How to Specify Intumescent Fireproofing: A Guide for Architects
Architects are leaving structural steel exposed more often than ever, and that steel still has to meet its fire-resistance rating. Intumescent fireproofing is usually the answer, but specifying it well takes more than naming a coating and an hourly rating. This guide shows architects and engineers how to specify intumescent fireproofing as a complete, listed […]
ASTM E119 vs UL 263: What’s the Difference for Commercial Fireproofing?
If you are specifying, bidding, or inspecting fireproofing on a commercial steel building, you have seen both ASTM E119 and UL 263 stamped on product listings and submittals, and probably wondered which one your project actually needs. The short version is that they are two names for the same test. This is the practical guide […]
K-13 Over Spray Fireproofing: How Combined Systems Work
When an open-ceiling warehouse, gymnasium, or distribution center needs both a code-required fire rating and real thermal and acoustic performance, one product cannot do both jobs. Spray-applied fireproofing handles the fire rating. K-13 handles thermal and acoustic performance. This guide explains how the two systems work together, what the UL design assemblies actually permit, and […]
Solvent-Based Intumescent Coating: The Right Choice for Semi-Exposed Steel
Specifying fire protection for steel that lives in a covered parking deck, a breezeway, or a loading dock with partial cover is not the same as specifying it for a climate-controlled office. Those semi-exposed spaces sit in a gray zone that trips up a lot of specs. This guide explains when solvent-based intumescent coating is […]
Intumescent Coating Maintenance and Inspection: A Field Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers
Intumescent coatings can be one of the most dependable forms of passive fire protection for exposed structural steel. Applied correctly, they hold up for years with little attention. The problem is that “low maintenance” gets misread as “no maintenance,” and that gap is where the risk lives. This guide walks through what a code-compliant inspection […]
Can You Paint Over Intumescent Coating A Topcoat Guide
If you are looking at fire-rated intumescent coating applied to steel and wondering whether you can put a finish coat over it, the short answer is yes, but only with the right product applied the right way. This guide explains what a topcoat actually does, when it is required versus optional, why the wrong paint […]
Intumescent Coating for Exposed Structural Steel (AESS): What It Is and How It Works
When an architect leaves structural steel visible instead of hiding it behind drywall, that steel still has to meet the same fire-resistance requirements as steel nobody ever sees. The problem is that the standard gray, textured spray fireproofing would bury the very look the design was built around. Intumescent coating solves that. It protects the […]
Intumescent Coating DFT, Cure Time, and Performance Factors
Dry film thickness is the number everyone asks about with intumescent coatings, but it is not a single number you can pull off a chart. It comes from the UL design for each specific steel section. Cure time is the variable that quietly wrecks schedules when a crew treats “dry to touch” as “ready to […]
SFRM Buyer’s Guide for General Contractors: What You Need to Know Before You Break Ground
You are not the fireproofing expert on your project, and you do not need to be. But the schedule, the substrate, and the coordination between trades are yours to manage, and getting those wrong is what turns a routine spray-applied fireproofing scope into a failed inspection and a blown Certificate of Occupancy date. This guide […]