturers that made them. Specifically, your fillers need to meet NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standards. Then you'll know your fillers can work effectively over the years.
Go With Simple Construction
You'll be a lot better off going with gap fillers that have a simple design for the fire doors in your commercial building. This does a couple of things. First and foremost, it makes it less likely that problems will happen with these fillers over the years since there aren't that many components.
A simple construction for gap fillers also means spending less, but not sacrificing quality. You'll still get fillers that do their job during fires, but you just won't have to spend a fortune. You should be able to see an in-depth breakdown of every gap filler's construction to verify whether or not it has a simple design.
Choose Between Indoor and Outdoor Application
You'll find gap fillers for fire doors that are designed for either indoor or outdoor applications. Choosing the right option is critical in these gap fillers doing their job and holding up like they're supposed to over the years.
If you have exterior doors that need gaps below filled, then outdoor applications are best because you're gaining access to weatherproof materials. Whereas if the fillers are being set up strictly inside your building, indoor applications are just fine. They're not as durable as outdoor gap fillers, but that's okay because they don't need to be.
Setting up gap fillers below fire doors is an important step for keeping your commercial building ready for fires. They can be dangerous, but if you select the right gap fillers and set them up appropriately, your building and the people inside will be better protected.
