Firestopping for Rated Joints – Masons and Drywallers

How are you patching your 1 hour rated walls?

Today’s Topic- How do you properly patch a one hour rated wall?

 

Hi everyone. I hope you are doing well despite the lock down and virus. We are breathing easy over here and I pray that the same is true for you, your family and your teams.

 

I have been capitalizing on this time to develop a new skill and I can’t wait to share the results with you. It will be some training videos.

 

One of them will discuss the difference between regular drywall and type X, another will talk about type X drywall vs type C.  Since that is all coming down the pike in the next week or two, I wanted to share somethings that will compliment that discussion.

 

Once you have built a rated wall at some point in time its likely SOMEONE will poke a hole in it. This could happen during construction if someone decides to relocate a pipe for example.

 

So how do you patch it. If you ask the Gypsum Association, this is how you should patch a rated wall. Please take a moment to look over this so you understand. One of the videos that will be coming  will talk about how rated walls are tested, but the one that I hope to get to you first will talk about the difference between regular drywall and we will have a complex discussion about fire dynamics that is actually kinda fun. For now, I will leave you with this from US!

 

Next week we will talk about how to patch a two hour rated wall, because those are really different.

 

https://www.gypsum.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/GA-225-15.pdf

 

Coming May 25th

We are so excited to invite you to our Firestop Preconstruction Workshop on May 25, 2023.  This will be a live, virtual event full of so many tips for reducing liability on a project site.  

Registration Link: https://lnkd.in/eCnNp3cH

Join us for a Firestop Planning Workshop!

What are your pain points when it comes to firestop? Does your team get the UL numbering and lettering systems confused?  Are there concepts that aren’t quite clear?  Do you need help communicating firestop requirements and concepts to your team? 

Well, I have you covered.  If you want the tools and tricks to communicating more effectively about firestop, check out the link in the bio. 

We are hosting a virtual workshop on 5/25!  We will help you better communicate your firestop needs to your clients, employees, and contractors! 

Join us for a new workshop!

What if you could reduce your firestop issues?  What would that take? 

Its not that hard really, it just takes a little planning.  

If would like to know more please join us for our first ever Firestop Preconstruction Workshop, May 25th 2023

Reserve your spot now, just head to this link to register:   

https://firestop-coffee-break-training.mykajabi.com/offers/C5SWkafH/checkout/expired

VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9QcoDUFPrU

Smoke Barrier Part 4

If you have been following me this week, you know we are talking about smoke barriers and how to ensure you are code compliant.  

Today we are going to tackle step 4. So, you have your list of assemblies and your list of firestop details for each assembly, and you will need to find how many of each type is in each assembly so you can make sure you comply with this code section. 

714.5.4 Penetrations in Smoke Barriers 

  • When you look at your firestop details you can’t have any that have a L rating over 5.0cfm per sq ft.  
  • Then you can’t have a cumulative leakage over 50cfm per 100 sq ft of assembly.   

This means you need to run some numbers and PLEASE do this BEFORE your project starts, because once you have run a bank of conduit through a smoke barrier…you are going to have a really difficult time being code compliant if you did what I typically see. There are an array of other common issues that need to be identified BEFORE you start the project, or you WILL have issues.  

This is one of the services we support teams with.  If you need help, let me know.  If you want to learn more on your own, please check out our list of other training programs here https://firestop-coffee-break-training.mykajabi.com  

#BuildBetter #FirestopCoffeeBreakTraining #SmokeBarrier 

Smoke Barrier Part 3

If you have a smoke barrier on your project, you will have to pay attention to the firestop in a whole new way. 

Yesterday we talked about fire rated joints in smoke barriers. Today we are going to tackle Step 3-  

Are you ready? 

Grab your list of smoke barriers and then talk with each of your trades (mechanical, electrical, plumbing sprinkler and anyone else who is poking a hole in the rated assemblies- the list may be longer than you think). The question you need to ask everyone is “what penetrations will you have through this smoke barrier?” then ask, “what firestop system do you have for that penetration?”  Then look at the details and see what L ratings they have.   

That is the easy part. Step 4 is the hard part, and we will go over that tomorrow.  

