Specifying historic shades with flame retardant protection
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When choosing paint for historic buildings, specifiers can choose products that offer a double duty, with high technology flame retardant paints available in historic colour palettes. Debbie Orr, Crown Trade brand manager gives an insight.
Protecting heritage properties needs to go more than skin deep. With flame retardant coatings in historic shades, it is possible to achieve an authentic look for period properties with the reassurance of a high technology formulation designed to buy precious time to protect life and property.
Over many years, a build-up of multiple layers of conventional paint over any surface can become a significant fire risk, particularly in corridors, stairwells and other areas forming part of a fire escape route.
Multiple layers of paint shown here under the microscope.
These can present a significant fire risk, which is reduced with the use of flame retardant coatings
Flame retardant paints work by limiting the oxygen around the flames through the release of non-combustible gases, and providing a barrier to the flammable paint layers or substrate beneath.
Debbie Orr, Crown Trade brand manager, said: “With the preservation of historic and prestigious buildings so important, flame retardant systems offer a double duty – delivering a surface in-keeping with the décor of the interior environment, in a coating that slows down the spread of flame.
“Ultimately specifiers can depend on colour expertise and have complete confidence in the authenticity and accuracy of historical colour palettes, while at the same time benefitting from the very latest advances in coating technology.
“Depending on the nature of the renovation project, property owners or managers wishing to specify the application of flame retardant coatings can have an assessment of the age and condition of the existing painted surfaces.
“This can include taking away a sample of the existing paint covering away for analysis, as this will show what coating system needs to be applied to offer the optimum protection.”
