From Putties to Pillows: Firestopping Essentials

What if the key to your ICT project's success lies in an often-overlooked safety measure? Join us this week as we unlock the secrets of fire stopping in the ICT industry. You'll discover the fascinating world of intumescent materials—how they expand under heat to seal gaps—and the various types of non-mechanical firestop systems like putties, caulks, and foams. Learn why proper installation and structural containment are critical to preventing the spread of fire, heat, smoke, and toxic gases. We break down the properties of these materials, including intumescent, endothermic, and ablative, to arm you with the knowledge you need to make informed choices for your projects.

Get ready to elevate your installation game with best practices that could save lives and infrastructure. From the advantages of compressible fiber matrix firestop pillows to the necessity of a live fire watch, we cover it all. Follow manufacturer instructions to the letter, and don't overlook specifics like silicone foam color coding. Hear a pro tip on documenting your firestop installations with digital photos for added accountability. We'll wrap up by emphasizing the significance of proper training and fire safety standards, encouraging you to pursue FireStop training to hone your expertise. This episode is a must-listen for anyone in the ICT industry committed to achieving the highest safety and compliance standards.

Chapters

• 0:00 Fire Stopping in ICT Industry
• 14:12 Firestop Materials and Installation Best Practices

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey Wiremonkeys, welcome back to another episode of let's Talk Cabling. Today we're diving into a topic that's absolutely crucial for the safety in the ICT industry fire stopping. Welcome to the show where we tackle the tough questions submitted by installers, technicians, foremen, project managers, estimators, even customers. We are connecting at the human level so that we can connect the world. If you're watching this show on YouTube, would you mind hitting the subscribe button and the bell button to be notified when new content is being produced? If you're listening on one of the audio podcast platforms, would you mind leaving us a five-star rating? Those simple little steps help us take on the algorithm so we can educate, encourage and enrich the lives of people in the ICT industry.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Wednesday nights, 6 pm. Wednesday night, 6 pm. I do live stream on TikTok, facebook, linkedin, youtube, where you get to ask your favorite RCDD and you know that's me your questions on installation, certification, design, estimation, project management. I even do career path questions. But I can hear you now. But, chuck, I'm driving on Wednesday nights at 6 pm, I don't want to crash my truck. Okay, I record them and you can watch them at your convenience. And finally, while this show is free and will always remain free if you find value in this content and you would like to support this show, please look us up on Patreon, please go to the webpage and go to our Amazon link page, or maybe even sponsor a show or an episode or do an advertisement.

Speaker 1: 1:52

So specifically, we're going to explore the world of intumescent and non-mechanical firestop materials. You see, there's two types of firestop systems mechanical and non-mechanical. Non-mechanical are the ones that you have to assemble them in order for them to work. You've got to put it in the sleeve, you've got to put the cables through the sleeve, you've got to pack it with mineral wool, then you've got to pack it with some type of putty, caulk or other type of material. You have to assemble it. So we're talking about the non-mechanical type tonight. Now, so we're talking about the non-mechanical type tonight. I know this sounds kind of technical, but trust me, there's something tonight's show for every professional in our field needs to understand.

Speaker 1: 2:31

So let's start off with intermescent fire stop materials. Imagine this your cables are running through a building doing their job, transporting ones and zeros from one end of the cable to the other end of the cable. What happens if a fire breaks out? When the cable jacket burns, the conductors start to collapse and the jacket starts to burn off and the size of what was once a tightly packed cable bundle begins to shrink. And this is where intumiscent fire stop materials come into play. These materials are designed to expand when exposed to heat, filling that space left behind those shrinking cables. It's pretty amazing, when you think about it, that these fire stop materials are not just filling the gaps but they're also actively preventing fire and heat from spreading through those other spaces in that building. But here's the key takeaway it's not enough to just throw some firestop material in there and call it the day. Intimidated. Firestopping needs to be installed with some sort of structural containment. And why? Because without it that expanding material can't properly compress the cable bundle and that could lead to gaps. And guess what goes through those gaps? Smoke, fire, heat, toxic off gases. So always make sure that your installation is up to code and with proper containment.

Speaker 1: 3:52

As I mentioned with the FireStop materials for intermittent systems, they come in a different bunch of varieties. A lot of times they come with the kits. So let's talk about those non-mechanical systems. They're different from the mechanicals. Generally, the materials that you use for non-mechanical systems are going to be more pliable. They're going to be made of materials like putties, caulks, blankets, pads, foams, even pillows Not the kind of pillow that you're going to fall asleep on at night. These materials can be molded or shaped into any kind of opening to seal it off effectively. That's why they're called irregular openings. Now, non-mechanical firestop systems are designed with three basic properties in mind intermescent, endothermic and ablative. But before we talk about those, we got to talk about the ways that fire spreads throughout a building. It can spread through conduction, convection or radiation, and those intumescent, ablative and endothermic fire-resistant materials is directly designed to attack one of those three components.

