Fire stopping in Swanston
Fire-rated and intumescent sealing of service penetrations and linear gaps in Swanston and across Edinburgh. CHAS accredited and fully insured, with a 12-month guarantee.
- Expanding foam used as fire stopping
- Seals that don’t match their tested detail
- Openings found when ceilings come down for a refit
Fire stopping near Swanston
Tell us what needs sealing and where, with photos or drawings if you have them, and we’ll price it.
About our fire stopping in Swanston
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. The enquiries we see most involve improvised or mixed-product fire seals and builders’ foam or ordinary silicone in compartment walls, on pipe penetrations, linear gaps at wall heads and cable penetrations. Searching for sealant specialists in Swanston? We have been sealing commercial buildings since 2005, CHAS accredited and a Constructionline member.
Refurbishments in small hotels, schools and care homes around places like Swanston can leave gaps around new services. We fit the specified fire-rated sealant as its published detail shows and raise it if another product is needed.
We stand behind the joints we seal with a 12-month guarantee. That covers our preparation and application, and we come back if anything isn’t right.
- Where
- Swanston (EH10)
- Wider area
- Edinburgh
- Cover
- 12 months on our workmanship
- Quote
- Fixed quote, scope in writing
- Telephone
- 01277 525 020
- Updated
- 3 November 2026
Fire-rated sealing for Swanston buildings
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, using products tested for the way they’re used. Where fire-rated sealant is specified, that’s what we install, to the tested detail. Three care or nursing homes sit less than 2 miles from Swanston. In a care home, any new pipe or cable through a fire-resisting wall should be sealed to the specified detail.
For a unit at a site such as Straiton Retail Park, 2.1 miles south-east of Swanston, any new service through a fire-resisting wall should be sealed to the tested detail. At a healthcare site like Royal Edinburgh Hospital, which lies north of Swanston, new services through compartment walls are a constant, and each needs the specified seal. Campus buildings at universities such as University of Edinburgh - Easter Bush Campus (to the south of Swanston) see constant changes to data and services, and fire-rated sealant goes in around new penetrations where it is specified.
Swanston is about 3 miles south of Edinburgh, in Edinburgh. We send applicators to Swanston for service penetrations, handled exactly as we handle every other area. Across Edinburgh, 174 places are covered, Swanston among them.
If you need fire stopping in EH10, the process matches everywhere else we work: details, then a fixed price, then sealing and a 12-month guarantee. Close to Swanston, our area also takes in Bonaly (2 miles west), Torphin (2 miles west), Milton Bridge (3 miles south), Penicuik (4 miles south) and Silverburn (5 miles south-west). Nearby towns on our patch include Edinburgh (3 miles north), Leith (6 miles north), Bonnington (6 miles north), Greenside (5 miles north), Broughton (5 miles north) and Bellevue (5 miles north).
Local landmarks in Swanston
The closest station to Swanston is Slateford station, roughly 2.5 miles north-west. Other landmarks nearby include Merchiston Tower (2.8 miles north) and Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital (0.9 miles north-east). The countryside around Swanston includes Caerketton Hill and The New Leaf Co-op.
How the job changes by surface
Risers and ceiling voids
Service risers and the voids above ceilings are where openings collect. Access to these areas is planned with you in advance along with any permits your site needs.
Metal pipes
Heat travels along metal pipework. We follow whatever the detail requires and flag anything we can’t match.
Swanston: questions and answers
Can you work around term dates at a campus such as University of Edinburgh - Easter Bush Campus?
Yes. Education sites normally want the work in vacations or in phases during term, and we plan to suit. Any paperwork you need, from RAMS to our insurance certificate and CSCS details, is confirmed with the quote.
Can you work on a hospital site such as Royal Edinburgh Hospital?
Yes, hospitals are one of the sectors we cover. Work is phased so departments keep running, under the site’s own rules.
What’s the quickest route to a quote?
It works in four steps: send details, get a quote, we seal, guaranteed. The first step only needs photos and a postcode.
How long does a job like this take?
That varies with the scale of the job, but the work typically takes anything from one day to a planned run of visits, depending on the number of seals and the access. Larger or phased jobs take longer, and we’ll give you a timescale with the quote.
Will you come and look before quoting?
Many jobs can be quoted from photographs, drawings or a joint schedule. If the job needs a look first, we will arrange a visit before quoting.
What does an EI 60 rating mean?
BS EN 1366-3 covers penetration seals and BS EN 1366-4 covers linear joints. Classification follows BS EN 13501-2, where E is integrity, I is insulation and the number is minutes, as in EI 60. That rating only holds when the product is installed to its tested detail.
Do you work to architects’ specifications?
Yes. The specification and the manufacturer’s installation guidance are what we work to.
When it isn’t the sealant
Some faults sit outside our scope, and we point that out rather than sealing over them:
- Designing or specifying fire stopping, which sits with the designer or fire engineer
- Plastic pipes whose detail calls for a collar or wrap
- Walls or floors that aren’t fire-resisting to begin with
Not sure which it is? You can give us a call on 01277 525 020 or email drawings and photos and we’ll tell you honestly before you book.
Where we work in Swanston
- Joints between fire-resisting walls and floors
- Linear gaps at wall heads
- Small duct penetrations where the tested detail allows
- Service gaps in risers
- Pipe penetrations
- Cable penetrations
When to bring in a 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.
Certain joints really need a specialist: 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.
On site: what to expect
On arrival, we sign in, go through any site induction and check how permits are handled. Everything around the joints gets protected before anything is cut or cleaned, with the work itself usually taking a single visit for a short list of penetrations, or a phased programme for a whole building. For work around Swanston, we aim for one trip, which is why we ask for photographs and a full list first. External joints need a dry spell as well.
- 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.
- Unsuitable material is removed and the opening cleaned first.
- The specified backing and sealant go in to depth and are finished neatly.
- Anything outside the detail is reported to you rather than sealed.
Before we start on site
- Have the specification and drawings to hand
- Tell us what induction or permit system the site runs
- Send your site hours and access windows
Quotes
Tell us about the building, the joints and when you need the work done, and a fixed quote will follow. To get it moving, call the office on 01277 525 020 or email a schedule or drawings.
Advice
After the work
Keep the joints in good shape with a few simple steps:
- Brief every trade that openings they make must be sealed
- Report damaged or disturbed seals as soon as they’re spotted
- Settle who seals which penetrations at the start of a project
- Have penetrations checked while they can still be seen
Never top up a fire seal with foam, ordinary silicone or filler. A repair should use the original product, installed the same way unless the designer specifies otherwise.
Make reporting new openings part of every permit to work in service areas. It costs little and catches breaches early.
Work for main contractors and building owners
Main contractors use us as their sealant subcontractor, on new build and refurbishment alike. Programme, specification and site rules come first, and our applicators hold CSCS cards.
Building owners and managing agents use us on sealant work across single buildings or whole portfolios. Several sites can go on one quote, so there’s one set of paperwork to deal with.