John wrote:
Yes, I agree that "fire doors could be made to *look like* ledge and
brace" but that was not the question.

You can take a standard, half-hour fire resistant door and 'face' it
with T&G boards suitably treated with a fire resistant coating such
as Albi (a rather naughty coating containing arsenic and a multitude
of other chemicals) and fit this into a rather hefty door frame (not
lining) with 25x25mm planted and screwed door stops - just don't
drop it on your toes when fitting the beast! :-)

Brian G

I would be very careful when altering a fire door. Any DIY changes
could invalidate it's certification. Simple things like screws into
the door can transmit heat and fire into the structure of the door.
Fire doors are made to a specified design that's then tested. The
manufacturer supplies detailed fitting instructions that must be
adhered to in order to ensure the door performs as it should.

John

John,

Thanks for the response. I'm well aware of the effects and personally I
wouldn't alter a fire door simply for aesthetic reasons, especially if it is
fully kitted out with the intumescent strips etc.

Fitted AND supervised the fitting of the damn things in several blocks of
multi-storey flats - all the internal flush after a fire in a room of one of
the flats blocked the escape route and caused the fire brigade a few
problems getting the tenants out.

It was quite annoying when I went into one of the flats to run a quality
control check on the doors etc to find that the tenant has disconnected the
concealed door closures on every door so they could be kept open at all
times.

After a heated discussion, I got the chippie to reconnect the hinges and
b****r me, when I did another surprise inspection, he'd entirely removed the
things - he got quite upset when the local authority threatened to evict him
if he did it again.

Brian G