Renovating Your Garage? Why not paint it with Intumescent Paint?
You would think that with all of the different types of combustibles stored in a typical garage that fires would be more common there but in reality garage fires are rare with most fires in a home starting in the kitchen.
Knowing this still doesn't change that fact that a fire can start in your garage and these fires tend to be larger and spread farther than fires that start in other areas of your home which makes them the most destructive among house fires.
Malfunctioning electrical tools and machinery is the number one cause of garage fires. Fires can also start because of shorts in wires, damaged wires, and overloading electrical outlets.
Oil or gasoline can drip from cars. These fluids may collect unnoticed and eventually ignite. Flammable liquids, such as gasoline, oil and paint, are commonly stored in garages which add to the risks.
Even though garage fires are rare you can take steps to help limit the damage or even slow the spread of the fire to other parts of your home by simply painting your walls and ceilings with a special type of paint called Intumescent Paint.
Intumescent paint is a coating that reacts to heat by swelling in a controlled manner to many times its original thickness, producing a carbonaceous char formed by a large number of small bubbles that act as an insulating layer to protect the substrate.
Most people think of this type of product as being the fluffy stuff that is sprayed on ceilings and steel beams in commercial buildings and warehouses but in reality it looks like and is applied like latex paint. When people decide to upgrade their garage with a decorative floor coating they typically take the next steps of painting the drywall, upgrading the lights and adding shelving units or slot walls. By changing the paint you use to an intumescent paint you can add that little bit of extra security to your home. In terms of cost per gallon it is not a lot more expensive than a high end latex paint.
2 Coats of "PPG Speedhide 427XI" Fire Paint is rated at Class “A” when tested in accordance with ASTM E84 (NFPA 255). The coating obtained the UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES INC. AND UNDERWRITERS’ LABORATORIES OF CANADA fire hazard classification. What this means is that Speedhide 427XI gives an extended 30 minute fire rating for your walls and ceilings which means an extra 30 minute fire barrier. 30 minutes can mean the difference between fire damage contained in your garage or fire damage throughout your entire home.
Speedhide 427XI comes in only a flat sheen but it can be tinted to many colors. Ask your Powercoat representative about Speedhide 427XI today! Read the tech data sheet and the Fire Hazard classification sheet below.