Speaker 1: 5:00

By the way, this is a good spot for me to stop for a second and tell you if you haven't taken a fire stopping class, do so. Most of the fire stop companies will come out to your office and conduct them for free, and some of them are really good fire stop programs. Sti has some good fire stop training. Hilti has some good fire stop training. Unique Fire Stop Systems has some good fire stop training. The key is learn, because you don't just throw putty into a hole and call it the day, because a true fire stop system is a listed product, which means it has been tested by an NRTL, a nationally recognized testing laboratory, and they actually burn them for the ratings. So if they have a two-hour rated system, it's designed to fit in a two-hour rated wall. If you just started assembling stuff together in a field that hasn't been that, you're not following some type of a UL drawing. It's not a listed system.

Speaker 2: 5:53

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Speaker 1: 6:35

Conduction is when I want you to think about this. There's a room, inside the contents of that room are on fire. There's a conduit that runs through that room into an adjacent room. Inside, the contents of that room are on fire. There's a conduit that runs through that room into an adjacent room. The fire is going to heat up the conduit and the heat will spread to the other room. That's called conduction, and if it gets hot enough, it could ignite materials in the adjacent room. Convection Convection is heat rising. So if you think of a building catching on fire on, say, the second floor, all that heat is going to rise up to the third floor unless there's something to stop it.

Speaker 1: 7:12

So let's talk about the three types of fire-stopped materials that are used in non-mechanical systems to help combat this spread of fire and smoke and toxic off-gases. First, intumescent this property allows the material to expand when it's exposed to heat. So as that bundle of cables is getting smaller because the products of combustion are consuming the cable jacket, the dielectric, the cross-web separator, maybe even the copper conductor themselves that bundle is going to get smaller. Maybe even the copper conductor themselves. That bundle is going to get smaller. And because of the intumescent material. Because of the intumescent properties of the fire stop material, that material is going to swell and create a tight seal. Sometimes it's even designed to crush the penetration, especially with combustible conduits. The cold smoke seal for those of you who don't know is that bead of putty or caulk that you put around outside of the conduit because you have to cut a hole in the wall to put the conduit through first. Well, you can never cut to the exact same size. You have to cut a little bit bigger. That leaves a gap. That bead of caulk or putty that you put in that gap is called the cold smoke seal, because smoke will get to that fire stop system long before the heat from the flame will get there.

Speaker 1: 8:30

So next we have endothermic properties. Endothermic properties means that material absorbs the heat and this is crucial because it helps prevent the temperature from rising on the other side of the barrier. Remember we just talked about conduction. Essentially, it's going to buy the occupants of the building and the fire department more time. Precious minutes can be the difference between a small incident or a major disaster where people are getting hurt.

Speaker 1: 8:59

And finally, ablative materials. Ablative materials develop a hard char when exposed to fire. There used to be a July 4th. There used to be this one firework thing that you'd buy. It was called a snake or something. You would light it and it would literally kind of expand out. That was made out of ablative materials. So why do we want this thing? Developing a hard char, developing a hard char? The char is key because it resists erosion from fire flames and helps maintain the integrity of the fire stop system. The ablative property allows the fire stop to become rigid, which is important because it needs to withstand the high pressure gases. Think about that when something catches on fire, heat causes stuff to expand, and also it's going to help resist the force from the hose stream from the firefighters.

Speaker 1: 9:49

So now let's talk about the forms that these intermescent materials can take place. You have sheets, you have pads, you have wrap strips, you have putties, caulk material and pillows, all with their own specific uses and benefits. How do you know which one to use? When do you use the right one? Intermittent sheets, for example, often have a sheet metal backing and that can be used to seal large openings. If you're dealing with cable, conduit or piping, these sheets can be layered over and spaced accordingly to the manufacturer's instructions to create a strong fire-resistant seal. Remember, always follow the fire stop manufacturer's instructions to create a strong, fire-resistant seal. Remember, always follow the fire stop manufacturer's instructions. Pads are another great option, especially when you're dealing with electrical fixtures or outlet boxes. These fire stop putties seal knockouts and openings, preventing the smoke and the fire from getting into the hollow cavity in the wall.

Speaker 2: 10:46

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Speaker 1: 11:58

Then there are wire strips, which are typically used for fire stopping plastic piping, think about inter ducts, insulated metal piping and cable bundles you name it.

