Top 5 fire resistant materials used by builders

Everyone wants a house that looks good from the outside. Only a few focus on the safety aspects of the house with respect to fire hazards. A large number of people losing their lives each year due to residential fires that could have been avoided with the use of small changes in construction material and intelligent replacements. The long time duration of fire resistance helps the building structure stay intact till help or reinforcement is called for. Here are the top five fire resistant materials that are used by builders to make sure the building is fire resistant and safe for residential use.

	Bricks: Bricks are the intrinsic part and parcel of each home and what’s more they are fire resistant. Bricks are made in fire kilns and have a high endurance to heat and temperature. While it is true that a single brick is much more fire resistant than a wall because of the use of cement, sand and mortar. A wall still provides adequate protection from fire, depending on the thickness of the wall during construction. A brick wall is rated as fire resistant withstanding fires between one to 4 hours.
	Fire Resistant Glass: Windows can be a potential fire hazard due to the popular use of wooden frames and glass material. Replacing normal glass window by a fire resistant glass can bring own the fire hazard potential of window substantially. A normal window glass can easily break during a fire allowing the flames to enter the interiors of the house easily. Fire resistant glasses uses dual paneled glasses which have a high energy absorption rate making it four times as stronger than a normal glass window. Wooden framing may be a potential fire hazard and replacing wood frames to PVC or steel frames along with the use of a fire resistant glass will ensure almost foolproof protection from fire.
	Concrete: Concrete plays an intrinsic role in all construction related work. Concrete is not only fire resistant but is also non combustible due to its low thermal conductivity. Concrete due to its intrinsic fire resistant properties is used to reinforce and protect steel structures from fire. Concrete is popular as a roofing material because of its strong fire resistance properties.
	Plaster: Plaster also known as “stucco” is a commonly used material in construction activity known for its string resistance to heat and fire. Plaster is made up on Portland cement, sand and lime and can be used to cover any structure to provide artistic coverage as well as fire resistance coverage. Roof overhangs are protected using plaster coatings to make them safe and fire resistant.
	Gypsum: Gypsum is another commonly used fire resistant material used in construction activity. Many structural materials are attached underneath with gypsum sheeting to prevent any fire hazards and to achieve good fire resistant ratings. Gypsum boards also known as “dry-walls” are also chemically treated to enhance the fire fighting abilities of gypsum. Builders used multiple layers of gypsum coating on gypsum boards to make sure their fire resistance properties of the underlying physical structure gets enhanced.