Door seal rubber in the UK?

#1

Hello folks,

I have FD30 solid core fire doors, and have used proper drop down seals for the door to floor seal. These work well, especially since I have a continuous wooden floor between both rooms and landing I don't want to interrupt with thresholds.

For perimeter seals Rod Gervais recommends GM type-k trunk rubber, but I've never been able to find this in the UK.

At the moment I have Lorient Batwing seals around the perimeter which are ok but not ideal. My recent ventilation install has revealed they are not completely airtight

: batwing.jpg (33.58 KiB) Viewed 30544 times

: batwing.jpg (33.58 KiB) Viewed 30544 times

They are not heavy duty seals though, so one would not expect heavy duty performance. Has anyone found anything better, perhaps more akin to the seal recommended by Rod Gervais?

Cheers!
Jennifer

#2

Do you have Zero International in the UK? If so, you might want to contact them, and see what they can offer. They have some pretty good acoustic and fire-rated seals for many situations. Not cheap, but good stuff.

- Stuart -

#3

I found it in the USA at Dixieland Distributors in 2017. I see that it is still in their catalog. Item 4731.
https://www.dixied.com/media/Auveco_Pages1/apc336.pdf
It comes in 50-foot lengths per box. It was under $40/box then. I wonder if you contact them perhaps they can forward you to a source in the UK?
Cheers,
Ron

#4

i remember finding some rubber seal on Amazon for a client in the EU, i'll see if i can find the link again but maybe a search in your local Amazon site will reveal something useful. "rubber automobile trunk seal" Or perhaps "rubber automobile boot seal"

#5

gullfo wrote:Source of the post... in the EU ... perhaps "rubber automobile boot seal"

Very close; you are good!. In the EU it will be an auto and in the UK it be a car.

#6

Thank you everyone.

Stuart, I had a look at what appears to be the UK version of Zero International but they had nothing that really cut the mustard I'm afraid.

Ron, thank you for that link, I will give them a shout.

Glenn, if you can find that link that would be awesome thanks

Something else that has intrigued me is the use of magnetic weatherstrip in Rod's door design. Of course there would have to be a corresponding steel strip on the door for this.

Cheers!
Jennifer

#7

Of course there would have to be a corresponding steel strip on the door for this.

Not necessarily: Some shower-door magnetic rubber strips come in pairs that seal to each other. That might be an option: one on the door, one on the frame...

- Stuart -

#8

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubber-D-Type- ... 07CLWL98N/
used in stepped seals (bank vault) style stops.

it might help to reach out to auto supply stores and see if they carry something which is more rubber and less foam.

#9

endorka wrote:Something else that has intrigued me is the use of magnetic weatherstrip in Rod's door design. Of course there would have to be a corresponding steel strip on the door for this.

I used a magentic seal, it's basically like a fridge door strip on 3 sides, and a vinyl compression strip on the hinge side. Got it a home depot, I think it's made for metal patio doors. I do have metal strip on strip on my door.

#10

Thanks Glenn. Presumably rubber is better because it is higher density? I've never quite wrapped my head how one would seek to preserve density across a leaf, then have the door gasket lined with light squishy foam.

Thanks also Stuart & ScotcH. I have found various options for strips as you described. Some come in tape form, matching magnetic A & B pairs, and also steel tape. Apparently often used to attach secondary double glazing so it can be removed for cleaning. One such pairing gives a pull force of 6 Kg per metre, so for a couple of metres on a typical door it would be like lifting a heavy shopping bag for a brief moment to open the door.

https://www.affixit.co.uk/self-adhesive-steel-tape.html
https://www.affixit.co.uk/extra-strong- ... -tape.html

Presumably one of the big bonuses of the magnetic door seal is that it removes the need for a door latch?

Cheers!
Jennifer

#11

endorka wrote:Source of the post Presumably one of the big bonuses of the magnetic door seal is that it removes the need for a door latch?

It also gives a very good seal, since you can be sure the entire mating surfaces are pulled together as closely as possible. But do test samples before you decide if that's the way you want to go, to make sure that there's not too MUCH force needed to open the door.

- Stuart -

#12

Hello & howdo'?
I bought some 4731 weatherstripping from 'Clips & Fasteners' in Anaheim, California. It's $50 for 50 feet (+postage) and is the profile specified by Rod G in his book. I had to wait a week for it to be stocked but remarkably, it was delivered two days after despatch (far quicker than 90% of my recent U.K. orders). Hope this is helpful. John.

#13

That is incredibly helpful John thank you. When the time comes I will "make it so"

Cheers,
Jennifer

#14

Hey, how did you get on with seals?

The batwing type seem similar to the type from zero international…

I had epdm rubber seals on the outer studio door but is toooo thick, starts at 12mm and with a lot of force compresses to about 8mm… but essentially leaves a lower mass 8mm gap… it does seem to work though and my outer door is hopefully flood proof and these seals are used on Flood doors!

I think I had a link on my High isolation thread…

And of course drop seals you’ll know about… Fire seals direct do good priced ones that are good acoustically so they say!

#15

Thanks for checking in Tom. The ventilation and rear wall parts of the project took longer than planned so I've not had time to replace the batwing door seals yet, alas.

I like the way you described those squashy rubber seals as "essentially leaves a lower mass 8mm gap", that's something I've not been able to reconcile in my head as well. Is it just something we have to accept will theoretically not be perfect? If it works in practice though then all is well I suppose.

In another forum someone has posted a link to a UK supplier of seals apparently very similar to those specified by Rod Gervais;

I managed to find that landrover car door seals are the closest thing to the GM ones in rods book after a lot of research, it's a very close match so that is what I will use for that part of it.

SRS1922 on https://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping. ... entId=1#81

Datasheets https://www.sealsdirect.co.uk/pdf/SRS1922DS.pdf

I have installed three door drop seals from Fire Seals Direct here, they are Lorient brand. They are really good, especially the heavy duty ones.

Cheers,
Jennifer

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