Fire stopping in Sonning
Looking for fire stopping in Sonning? It’s simple: send details, get a quote, we seal, guaranteed.
- Improvised or mixed-product fire seals
- Fire seals cut back for extra cables and never reinstated
- Hidden openings found during inspections
Fire stopping in Sonning
Photos, a specification or a quick description of the joints is enough to start a fixed quote.
On site: what to expect
A typical day starts with protection: masking tape along the joint edges and sheeting over anything nearby. The work itself normally takes anything from one day to a planned run of visits, depending on the number of seals and the access, and our waste is bagged and taken away as we go. Jobs in and around smaller places like Sonning are normally planned as a single visit, so we ask for photos and rough sizes first. That way the right products come on the day.
- We start with your penetration schedule, drawings or specification.
- We plan the sequence of floors, risers and voids with you.
- We compare every service penetration with its tested detail before sealing.
- Foam, ordinary sealant and debris come out first.
- The specified backing and sealant go in to depth and are finished neatly.
- We tell you about openings that need a different product.
Before we start on site
- Send your site hours and access windows
- Move anything stored against the joints
- Let us know about inductions and permits
Get a fixed quote
A good quote starts with a clear picture: the joints involved, quantities, access and the product called for. Send what you have, and we will arrange a site visit if anything is unclear.
Advice
Fire stopping in Sonning, done properly
A fire-rated sealant is only one part of a tested system: its test evidence covers one product in one kind of wall or floor, with set services, gaps, depths and backing. Before we seal anything, we check the opening against the detail it is meant to follow. Site teams most often ask us about unsealed penetrations discovered above suspended ceilings and fire-stopping items raised at inspection or handover, across service gaps in risers, cable penetrations and joints between fire-resisting walls and floors. A single leaking joint is often how a building in Sonning first comes to us: we look at the rest while we’re there and tell you what we find.
Smaller places such as Sonning still have buildings with fire-resisting walls and floors: schools, halls, care homes and commercial conversions. Any service penetration through those walls should be closed with the specified product, set out as its test evidence shows.
What our 12-month guarantee covers is the way we did the job: the preparation, the sealing and the tooling. It doesn’t extend to damage, other trades’ later work or movement the joint was never designed to take.
- Where
- Sonning (RG4)
- Wider area
- Wokingham
- Guarantee
- A 12-month guarantee
- Quotes
- A fixed quote before we start
- Phone
- 01277 525 020
- Page updated
- 3 November 2026
Building owners, agents and FMs in Sonning
Blocks and communal areas make up much of the work for housing associations and agents. Work can be phased so residents and staff keep access throughout, with each stage agreed with your site contact.
Facilities managers want contractors who arrive with the paperwork sorted. Let us know the documents you need (RAMS, insurance certificate, CSCS details) and we’ll confirm them with the quote.
Common problems we fix in Sonning
Openings in fire-resisting walls normally appear when services are added or changed. New cabling, rerouted pipework or a data route drilled through a riser leaves an opening that nobody returns to. Across several fit-outs, the openings add up.
It’s worth sending us details if you spot any of the following:
- Damaged fire seals in risers and voids
- Openings found when ceilings come down for a refit
- Fire-stopping items raised at inspection or handover
- Unsealed joints where partitions meet the slab
Residences at universities like University of Reading (to the north of Sonning) have compartment walls that must be resealed whenever services change.
What your quote should include
- Are they CHAS accredited or on Constructionline?
- Their approach to joint depth and backing
- Will failed sealant be removed rather than covered?
- Proof of insurance
Different surfaces, different methods
Small ducts
We seal around ducts only within what the tested detail covers. The ductwork, its supports and any dampers are for the ductwork contractor.
Drylining partitions
Plasterboard partitions are tested as a specific construction. We check that the product’s detail covers that partition type and board thickness first.
Looking after the joints
Keep the joints in good shape with a few simple steps:
- Make fire stopping part of every scope that crosses a fire-resisting wall
- Arrange inspection before areas are covered up
- File the specified details where the next contractor can find them
- Include service cupboards in routine inspections
Never top up a fire seal with foam, ordinary silicone or filler. A repair should use the original product, installed the same way, or a new specification from the designer.
