There are a lot of materials out there that people can use to build rooms, houses and buildings and it’s quite competitive. There are so many who suggest picking one material over others or that their solution is better. It’s to the point that it’s difficult for a lot of consumers to make the right decision of what to go for.
With this in mind, we’d like to cover metal walls and some things that you can consider about having a room with metal walls or even buildings with metal walls.
Non-combustible
There are many buildings that have wood framing. While it is certainly sturdy, it’s obviously quite combustible. When you are using metal buildings or rooms, know that close to the entirety of it is made of steel. Furthermore, The International Building Code recognizes that use of steel is non-combustible. In terms of buildings while using metal framing doesn’t protect you from all fire protection requirements, there is still a distinct advantage that the code recognizes.
Fire Protection
No matter the building, fire protection is a requirement. How much protection depends on how you want to use the building, who’s occupying it and where it’s located. For sire location the code determines the amount of fire protection requirement based on how close the building is to property lines and buildings around it.
The reason for that is due to the risk of fire spreading from building to building decreases the further buildings are further away. Similarly requirements drop the lower risk the building has of catching fire. It’s for this reason why metal buildings will have lower requirements.
UL Ratings
Metal walls, roofs, and columns have recently gone through what’s known as Underwriter’s Laboratory. The newest listings from this are UL Design numbers W404 and W413. What that means is the wall has a fire rating of 1 and 2-hour exterior wall. These newer exterior walls that get this rating are part of non-combustible metal wall framing, gypsum board, exterior metal wall panels, steel furring and multiple insulation options too. All in all it proves that getting this rating shows a great track record of fire protection.
Fire Rating Materials
Out of the items listed above, the most common of those is the fiberock wallboard. Of course there are other materials out there that can be like concrete masonry or spray-applied fire resistive materials too. However gypsum is very easy to ensure you are complying with codes. By telling a supplier you want Type X board, the supplier will design something specifically for you and ensure that the building is thick enough to put in the required amount of gypsum layers and have the support, screw spacing as well as any other details met.