In what areas of your home should you consider using Fire Retardant (FR) plywood? As an excellent and premium product, using quality plywood in only the areas of your home with the greatest fire hazard risks or highest escape route importance to you should be your strategy to help balance budget vs maximise safety. By investing in these areas only, you can create a safer home without incurring extra costs.
1. High Heat Areas – Kitchen
Although the kitchen is considered the heart of the home, it is also the location of most household fires (caused by flame from gas cooktops, high-wattage appliances, and fluctuations in temperature), making this area one of the most critical to protect.
Fire Retardant plywood sheets should be used in all under-counter cabinetry, overhead storage, and kitchen island cabinetry.
2. Electrical Distribution Hubs – Utility Storage Areas
The majority of today’s fires are electrical in nature, so locations that contain a significant concentration of high-voltage cables (such as behind electrical panels), large-scale servers, home automation hubs, and main electrical panel distribution cabinets are subject to extreme risk.
3. Critical Exit and Traffic Paths
When you have a fire in your home, your primary objective should be to get out of the home quickly and safely. Hallways, lobbies, and stairwells are the arteries of the home. If hallways, lobbies, or stairwells are obstructed or on fire, getting out of the home is not possible.
You should use FR plywood within any of the decorative wall panelling, ceiling treatments, or storage units that you have within the primary corridors of your home or on the walls of your staircase to provide you with the greatest possible period of time before those paths are unstable and burning during an emergency.
4. Bedrooms and Nurseries
These rooms tend to be the rooms in your home that you use the most often, especially at times when you may be vulnerable (when you sleep, for example).
For custom wardrobes, headboards, and nightstand cabinetry in bedrooms or nurseries, it is a critical safety measure to include FR plywood as a means of protecting passive fire hazards in the rooms of your home that are most likely to be occupied by tenants and have active safety concerns.
5. High-Density Living and Entertainment Areas
Living rooms usually contain a very high concentration of electronics (home theatres, gaming consoles, and multiple power strips) and decorative soft goods (furniture, drapes, carpeting), which produces a high fire-load environment.
Strategic Investment
There is no requirement to use FR plywood on every single piece of furnishing in your home; however, by investing in primarily high-risk and critical exit corridors, you will mitigate most of your exposure to potential fires. Selecting materials from premium quality companies (like Royale Touche) will ensure your selection will provide high fire retardancy; additionally, the added benefit will be the installation of a single high-quality board that will also provide termite and moisture protection.