Speaker 1: 12:08

The idea here is the wire strip will expand and seal up any voids left by the materials that might burn away. But probably one of the most common things that gets used in non-mechanical firestop systems is going to be putty. It's versatile, it's easy to install and it has a long shelf life. And most firestop putties are endothermic, again, meaning it absorbs the heat, and they also remain pliable even when exposed to high temperatures, and that's going to make them really good for applications where you might need to re-interf the firestop system down the line. If your firestop system is not filled to its complete firestop fill ratio and you can still put more cables, then putty is going to be your better choice because you can easily remove the putty, put more cables in and then put the putty back into it. And then there's caulk. Fire-stop caulks come in various forms. They can be intumescent, they can be endothermic, they can even be ablative you name it. They're typically used for permanent installations. Permanent. Be ablative, you name it. They're typically used for permanent installations, permanent installations. So, using that example that I gave you just a little bit ago where I was talking about fill ratios. If you're at the maximum fill ratio for your listed FireStop system, then COC might be a better choice there, because while it is re-enterable, it's a lot harder to get into it. If you're going to break my fire stop system and exceed my fill ratio that I designed to put in there, dude, you better make sure I'm going to make you sweat doing it. So they're really used for permanent installations and a lot of times you'll see them used for floor penetrations. And a lot of times you see them used for floor penetrations typically not wall penetrations, because caulk takes some time to cure and if you got a fire stop penetration going horizontally through a wall, there's a chance that that fire stop putty and fire stop caulk might leak out because of gravity, but they do form a tight seal that's resistant to both fire and smoke.

Speaker 1: 14:12

And then we have pillows Again not your typical bedtime pillows, like I talked about earlier. Modern firestop pillows are specifically treated with some type of a compressible fiber matrix right, it could be rock wool, it could be a bunch of other stuff that basically swells when it gets exposed to fire and it becomes rigid to withstand the force of even the hose stream of the firefighters trying to put out that fire. They are particularly useful in situations where you anticipate there's going to be frequent the key here is frequent cable changes or where a live fire watch might otherwise be required. For those of you who may not know what a live fire watch is those who do fire alarms and stuff you know what that means. It means somebody has to sit there all night long to be able to call the fire department in case a fire breaks out. That's called a live fire watch. Just keep in mind that if you're doing the pillows, some of the pillows are going to be requiring you to put in wire mesh on both sides of the wall with metallic anchors. Now, before we wrap up, it's also important to note that each of these fire stop materials has their own specific installation requirements. Whether you're going to be layering the sheets, sealing the caulk or even placing the pillows and compressing the pillows, always follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter and remember some of these materials are flammable until they're fully cured, so always check first. One more thing I want to point out silicone foams. If you're going to use silicone foams, make sure that you use a silicone foam from a reputable fire stop manufacturer. I know there's some sold in the big box stores. I've heard of people running into issues with silicone foams bought from the big box stores because when they come out of the can they're not red in color. A lot of electrical inspectors or authority-having jurisdictions are going to be looking for it to be red and they could fail it just because it is not red. I wasn't going to do this in tonight's show, but let's go and do this.

Speaker 1: 16:18

I am of the opinion that if you are designing a firestop system, if you're installing a firestop system, if you have to choose between a non-mechanical and a mechanical firestop system, a mechanical fire stop system is going to be the better way to do it. Mechanical fire stop systems, as I said earlier, they don't need to be assembled. You literally just cut the hole in the wall, put the assembly in the wall, attach it to the wall, put the cool smoke seal on, done. Most mechanical systems have a 100% fire stop fill ratio, meaning you can jam as many cables you can get through there and it will still function the way that it's designed to. It'll still be a listed system. Again, the reason I prefer the mechanical over the non-mechanical is with the mechanical system you don't have to worry about the people coming behind you because it's got a 100% fill ratio.

Speaker 1: 17:14

With the non-mechanical system, if your fire stop says it's only rated to 40% and you're at five, 35%, which means you have 5% to grow. If the contractor comes behind you, puts in 20%, they're now exceeding the fill ratio on that system. That could cause some problems and we all know how fire investigators work. They're going to look, they're going to investigate and they're going to point the fingers at everybody. I would rather use a system that will be compliant even after I walk off the job site.

Speaker 1: 17:46

Oh, here's a pro tip for you Most of the manufacturer's structures will tell you to use a label on the wall which tells you the date, the time, the UL drawing that was used to install that system.

Speaker 1: 17:59

I suggest and you have no reason not to do this, because almost everybody nowadays has some type of a camera phone Take a digital picture of every FireStop system on the project you're working on and make that part of the as-built package. That way it'll protect you if the contractor, like I was just talking about, comes behind you and exceeds that fill ratio. That's your free get-out-of-jail-free card. So I hope you found this deep dive into fire stopping materials as fascinating as I did. Remember, fire safety is everybody's responsibility, and understanding how these materials that I talked about in tonight's show is a critical part of that. If you have any questions about fire stopping or if you want to share your experiences about fire stopping, please feel free to reach out to me. And also, homework assignment number two get some FireStop training. You trust me, it's going to be well worth it. Until next time knowledge is power.

Speaker 3: 18:57

That's it for this episode of today's podcast. We hope you were able to learn something. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future content. Also, leave a rating so we can help even more people learn about telecommunications. Until next time, be safe.