Smoke Barrier Part 2

Yesterday I gave you the first step on how to tackle smoke barriers. That was FIND THEM. So today I wanted to help you with step 2. You take your list of fire rated walls and possibly floors and see if you will have fire resistance rated joints that will connect either floor to floor, wall to wall or wall to floor.  

Let’s assume your list you have shows the following 

Floor- concrete PT deck 

Walls- Block walls, gypsum shaft walls and typical gypsum walls 

Run through this list of questions: 

Do you have any joints in that PT deck that require protection?  If so, find that detail and be sure it has an L rating listed.  

You will need similar firestop details for any head of wall, wall to wall and bottom of wall joints in your smoke barriers.  

“Bottom of wall?” you ask?  Yes, because many of these will be shaft walls and you will need bottom of wall firestop in shafts. If you question why please go to my YouTube channel and find the video about stairs and that should clear up any questions you have. 

If you have shaft walls, they will be different details. If you need help with that stay tuned because we will do a whole shaft wall discussion at some point. I just wanted to give you a heads up, so you know to look closer.  

So, you have to look at the firestop details for all of these joints and be sure they comply with the building code- 715.6- Fire Resistant Joint Systems in Smoke Barriers and that code section will give you the limitations, which are basically that the system shall not exceed 5cfm per linear foot of joint. 

If you need help with this, there is a training at this link that will help you understand this on a whole new level, and it will give you a clear understanding of how to build better and avoid this problem on your projects.  

https://firestop-coffee-break-training.mykajabi.com/firefoam-understanding-the-right-materials

Check in tomorrow to see what else you have to do. 

#BuildBetter #FirestopCoffeeBreakTraining #SmokeBarrier