Fire and Bio Protection: the Long Life of Your Wooden House
Wood is an excellent material that has been popular in Russian since ancient times. And its popularity remains high in spite of a great variety of new construction materials . Some people like for it for its ecological properties - it feels extremely easy in a wooden houses, so easy to breath! For others wood is a most natural and traditional material extremely convenient for processing. And our country wood is still quite cheap and affordable. It is a durable material and some wooden house (as they were treated right) remained well for several centuries. But if want to use wooden constructions for a long time a qualified design and reliable protection are essential. Wood has two traditional enemies: bio deterioration and fire.
Everyone knows that with coming of summer heat a the number of fires in apartment buildings summer cottages increases greatly. Taking into consideration the forecast about hot summer, the number of fires in this year can be 20% greater compared to the previous one. According to statistics, during warm season (April-May) the average number of summer cottage fire victims is equal to the number of people for the period of three following summer months. Here is the sorrowful statistics: 378 persons died in fire during summer months of 2005 (14 children among them), 3432 cases of fir were observed, 45 thousand sq. meters of floor area burned out. The total amount of financial damage made up RUR 174.6 million.
Fire is a merciless enemy, but there are tools to fight against it. In other to protect wood against fire ancient people would saturate it with grease, salt solution or tar. The first chemical protection compounds became poisonous blue-stone of ferrous sulfate solutions, flame retardant paints based on liquid glass. During Leningrad blockade the number of fire in attic floors were decreased though painting of construction with simple lime. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that using of such traditional methods is quite irrational and even dangerous. There are plenty of modern techniques that provide sufficient wood protection against fire. The basic principles of all those techniques are the following: good electrical and heat insulation, qualified design of connection joints, coupling and connection elements, bigger section area for heavy load wooden elements, allocation of woods elements as far from fire as possible or placing various fire resistance screens in the form of plasterwork, flame retardant veneer, fire protecting blinds, etc. In case of need, more serious works can be done, including concreting, brick setting, installation of fire protection elements (e.g. drop ceiling), filling of construction internal cavities. The bad thing about those techniques is that wood protection is achieved through its isolation, thus depriving the house of its unique qualities – warm 'lively' texture, natural beauty and environmental friendliness..
But there are other ways to protect wood against fire. It can be done with the assistance of special compounds, called flame retardants. The flame retarding effect is achieved through complicate chemical reactions that result in much smaller production of heat. It hinders wood inflammation, slows flame expansion and simplifies fire extinguishing process and in some cases it even prevents fire.
The most important feature of flame retardants is their ability to stand against fire. The regulation documents in that field are NPB 251-98 and GOST 16363-98. According to them fire safety class depend on the percentage of lost weight for a sample treated with a flame retardant. Only compounds belonging to 1st and 2nd fire safety class can be called flame retardants. As a rule 2nd fire safety class retardants are used for living quarters. For compounds belonging to this class the loss of weight should be not less than 25% of the total one. Elements treated with such compounds are qualified as flame retardant. For professional protection of wooden constructions 1st fire safety class protective compounds are used. The loss of total weight does not exceed 9% and wood elements treated with such compounds are qualified as flame proof.
At present moment domestic market offers compounds combining flame retarding and bio protection functions. It is explained by the necessity of arranging a complex protection against fungus, blue stain and mold, and providing wood with flame retardant qualities. Successful development of effective and environmentally safe flame retardant elements can be only by those companies that have its own research laboratories. Rogneda, one of those companies has been successfully selling flame retardant compounds in the Russian market for 15 years. The manufacturing processes in the company are certified in accordance with ISO 9001 quality standard. Rogneda Scientific and Research Enterprise offers two flame retardant compounds: «KSD» and «Fenliax».
«KSD»is designed for fire and biological protection of wooden surfaces and textile. Its flame retardant properties are based on elements, easily decomposed at high temperature (phosphor salt, that has been as flame retardant for more than 100 years), creating a protective skin preventing air access to the wood surface. Certain amount of heat is used for gas release, thus decreasing temperature on the wood surface and hindering its inflammation. After treating with KSD, the wood becomes flame retardant and corresponds to 2nd fire safety class. KSD can also be used for treatment of textile materials (like sackcloth or curtain). The peculiarities of the compound are its high penetrability into wood and cloth structure, washing-out resistance, safety for health and environment. KSD does not change color of treated wood (though additional painting is possible), in can be applied on majority of painted and varnished surfaces, does not change wood texture and has no smell. KSD fire and biological protection compound provides for a long lasting protection of wood and textile against mold, fungus and blue stain. The compound provides flame retardant and bio protection qualities of treated wood for the period of 4 years (if kept under shed) and does not require big consumption: 500 g/m2 for wood and 150 g/m2 for textile. Textile treated with KSD compound cannot be washed afterwards. KSD fire- and biological protection compound was certified by the Russian Research Institute of Fire-Prevention of the Russian Federation Ministry of Emergencies – the most competent fire fighting body.
«Fenliax» is highly effective, average consumption (1st class fire safety – 500 g/m2, 2nd class – 300 g/m2) fire protection compound. Fenilax fire protection qualities are achieved through carbonate decomposition in the process of heating. The resulting carbon dioxide pushes away the air from the wood surface, dilutes combustion gases, thus hindering combustion process. Fenilax is the only compound of this type providing 1st class fire safety: in case of inflammation the wood would char at area of flame impact. Fenilax is recommended for most important wooden elements that have to be protected against fire. As wood is treated with the compound it turns yellow that allows to control the quality and smoothness of compound application. Fenilax penetrates deep into wood structure, age resistant and is environmentally safe. The compound gives wood flame retardant qualities for the period of 3-4 years (under shed). Fenilax fire protection compound is approved by PozhPoliSert Certification Department
Many of us follow a British saying – My house is my fortress, the place which is always warm and cozy, safe and reliable. But in order to establish an excellent "fortress" you will need a lot of strength and effort. But if you manage to build a reliable defense for you house, Your life will be easy, comfortable and full of harmony.
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