Dounby fire stopping
Fire-rated and intumescent sealing of service penetrations and linear gaps across Dounby, carried out by CSCS-carded applicators. Fully insured and CHAS accredited.
- Snag lists that include open service penetrations
- Fire-rated sealant that has cracked or shrunk back
- Expanding foam used as fire stopping
Fire stopping for businesses in Dounby
Photos, a specification or a quick description of the joints is enough to start a fixed quote.
Aftercare for building managers
Problems stay small when the joints are checked regularly. Specifically:
- File the specified details where the next contractor can find them
- Agree the fire-stopping specification before services go in
- Include service cupboards in routine inspections
- Flag new cables with no seal around them
Keep the product data and installation details with the building’s fire safety information. Anyone resealing later needs to know which product and detail were used.
Make reporting new openings part of every permit to work in service areas. Small habits like this stop openings building up.
Fire stopping in Dounby, done properly
Where pipes, cables and other services cross a compartment wall or floor, the opening around them has to be closed so fire and smoke can’t move between compartments. 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. Most enquiries involve hidden openings found during inspections and head-of-wall gaps with no fire seal, on small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows, pipe penetrations and linear gaps at wall heads. Facilities teams, main contractors and managing agents in Dounby tend to want the same three things: a clear scope, tidy work and joints that don’t fail again.
Around smaller places such as Dounby, compartment walls and floors tend to be in schools, hotels, care homes and community buildings. Where services pass through, specified fire-rated sealant is installed following the manufacturer’s guidance for that wall or floor.
We sign every job off with a 12-month guarantee. The promise is simple: if the work we did fails within twelve months, we return to fix it.
- Place
- Dounby (KW17)
- Wider area
- Orkney Islands
- Cover
- A 12-month guarantee
- Price
- A fixed quote before we start
- Phone
- 01277 525 020
- Last updated
- 3 November 2026
What sets the cost
There’s no standard rate for sealant work, since sites vary so much. What we take into account:
- Phasing around occupants
- Site requirements such as inductions and permits
- Distance, for remote addresses
- Which sealant the job calls for
The specified product makes a difference, as does the preparation each joint needs, from cutting out to priming and backing rod. Access, phasing and site rules also count.
Sending details for a quote
Diagnosis starts before we arrive. Let us know:
- Any specification or named product
- The type of building and who uses it
- Clear photos of the problem areas
- Approximate linear metres or a joint schedule
The quickest route to a quote is a few photographs and the site postcode. Send them through the quote form, or ring 01277 525 020 or send details through our quote form to discuss it first.
When it isn’t the sealant
Some faults sit outside our scope, and we say so rather than covering them up:
- Fire risk assessments, a job for a competent assessor
- Walls or floors that aren’t fire-resisting to begin with
- Plastic pipes whose detail calls for a collar or wrap
Not sure which it is? You can call 01277 525 020 or email drawings and photos and we will tell you honestly.
Where we work in Dounby
- Linear gaps at wall heads
- Service gaps in risers
- Cable penetrations
- Pipe penetrations
- Small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows
- Joints between fire-resisting walls and floors
What else we do in Dounby
Dounby: questions and answers
Will you design a fire-stopping scheme for our building in Dounby?
No. The designer or fire engineer sets the detail and building control accepts it. We install what’s specified, to the product’s tested detail.
Can you take on a job in Dounby, on the island?
Yes. Islands are part of our area, Dounby included. Island work is planned around ferry crossings and the weather, so photos and a full list before we travel are essential.
How long does a typical visit take?
We plan the time on site around your programme and access. You will have an expected duration with the quote.
Do you work to architects’ specifications?
Yes. We follow the specification, along with the manufacturer’s installation guidance.
Are your applicators CSCS-carded?
Yes. We use CSCS-carded applicators, which many sites require.
Can the sealant be colour-matched?
In many cases, yes. Sealants are made in a wide range of standard colours, and matching to RAL references or nearby finishes is commonly requested. We will confirm the colours available for the specified product.
When can you be on site?
The office is staffed Monday to Friday, from 8am until 5pm. Tell us your site hours and access windows and the work will be fitted around them.
Site staff or a sealant specialist?
General builders and handymen seal joints, but it isn’t their main trade. A specialist prepares properly, controls joint depth and picks a product with the right movement class, which is what makes a joint last.
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.
How the job changes by surface
Cables and cable bundles
Cable penetrations are frequently sealed with fire-rated sealant where the detail allows. The detail limits bundle size and the gaps between and around cables and we work within those limits.
Risers and ceiling voids
Openings above suspended ceilings are easy to miss. We work through the areas on your schedule methodically, and note anything we find that isn’t on it.
Fire-rated sealing for Dounby buildings
For an island location such as Dounby, work is planned around ferry crossings and the weather. We need the specification and a count of penetrations before we sail. Scotland has its own building standards: the non-domestic Technical Handbook (clause 2.1.14) says service penetrations should be fire stopped to at least the fire resistance duration of the wall or floor, with proprietary products, intumescent ones included, tested for their end use. We install fire-rated sealant to that tested detail where it is specified.
In a hotel such as Smithfield Hotel, which lies south-east of Dounby, new pipework or cabling through bedroom and corridor walls needs sealing with the specified product. Around Dounby, we install fire-rated and intumescent sealant to the product’s tested detail wherever it is the specified product.
Dounby is about 12 miles north-west of Kirkwall, in the Orkney Islands. Anywhere in KW17, the process is the same: send details, get a fixed quote, we seal, and the work is guaranteed. Our the Orkney Islands coverage takes in 51 places, large and small.
Commercial sites across KW17 are covered. Buildings on Flett's Park, Back Road and Hillside Road are within our area for service penetrations. Close to Dounby, our area also takes in Hourston (1 mile south), Skeabrae (1 mile west), Russland (2 miles south), Harray (3 miles south-east) and Tenston (3 miles south-west). Dounby ranks among the main centres of the Orkney Islands, with offices, shops, schools and other public and commercial buildings. For island and remote sites, we plan travel and materials carefully.
Near you in Dounby
A little further out are Corrigall Farm Museum (2.1 miles south-east). The countryside around Dounby includes Birsay moors RSPB Reserve and Greeny Hill.
On site: what to expect
A typical day starts with protection: tape along each joint edge and covers over finishes, stock and equipment close by. The work itself usually takes a single visit for a short list of penetrations, or a phased programme for a whole building, and our waste is bagged and taken away as we go. For a building near Dounby, directions, keys and a contact on the day are worth sorting early. We will confirm the plan with the fixed quote.
- The specification and schedule come first, so we know which details apply.
- Access, permits and the order of areas are agreed with the site team.
- Each opening is checked for wall or floor type, service, gap and depth.
- Foam, ordinary sealant and debris come out.
- Backing and fire-rated sealant are installed to the detail and tooled.
- Anything outside the detail is reported to you rather than sealed.
Preparing the site
- For older buildings, check the asbestos register before work
- Agree which areas must stay open
- Arrange parking or a loading space
Getting a fixed quote
If there’s a specification, drawings or a tender package, send it with your enquiry, and we’ll price the work to it. Smaller jobs need nothing more than photos and a few notes.