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South East England and London

Fire Stopping in West Berkshire

We cover 140 towns and villages in West Berkshire for fire stopping, with failed joints always cut out and a 12-month guarantee on our workmanship.

Fire Stopping in West Berkshire

Share the site address and what’s failing, and we’ll reply with a fixed quote or arrange a visit.

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Fire stopping across West Berkshire

Fire-rated and intumescent sealing of service penetrations and linear gaps. Choose your town from the list to see local details, or call or email us for a quote.

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Other services in West Berkshire

Postcodes in West Berkshire

How fire stopping works in West Berkshire

Every service that crosses a compartment wall or floor leaves an opening, and that opening needs sealing to hold back fire and smoke. Our job is fitting fire-rated and intumescent sealant at those service penetrations, and along linear gaps, where it is the specified product. Each seal follows the manufacturer’s tested detail, not a rule of thumb. The enquiries we see most involve expanding foam used as fire stopping and seals that don’t match their tested detail, on service gaps in risers, small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows and linear gaps at wall heads.

Our CSCS-carded applicators arrive with the sealants, primers and backing rod the job calls for. Any old material is cut back to clean, sound faces, primer goes on where the manufacturer specifies it, and each bead is tooled to a neat concave finish.

  1. First we confirm the product and tested details named in the specification.
  2. Openings are measured and grouped by detail.
  3. Old or wrong materials are cut out.
  4. Where the detail needs backing, it goes in at the stated depth.
  5. Fire-rated or intumescent sealant goes in around the services and is tooled off.
  6. We walk the completed areas with you and confirm the records agreed at quote stage.

What you’ll pay

Whether it’s a single area or a whole estate, the same things set the price: scope, access, product and programme. Call for a quote and we will put a fixed figure on it.

Why appoint us

  • Products installed to the manufacturer’s instructions
  • CSCS-carded applicators
  • Sealing commercial buildings since 2005
  • Constructionline member

Get a fixed quote

Let us know the site, the scope and your timescale, and a fixed quote will follow. The easiest way is to ring 01277 525 020 or email a schedule or drawings.

What’s near Newbury

In Newbury, that means premises near St Nicolas Church, Victoria Park and St Bartholomew's School, among other places. Nearby too are The Diamond Tap (less than half a mile north-east), St Nicolas C.E. Junior School (under half a mile south) and St Bartholomew's School (0.6 miles south-west). There’s a railway station in Newbury itself: Newbury station. Other landmarks nearby include Donnington Castle (1.6 miles north-west) and West Berkshire Community Hospital (1.5 miles east). Open spaces near Newbury include Audrey's Meadow.

Fire stopping across West Berkshire: the area picture

In West Berkshire, as anywhere, the fire-stopping detail is set by the designer and accepted by building control. Our part is installing the specified product correctly, matched to the wall or floor and the services passing through.

London and the South East are among the drier parts of the UK, but external sealing in West Berkshire still needs a dry joint and the right temperature, and damp or frosty mornings can hold it up.

Newbury: Hospital estates such as West Berkshire Community Hospital (1.5 miles east of Newbury) are divided into fire compartments, and any service penetration through them should be sealed to the specified, tested detail. Colleges such as Newbury College (to the south of Newbury) add IT and services as courses change, and each new penetration through a fire-resisting wall needs sealing with the specified product.

Site staff or a sealant specialist?

There’s also the paperwork. Main contractors and clients often ask for CSCS cards, RAMS and insurance details, and we’ll confirm the paperwork you need with the quote.

The visible bead is only part of the job. Backing rod, primer where specified and a joint designed to move with the building are easy to get wrong without experience.

Different surfaces, different methods

Masonry and concrete

Block walls and concrete floors are common substrates for penetration seals. Dust and debris are cleared from the opening, with backing added if the detail requires it.

Linear joints

Head-of-wall gaps, slab edges and wall junctions are linear joints. Their tested detail, under BS EN 1366-4, sets the width, depth, backing and movement allowed.

What sets the cost

These are the things that shape the price:

  • Specialist products, such as fire-rated or hygienic sealants
  • Whether old sealant has to be cut out first
  • Joint width, depth and condition
  • Whether the work must be split into stages

Cost follows what’s involved: stripping out, preparation, sealing, access and phasing. Call for a fixed quote.

Sending details for a quote

There’s no need for a formal survey. A few details are enough to get going:

  • When you need the work done
  • Drawings or a marked-up plan, if available
  • The site address and postcode
  • Photos of the joints, close up and from further back

Pricing a project or setting a maintenance budget? We will quote against your scope and drawings you can plan around. For a chat about it beforehand, phone 01277 525 020 or email drawings and photos.

Common problems we fix in West Berkshire

Physical damage is another reason seals stop doing their job. Seals get knocked during maintenance, cut back to add a cable or pulled out when services are swapped and the opening isn’t always resealed.

Typical triggers for a call:

  • Snag lists that include open service penetrations
  • Openings found when ceilings come down for a refit
  • Unsealed joints where partitions meet the slab
  • Seals that don’t match their tested detail

Leave it or put it right?

An open or wrongly sealed service penetration lets fire and smoke reach the next compartment much sooner than the building was designed for. While the openings can be reached, sealing them is normally straightforward. Left until ceilings are closed or a tenant moves in, the same work costs more access and more disruption.

Questions to ask before you book

  • Their public liability cover
  • Whether primer will be used where the manufacturer specifies it
  • Is depth set with backing rod, or bond-breaker tape in shallow joints?
  • Can the work be phased to keep areas open?

Questions about West Berkshire

What if there’s asbestos in the old mastic?

Managing asbestos is the dutyholder’s responsibility, so we will ask for the register before work on an older building. If anything suspect turns up, we stop until it’s tested.

Do you design or specify fire stopping?

No, we don’t design fire stopping. Once you have a specification, we can price and install the sealant elements of it and point out anything needing another product.

What will the job cost?

It depends on the job: the volume of work, the access, the specified product and how it’s phased. Call for a quote and we will price it properly.

Is any job too small?

Small jobs are welcome alongside larger packages. Photos and a description are enough to start.

How do you choose the sealant?

A specification, where there is one, decides it. Without one, the joint decides: how much it moves, what it bonds to and whether it’s wet, trafficked or fire-rated.

Can weather delay the job?

It can, for external work. Wet joints and cold, damp or frosty conditions stop the sealant bonding properly, so external work may be moved if conditions aren’t right. Internal work is far less affected.

Will you sign off the seals for us?

No. Sign-off isn’t ours to give, and we don’t hold a third-party installer certificate. Our part is fitting the specified product to its tested detail.

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