Pros and Cons of Traditional Fireproofing vs. Intumescent Fireproofing

Pro­tect­ing your facil­i­ty from fire with fire­proof­ing coat­ings is essen­tial for pro­tect­ing your peo­ple and prop­er­ty as well as stay­ing up to code. As you review your fire­proof­ing options, you’ll find that there are mul­ti­ple mate­ri­als suit­ed for these pur­pos­es. The two main cat­e­gories of fire­proof coat­ings are cemen­ti­tious (the tra­di­tion­al choice) and intu­mes­cent. The for­mer type of coat­ing doesn’t alter its state dur­ing a fire while the lat­ter puffs up when exposed to high heat — both types, how­ev­er, offer sig­nif­i­cant pas­sive fire pro­tec­tion (PFP). Let’s go over the var­i­ous pros and cons of both cemen­ti­tious and intu­mes­cent fire­proof­ing so you can make a more informed deci­sion for your facility.

Cemen­ti­tious Fire­proof­ing Pros

Though not always the case, tra­di­tion­al fea­tures tend to be more per­va­sive than their less tra­di­tion­al coun­ter­parts — as such, cemen­ti­tious fire­proof coat­ings are typ­i­cal­ly easy to track down (in part because they’re eas­i­er to man­u­fac­ture) and less cost­ly com­pared to intu­mes­cent coat­ings. Both nor­mal-weight and light-weight cemen­ti­tious coat­ings are also high­ly pro­tec­tive, espe­cial­ly when it comes to shield­ing struc­tur­al steel from flames. The chem­i­cal com­po­si­tion of these coat­ings pas­si­vate steel, reduc­ing the metal’s over­all reac­tiv­i­ty — in this way, cemen­ti­tious coat­ings pro­tect steel from both fire and oxi­da­tion (as well as oth­er threats).

Cemen­ti­tious Fire­proof­ing Cons

Lighter cemen­ti­tious coat­ings can run into dura­bil­i­ty con­cerns since they’re com­posed of less Port­land cement mate­r­i­al. Con­verse­ly, nor­mal cemen­ti­tious fire­proof­ing can become heavy, which may bur­den cer­tain struc­tures over time and inter­fere with the ease of appli­ca­tion. All types of cemen­ti­tious coat­ings are porous, too, mean­ing mois­ture can make its way inside crevices and in turn harm under­ly­ing sur­faces. As such, cemen­ti­tious coat­ings should not be applied in high-mois­ture environments.

Intu­mes­cent Fire­proof­ing Pros

Where intu­mes­cent coat­ings real­ly shine is their supe­ri­or pro­tec­tive abil­i­ties. The afore­men­tioned ​“puff­ing up” that occurs when these coat­ings reach a cer­tain tem­per­a­ture is trig­gered by chem­i­cal process­es, pre­vent­ing flames from get­ting too close to under­ly­ing sur­faces for extend­ed peri­ods. The advan­tages don’t end there, how­ev­er. In the right hands, intu­mes­cent paint is also easy to apply (espe­cial­ly sin­gle-com­po­nent for­mu­las). And when prop­er­ly applied, these coat­ings cre­ate a water­tight seal, leav­ing no gaps or holes for mois­ture to enter. Ulti­mate­ly, intu­mes­cent coat­ings act like oth­er pro­tec­tive coat­ings, mit­i­gat­ing the risk of cor­ro­sion while also pro­tect­ing sur­faces from fire. 

Intu­mes­cent Fire­proof­ing Cons

Unfor­tu­nate­ly, the added bells and whis­tles offered by intu­mes­cent fire­proof­ing increas­es its price. More­over, it’s imper­a­tive that inte­ri­or struc­tures are thor­ough­ly pre­pared (e.g., cleaned, sealed, cli­mate-con­trolled, etc.) pri­or to appli­ca­tion, as fail­ing to do so can decrease the effi­ca­cy and longevi­ty of these coat­ings. While we men­tioned the ease with which intu­mes­cent sprayed fire­proof­ing is applied to var­i­ous sur­faces, it’s worth not­ing that spe­cial­ized knowl­edge and expe­ri­ence are required to get the job done — in oth­er words, not just any­one should attempt coat­ing sur­faces with intu­mes­cent fire­proof­ing. Last­ly, the com­plex nature of intu­mes­cent paint often neces­si­tates a greater degree of main­te­nance over the long term.

The Ver­dict

Both tra­di­tion­al (cemen­ti­tious) and intu­mes­cent fire­proof­ing pro­vide a facil­i­ty with sig­nif­i­cant pas­sive fire pro­tec­tion. Many build­ings rely on a com­bi­na­tion of these mate­ri­als to suit every type of sur­face and envi­ron­ment. At Kaloutas, our fire­proof­ing spe­cial­ists under­stand the ins and outs of all fire­proof­ing mate­ri­als and pro­vide effi­cient, high-qual­i­ty appli­ca­tions across many indus­tries. Let us help you deter­mine which fire­proof­ing solu­tions are best for your business.

To learn more about us and all that we do, con­tact us online or give us a call at 978−532−1414 today.