Ask every contractor who works in risers or voids to report openings they create. Small habits like this stop openings building up.
Cost factors for service penetrations
The price varies from site to site. It mainly depends on:
- Backing rod, priming and other preparation
- Whether the work must be split into stages
- Whether old sealant has to be cut out first
- Any access equipment needed
There’s no price list, because the scope varies so much from one building to the next. For a fixed figure, call for a quote and we will price your job on its own details.
What we need to price the job
The more we know, the firmer the quote. Helpful details to send:
- The asbestos register, for older buildings
- Access details, including height
- Approximate linear metres or a joint schedule
- Whether the building will be occupied during the work
Photos, drawings or a schedule of the joints and a fixed quote comes back to you. If the job needs a look first, we will arrange a site visit.
Nearby places to Sonning
What else we do in Sonning
Sonning: questions and answers
Will you plan work around the academic year at somewhere like University of Reading?
Yes, holiday working periods are the norm on campus jobs. Let us know which documents your site asks for, and we will confirm them alongside the quote.
What does the BS 476 change mean for fire-rated sealant in Sonning?
Approved Document B loses its BS 476 references from 2 September 2029, and BS EN 13501-2 becomes the route, subject to transitional arrangements. Our part doesn’t change: the specified product, to its tested detail.
Can you work to our specification?
Yes. Include it with the drawings when you ask for a quote, and the quote will be based on it, flagging anything that needs clarifying.
How long will the new sealant last?
Nobody can honestly give a figure in years, because life depends on how much the joint moves, how exposed it is and how it’s cleaned and used. Regular inspection is the best way to catch problems early.
Can the sealant be colour-matched?
In many cases, yes. Many products come in a range of standard colours, and matching to RAL references or surrounding finishes is often possible. We confirm what’s available for the specified product when we quote.
Does the weather affect the work?
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. Indoors, the weather is rarely a problem.
When can you be on site?
We are in the office from 8am until 5pm, Monday to Friday. Tell us your site hours and access windows and the work will be fitted around them.
Fire-rated sealing for Sonning buildings
At about 35 miles from central London, Sonning is within reach of the capital. Offices around the capital are refitted often, and the cabling that follows can breach fire-resisting walls. Approved Document B is the English guidance that covers fire stopping around openings and penetrations. References to the older BS 476 classes are being removed from it from 2 September 2029, after which the European classification, BS EN 13501-2, is the route, subject to transitional arrangements. Either way, we install the specified product to its tested detail.
Refits at places like Loddon Vale Shopping Centre, 1.2 miles to the south-east of Sonning, often reroute services through walls between units. On a hospital site such as Royal Berkshire Hospital, which lies south-west of Sonning, fire-rated sealant goes in where the specification calls for it, with the work planned around the estates team’s permits.
Sonning is about 1 mile north-west of Woodley, in Wokingham. Across the RG4 postcode area, the process is the same: send details, get a fixed quote, we seal, and the work is guaranteed. Sonning is one of 42 places in Wokingham on our list for service penetrations.
Anyone looking for fire stopping in RG4 gets the same process as the rest of our area: details, then a fixed price, then sealing and a 12-month guarantee. For a building on High Street, Parkway Drive and Pound Lane or nearby, send details and we’ll quote for service penetrations. With the B478 and B4446 nearby, Sonning is easy to get to with materials and equipment. If your building is just outside Sonning, we cover Play Hatch (1 mile north-west), Dunsden Green (2 miles north-west), Newtown (2 miles south-west), Caversham Park Village (2 miles north-west) and Littlestead Green (2 miles north-west). Nearby towns on our patch include Wokingham (5 miles south-east), Earley (3 miles south-west), Crowthorne (8 miles south-east), Lower Earley (3 miles south), Winnersh (3 miles south-east) and Shinfield (5 miles south-west).
Near you in Sonning
Recent enquiries here include premises near Bull Inn, Reading Blue Coat School and Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve. Sonning’s nearest station is Twyford station, about 1.9 miles east. Other landmarks nearby include Royal Berkshire Hospital (2.6 miles south-west) and Berkshire Medical Heritage Centre Museum (2.5 miles south-west). Not far away are Sonning Hill and South Lake.