Fire-rated sealing and fire stopping in Bitterne, Southampton
Fire-rated and intumescent sealing of service penetrations and linear gaps in Bitterne and across Southampton. CHAS accredited and fully insured, with a 12-month guarantee.
- Hidden openings found during inspections
- Seals disturbed by maintenance and left open
- Improvised or mixed-product fire seals
Fire stopping across Bitterne
Tell us what needs sealing and where, with photos or drawings if you have them, and we’ll price it.
How we handle fire stopping in Bitterne
Sealant is the specified answer for plenty of openings, such as metal pipes, cables and some small ducts where the detail covers them. Larger openings and some plastic pipes call for collars, wraps, batts or boards instead. We use sealant where it is the specified product, and we tell you when a detail calls for something else. Most enquiries involve open linear gaps along the top of fire-resisting walls and expanding foam used as fire stopping, across small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows, pipe penetrations and linear gaps at wall heads. A single leaking joint is often how a building in Bitterne first comes to us: we look at the rest while we are there and tell you what we find.
Buildings in a smaller place such as Bitterne that need fire-rated sealing are typically schools, care homes, surgeries, small offices and flats over shops. Specified fire-rated sealant goes around new services there, built to match the manufacturer’s detail.
We stand behind the joints we seal: 12 months, guaranteed. It covers how we prepared and applied the sealant.
- Place
- Bitterne (SO18, SO19)
- Wider area
- Southampton
- Guarantee
- A 12-month guarantee
- Price
- Fixed quote, scope in writing
- Call
- 01277 525 020
- Page updated
- 3 November 2026
What happens if it’s left?
A seal that doesn’t match its tested detail gives false comfort. Correcting it means cutting it out and starting again with the specified product, and doing it once, properly, is cheaper. Sealant hardens, cracks and loses grip with age, UV and movement. Replacing it before it fails keeps water out.
Cost follows what’s involved: stripping out, preparation, sealing, access and phasing. Call for a fixed quote and we’ll explain how it’s made up.
Why appoint us
- Fully insured, including public liability cover
- Joints cleaned back to sound surfaces
- A Constructionline member, so easy to vet
- One number for every site we cover
Take a look at our cost guide and how we’re accredited.
Should maintenance staff do it?
Using site staff can make sense for a small touch-up, but larger jobs are different: a specialist brings efficiency, a consistent finish and a 12-month guarantee.
Some joints are best left to specialists: fire-rated seals that must follow a tested detail, trafficked floor joints and external movement joints among them. Getting these wrong usually costs more in the end than doing them right.
Cost factors for service penetrations
To price the job, we consider:
- Specialist products, such as fire-rated or hygienic sealants
- Phasing around occupants
- Any access equipment needed
- The total length or number of joints
There’s no price list, since every building and every scope is different. For a fixed figure, call for a quote.
Details that help us quote
A good diagnosis starts with the right details. Let us know:
- Drawings or a marked-up plan, if available
- What the building is and how it’s used
- Asbestos survey details if the building is older
- The site address and postcode
Photos, drawings or a schedule of the joints and a fixed quote comes back to you. If the job needs a look first, we’ll arrange a site visit.
When it isn’t the sealant
A proper diagnosis includes knowing what sealant can’t do. We’ll tell you if the real problem is any of the following:
- Signing off or certifying a building’s fire stopping
- Deciding what a wall or floor needs, which belongs to the designer
- Large openings beyond what any sealant detail covers
Not sure which it is? You can call 01277 525 020 or email the details over and we will tell you honestly.
Joints and surfaces we work on
- Cable penetrations
- Linear gaps at wall heads
- Joints between fire-resisting walls and floors
- Service gaps in risers
- Small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows
- Pipe penetrations
Questions we’re asked in Bitterne
Can you seal penetrations in a hotel in Bitterne after a refit?
Yes. We install fire-rated and intumescent sealant where it is specified. Work is done room by room so the hotel keeps trading; design and sign-off stay with the designer and building control.
Can you work around term dates at a campus such as Solent University?
Yes. Tell us the term dates, vacation periods and access windows, and we’ll plan the work around them. Any paperwork you need, from RAMS to our insurance certificate and CSCS details, is confirmed with the quote.
Are your applicators CSCS-carded?
Yes. We use CSCS-carded applicators.
Do you need to see the site first?
That depends on the size and complexity of the job. Simple work can often be priced from photos, and bigger or more complex jobs normally get a visit.
How soon can the area be used again?
Curing time varies by product, and we confirm it on the day, and sign any area that should be left alone.
How many days will you need on site?
That varies with the scale of the job, though a typical visit usually takes longer where risers, ceiling voids or occupied floors have to be worked through in sequence. For bigger or phased jobs, we’ll set out a timescale with the quote.
What happens if old sealant might contain asbestos?
Asbestos is possible in some older mastics, particularly in buildings from before 2000. We check the asbestos register before cutting out old sealant in an older building, and work stops until any suspect material has been tested. We don’t remove asbestos-containing materials.
Fire stopping in Bitterne: the local picture
Fire stopping of openings and penetrations in England falls under Approved Document B. Its BS 476 references are being withdrawn from 2 September 2029, with BS EN 13501-2 classification taking over, subject to transitional arrangements. Our part stays the same: the specified product, installed to its tested detail. Bitterne lies roughly 68 miles out from central London. Office refits around the commuter belt bring new cabling through fire-resisting walls, and the gaps need sealing with the specified product.
Shop fits in centres such as Marlands Shopping Centre, 2 miles to the west of Bitterne, can bring new services through fire-resisting walls between units, which then need the specified seal. Wherever services are added at a hospital such as Royal South Hants Hospital (1.6 miles west of Bitterne) the compartment line has to be made good with the specified product.
Bitterne is about 1 mile east of Southampton, in Southampton. Bitterne sits inside our coverage and the rest of Southampton, with the same fixed quotes and 12-month guarantee as everywhere else. Bitterne is one of 30 places we cover in Southampton for service penetrations.
Business premises anywhere in SO18 and SO19 are within our area. If your site is on Bath Road, Ruby Road and Dean Road or close by, we can quote for service penetrations. Main routes into Bitterne include the A3024. Sites close to Bitterne are covered too, including Northam (1 mile west), Bitterne Park (1 mile north-west), Itchen (1 mile south-west), Midanbury (1 mile north) and Harefield (1 mile north-east). A short drive away, we cover Shirley (3 miles west), Regents Park (3 miles west), Maybush (4 miles west), Coxford (4 miles west), Freemantle (3 miles west) and Lordswood (4 miles north-west).
What’s near Bitterne
Around Bitterne, our work takes us to commercial buildings near Itchen College, Riverside Park and St Mary's Independent School. Bitterne’s nearest station is Bitterne station, about 0.7 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Bitterne Local History Society Heritage And Research Centre (under half a mile north-west) and Marlands Shopping Centre (2 miles west). For a walk, there’s Netley Common.
What we are called out for in Bitterne
Plenty of openings were simply never closed because they sat out of sight above a ceiling or inside a riser. They come to light during inspections, refits or when another trade lifts a tile.
Site and facilities staff are often the first to spot these:
- Seals that don’t match their tested detail
- Fire sealant pulled out of the opening
- Open linear gaps along the top of fire-resisting walls
- Fire seals cut back for extra cables and never reinstated
At a university such as Solent University, 1.7 miles to the west of Bitterne, labs, lecture blocks and residences are re-serviced often, so penetration seals are best checked after M&E work.
Before you book anyone
- How long is the guarantee, and what does it include?
- Which product they’ll use, and why it suits the joint
- How they handle RAMS and site documents
- Health and safety accreditation such as CHAS
Also near Bitterne
What else we do in Bitterne
On site: what to expect
We follow your site rules from the start: signing in, inductions and any permit to work. Once we’re cleared to begin, we take the joints in the sequence agreed with you, and each area is checked before we leave it. Work in places the size of Bitterne is planned as a single visit where we can. Clear photographs and measurements help us bring the right products.
- First we go through the drawings, schedule or specification for the seals and raise any questions before we price.
- Every penetration is compared with its detail: wall or floor type, service, gap size and depth.
- Unsuitable fillers and loose debris are taken out of each opening.
- We fit the backing the detail asks for, to the stated depth.
- Fire-rated or intumescent sealant is gunned in to the specified depth, then tooled.
- Openings that need a collar, wrap, batt or other product are flagged to you rather than filled with sealant.
Before we start on site
- Explain the parking and delivery arrangements
- Tell us which areas need to stay in use
- Warn occupants and staff about the work
Request a quote
Let us know the site, the scope and your timescale, and we will put a fixed quote together. To get it moving, call 01277 525 020 or email us.