If you want some help organizing this paperwork I want to invite you to a free training that is designed to help you understand how to plan your project a little better, at least related to firestop https://firestop-coffee-break-training.mykajabi.com/abc-s-and-123-s-of-firestop-penetrations 

Here is the link. If you check it out, please let me know what you think about it and if you find it valuable, please share it with people on your team and on social media so we can help others as well.  

Check back tomorrow for the final step- this one’s tough, but critical to compliance. If a construction defect lawyer got their hands on this and you didn’t do this right…YIKES.  

As always, if you have questions just reach out to me, your favorite firestop manufacturer, firestop installer or your local firestop special inspector and see if they can help you.  In fact- if you are in one of those roles, please feel free to put your contact info in here so people can find you. Even if you are my competitor- let people know who you are, where you are and what you do so they can get help when they need it. 

Then check back tomorrow for the final step.  

#BuildBetter #FirestopCoffeeBreakTraining #SmokeBarrier

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 

How to Plan a Project with Smoke Barriers

A few weeks ago, I did a post about smoke barriers. Not long after I got an email from a guy who had been in one of my classes. He was putting the training to work on a project and had questions.  

I can’t tell you how much I love when people who want to build better, reach out for help. 

So, if you have smoke barriers on your projects please follow along this week because I want to help clarify what you can do EARLY in your project, so you don’t run into a pickle with smoke barriers.  

There are 4 basic steps to take, and I will walk you through them this week.  

Step 1: Look at your plans and identify your smoke barriers. Keep in mind the are not just walls. They could be horizontal assemblies as well. This seems like a simple task, but often it is not; so, I will leave you with this first task and check back tomorrow for step 2.  

To be a little more clear, if I were working with you, I would want to know the type of wall assembly and the type of floor assemblies you have that are smoke barriers. A list would be great! Don’t forget to include the hourly ratings on your list. That will come in handy on Thursday. 

If you have any questions, comments, please post here so we can all learn together. 

#BuildBetter #FirestopCoffeeBreakTraining #SmokeBarrier 

Be Careful What Assuptions You Make. They might be wrong.

In my line of work I was often “the bearer of bad news”. When the general superintendent would see me, they might grumble, “What’s wrong now”. I took personally. I thought they didn’t like me. I mean I still had a job to do, and I did it, but I thought that they didn’t really like me.  

It was only later that I learned that they actually held me in high regard. They were glad I was there to fix the problems that no one else would have found. They appreciated and respected me.  

Don’t get me wrong, there were people who genuinely DON’T like me, but typically those people don’t care about doing the right thing (I’m talking about firestop here). My job is to hold people accountable and those guys who actually respected me, wanted to do the right thing and appreciated that I was helping them do that. The jerks who didn’t care about anything other than getting out and getting bonused. They still don’t like me.  

You have to be okay with the fact that not everyone is going to like you…BUT at the same time you can’t assume that just because some people are grousing that they automatically dislike you. 

#BuildBetter #FirestopCoffeeBreakTraining #WICWeek 

Women In Construction Week, 2023

We find ourselves in the middle of WIC WEEK.  

I want to celebrate all the women out there who lift others up.  

I want to be one of those women…it just happens that my thing is firestop, so if you have questions about firestop, please reach out to me. (men and women alike) 

If you work in construction and have challenges that I can help with~ please consider me a resource.  

#BuildBetter #FirestopCoffeeBreakTraining #WICWeek 

Shout out to Laura Tameron

When I started in construction it often seemed like there were two types of women in construction. The nice ones, who were supportive and then there were those women who didn’t like other women in their turf. They worked hard to get where they were and they didn’t want anyone else in their vision. They were territorial and they could be nasty, especially if they felt like you were competition.  

I’ve dealt with plenty of people like that. Then there were people like Laura who was an executive at the company I worked for. We were on a HUGE project and one day she stopped me in the hall and said something that has stuck with me years later. She said something along the lines of, “On a project of this size, when there is a woman and all the guys know her, its usually for all the wrong reasons. But you, you have only been here 6 months and everyone knows you…but they also know why you are here. Keep up the good work.” 

She took the time to celebrate me and on days when I feel beat up, that 60 second encounter with a powerhouse like Laura still sticks with me.  So does some of the nasty territorial crap.  

I let both serve as a reminder of which one I want to be.  

What stories lift you up from your past? 

#BuildBetter #FirestopCoffeeBreakTraining #WICWeek