Fire Retardant Paints

Fire retardant paints and primers are used extensively in the construction industry to give give hourly fire ratings to construction materials like steel, polyurethane foam insulation, drywall and wood (plywood, OSB, wooden trusses, etc.). Whereas saturants like BanFire soak into the wood and bond with the fibers, paints sit on the surface and protect the substrate by intumescing, or bubbling up into a foam when exposed to extreme heat. This foam creates a layer of char, which insulates and protects the surface.

Most fire retardant paints are intumescents, although some are not. They can replace the thick, fibrous coatings used in the past called cementitious, seen frequently on the steel trusses of older buildings and warehouses. The paints are much easier to work with, thinner, with easier clean-up because they are water-based latex. You can create an hourly rating from 15 minute ignition barriers to 2 hour thermal barriers. It all depends on the thickness of the application.

Intumescent paints can be brushed on, rolled on or sprayed on with standard commercial airless equipment, but most often commercial sprayers are used with larger tips. Each application and code is a little different, so feel free to call us with details of your project so we know what will be the proper product, thickness and application so you will pass inspection.