Howes fire stopping
Planning work on a service penetration in Howes? We look at it, seal it with the right product and hand it over with a 12-month guarantee.
- Old intumescent sealant that has split away
- Head-of-wall gaps with no fire seal
- Penetration schedules that need working through
Fire stopping for Howes sites
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 Howes
We are commercial sealant applicators, CHAS accredited and a Constructionline member, with CSCS-carded applicators on site. We don’t hold a third-party fire-stopping installer certificate. What we offer is careful installation of the specified sealant to its tested detail, with a 12-month guarantee on our workmanship. If you have unsealed joints where partitions meet the slab and openings found when ceilings come down for a refit, we can put it right, whatever the surface. Sealant contractors, mastic applicators, sealant specialists: whatever the job title on the order, in Howes it comes down to the same thing: the right product in a properly prepared joint.
Refurbishments in small hotels, schools and care homes around places like Howes can leave gaps around new services. A round of checks after M&E work is good practice, and any gaps found are sealed where fire-rated sealant is specified.
Our workmanship is guaranteed for 12 months. If our installation lets you down in that time, we return and fix it.
- Location
- Howes (DG12)
- Wider area
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Guarantee
- A 12-month guarantee
- Quote
- Quoted before any work starts
- Call
- 01277 525 020
- Page updated
- 3 November 2026
Keeping the joints sound
Every sealant joint needs some looking after, and how long they last depends on how they’re treated. Our advice:
- File the specified details where the next contractor can find them
- Ask which product is in place before decorating
- Arrange inspection before areas are covered up
- Check risers and ceiling voids after each round of works
Store the specified product details somewhere the next contractor can find them. Anyone resealing later needs to know which product and detail were used.
Ask every contractor who works in risers or voids to report openings they create. Small habits like this stop openings building up.
Surface by surface
Cables and cable bundles
Data cabling added after handover is a regular cause of open service penetrations. Openings around new cables are resealed to the detail.
Small ducts
Some fire-rated sealant details cover small ducts. Larger or fire-rated ductwork normally needs a different solution set by the designer, and we’ll say if that applies.
Other services in Howes
When to call us in Howes
Most open service penetrations are left by later work. A new cable pulled by an electrician, a pipe rerouted by a plumber or a data run drilled through a riser can leave the hole behind. Over a few years of fit-outs, a wall can collect a lot of these.
These are often picked up first by site or facilities staff:
- Fire sealant pulled out of the opening
- Unsealed penetrations discovered above suspended ceilings
- Fire-stopping items raised at inspection or handover
- Damaged fire seals in risers and voids
For a hotel such as Queensberry Arms Hotel, under half a mile south-east of Howes, penetration seals are worth checking after any refit or services upgrade.
Comparing quotes
- What level of public liability insurance do they hold?
- The terms of the workmanship guarantee
- Will failed sealant be removed rather than covered?
- Who will actually carry out the work
Work for main contractors and building owners
Building owners and managing agents use us on sealant work across single buildings or whole portfolios. Several sites can go on one quote, which keeps the paperwork simple.
For main contractors, we work as the sealant subcontractor, on new build and refurbishment alike. Programme, specification and site rules come first, and our applicators hold CSCS cards.
Questions about Howes
Can you seal penetrations in a hotel in Howes after a refit?
Yes, where fire-rated sealant is the specified product. 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 on a hospital site such as Annan Hospital?
Yes, hospitals are one of the sectors we cover. Before anything starts, the estates team agrees permits, inductions and infection-control measures with us.
Do you have public liability insurance?
Yes. We are fully insured, including public liability cover.
Do you work in Howes?
Yes. Howes falls within our area, and the simplest way to start is to ring 01277 525 020 or email the details over.
What do you charge?
There isn’t a price list, as every site differs. Send photos or drawings and we’ll price it at a fixed figure.
Can you send site paperwork?
Let us know which documents the site needs, such as RAMS, an insurance certificate or CSCS details, and we will confirm them with the quote.
Is any job too small?
Small jobs are welcome alongside larger packages. Photos and a description are enough to start.
Where services cross fire walls in Howes
Scottish guidance (non-domestic Technical Handbook, clause 2.1.14) asks that penetrations match at least the fire resistance period of the element they pass through, and products should be tested for their end use. Where fire-rated sealant is specified, that’s what we install, to the tested detail. Howes has several hotels close by, all within 2 miles. A hotel refit often runs new services through compartment walls between bedrooms and corridors, and each opening needs the specified seal.
Holiday works at schools like Annan Academy often leave service openings to seal before pupils return. Theatres, wards and plant rooms at sites like Annan Hospital (to the east of Howes) all have compartment walls crossed by services.
Howes is about 14 miles east of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway. Businesses, contractors and managing agents in Howes can call on us for service penetrations, as part of our coverage of Dumfries and Galloway. Howes is one of 139 places in Dumfries and Galloway on our list for service penetrations. Our Edinburgh page has more on work in that area.
If you need fire stopping in DG12, the process matches everywhere else we work: details, then a fixed price, then sealing and a 12-month guarantee. Close to Howes, our area also takes in Annan (1 mile east), Newbie (1 mile south-west), Brydekirk (2 miles north), Powfoot (3 miles west) and Dornock (3 miles east). Further afield, our area takes in Dumfries (14 miles west), Lockerbie (10 miles north), Heathhall (14 miles north-west), Langholm (15 miles north-east), Gretna (8 miles east) and Lochmaben (12 miles north-west).
Near you in Howes
Locally, jobs take us to sites close to Queensberry Arms Hotel and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Annan station, about 0.6 miles south-east. Well-known places in the area include Annan Museum (under half a mile south-east) and Annan Hospital (0.9 miles east). Green spaces nearby include Campfield Marsh RSPB reserve.
On site: what to expect
In a busy building, we agree a sequence with your contact so the disruption stays in one area at once. Each area is protected, prepared and sealed, then reopened once the sealant allows before we move to the next. For work around Howes, we aim for one trip, which is why we ask for photos and a full list first. External joints need a dry spell as well.
- First we go through the drawings, schedule or specification for the seals and ask about anything unclear.
- Every penetration is compared with its detail: wall or floor type, service, gap size and depth.
- Anything that doesn’t belong in the opening, such as expanding foam or general-purpose filler, is removed.
- We fit the backing the detail asks for, to the stated depth.
- We apply the specified sealant to the depth and around the services as the detail shows.
- Openings that need a collar, wrap, batt or other product are flagged to you rather than filled with sealant.
Preparing the site
- Have the specification and drawings to hand
- Agree which areas must stay open
- Move anything stored against the joints
Ask for a quote
Send details, get a quote, we seal, guaranteed: that’s how every job runs. To take the first step, give us a call on 01277 525 020 or send details through our quote form.
Read more
When it isn’t the sealant
We check first that sealant really is the fix. It won’t put right:
- Openings that need collars, wraps, batts or boards rather than sealant
- Writing the fire-stopping specification
- Signing off or certifying a building’s fire stopping
If in doubt, ring 01277 525 020 or send photos by email and we’ll say what we think.
What we seal
- Joints between fire-resisting walls and floors
- Service gaps in risers
- Cable penetrations
- Pipe penetrations
- Linear gaps at wall heads
- Small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows