Fire-retardant material to protect work area?
May 22, 2009 10:24 AM Subscribe
What are some cheap fire-retardant materials I can use to protect my garage when welding?
I want to do some welding in my garage, and since the walls are made of exposed wood studs, and there is other flammable stuff in there, I figure I should make an enclosed area in which I weld, to prevent sparks from flying around and causing a problem.
It seems that purchasing welding blankets or curtains is really expensive. Are there any cheap materials I could use to make my own safe zone?
I want to do some welding in my garage, and since the walls are made of exposed wood studs, and there is other flammable stuff in there, I figure I should make an enclosed area in which I weld, to prevent sparks from flying around and causing a problem.
It seems that purchasing welding blankets or curtains is really expensive. Are there any cheap materials I could use to make my own safe zone?
Ordinary drywall is fire resistant enough not to ignite from welding sparks.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 10:40 AM on May 22, 2009
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 10:40 AM on May 22, 2009
Response by poster: Those are some good ideas, I did not know drywall would be safe enough. I need to protect a fairly large area, assembling a car chassis.
posted by SNACKeR at 11:11 AM on May 22, 2009
posted by SNACKeR at 11:11 AM on May 22, 2009
Type X drywall is the code-approved fire-resistant type
posted by misterbrandt at 12:14 PM on May 22, 2009
posted by misterbrandt at 12:14 PM on May 22, 2009
Type X drywall has double the fire rating of standard drywall. But that rating is for resistance to an actual fire; instead of the wall burning through in 30 minutes, it takes an hour. That isn't really important when we're talking about sparks catching flammable material in the garage.
The main thing is to remove sources of ignition from the area, chemicals and wood dust being the most likely ones. Make sure you sweep the area clean after any wood cutting, and keep all flammable materials (including paint) sealed in tins and out of the way.
After that, if you're worried about the wood studs (and I wouldn't be), a sheet of drywall will prevent any sparks from reaching the studs.
If you start a fire that manages to eat through a sheet of drywall, you should maybe give up welding.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:42 PM on May 22, 2009
The main thing is to remove sources of ignition from the area, chemicals and wood dust being the most likely ones. Make sure you sweep the area clean after any wood cutting, and keep all flammable materials (including paint) sealed in tins and out of the way.
After that, if you're worried about the wood studs (and I wouldn't be), a sheet of drywall will prevent any sparks from reaching the studs.
If you start a fire that manages to eat through a sheet of drywall, you should maybe give up welding.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 2:42 PM on May 22, 2009
Seconding dry wall as being adequate. Welding doesn't really spread sparks around, they'll mostly fall straight down. However watch out for grinding as the sparks get flung around quite a distance in all directions.
posted by Mitheral at 3:02 PM on May 22, 2009
posted by Mitheral at 3:02 PM on May 22, 2009
I strongly encourage you to find out what building code requirements are for welding areas and follow them. Likely you will find that type 'x' drywall is a major part of the solution, but it needs to be attached well (screw spacing) taped and mudded and joints sealed with a fire resistant caulk at minimum to achieve a recognized rating.
This isn't just about avoiding a small flare up from some sparks, it is also about giving a much higher probability that if the 'unthinkable' does happen your losses are controlled.
posted by meinvt at 6:28 PM on May 22, 2009
This isn't just about avoiding a small flare up from some sparks, it is also about giving a much higher probability that if the 'unthinkable' does happen your losses are controlled.
posted by meinvt at 6:28 PM on May 22, 2009
meinvt writes "I strongly encourage you to find out what building code requirements are for welding areas and follow them."
Canadian code doesn't specify anything for situations like this (IE: it isn't usage specific except in the broadest common cases like bathroom and kitchens. Walls in general need to meet certain standards depending on what is on the other side but plain gyproc does the job in most cases. Usually the only time enhanced fire protection is specified is for partitions between multi family dwellings and other shared walls.
Bringing the average residential garage wall up to a 1 hour or longer burn through is going to do nothing to control losses. A fire large enough to need that kind of protection is going to burn through the assorted wall penetrations (windows, both doors, electrical runs, etc.) in minutes.
posted by Mitheral at 1:04 AM on May 23, 2009
Canadian code doesn't specify anything for situations like this (IE: it isn't usage specific except in the broadest common cases like bathroom and kitchens. Walls in general need to meet certain standards depending on what is on the other side but plain gyproc does the job in most cases. Usually the only time enhanced fire protection is specified is for partitions between multi family dwellings and other shared walls.
Bringing the average residential garage wall up to a 1 hour or longer burn through is going to do nothing to control losses. A fire large enough to need that kind of protection is going to burn through the assorted wall penetrations (windows, both doors, electrical runs, etc.) in minutes.
posted by Mitheral at 1:04 AM on May 23, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:28 AM on May 22, 2009