Why don&#;t builders use 5/8-inch fire-code drywall throughout the entire house? I&#;d certainly pay a premium over standard drywall to have a more fire-resistant structure.
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from KUKU PANEL.
&#;Steve Miller, Sylvan Lake, MI.
Fire-rated drywall, also known as Type X drywall, is a particular kind of drywall that offers additional fire resistance compared to standard drywall. While standard drywall is made from a gypsum core covered with paper, fire-rated drywall has glass fibers mixed into the gypsum core to help it resist fire for a longer period. In this article, we explore what fire-rated drywall is, its benefits, when and where to use it, and how it compares to standard drywall.
The primary difference between standard drywall and Type X drywall lies in their composition. Type X drywall has the same gypsum core as regular drywall, but it also contains non-combustible glass fibers. The addition of these glass fibers significantly improves its fire resistance. Type X drywall typically comes in 5/8-inch thickness, which provides better fire resistance than the 1/2-inch thickness standard drywall.
Type X drywall increases a wall&#;s fire rating to a minimum of one hour, from the 30-minute rating for standard 1/2-inch drywall.
Fire-rated drywall provides additional time to evacuate a building in the event of a fire, which can be life-saving. This extra time can also allow firefighters to control the blaze more effectively, thereby reducing property damage. The presence of fire-rated drywall can also lead to lower insurance premiums, as insurers often recognize the reduced risk of fire-related damage.
Additionally, fire-related drywall also has some benefits that aren&#;t related to safety. For example, Type X drywall dampens sound transmission throughout the walls for enhanced privacy and better acoustic qualities.
Fire-rated drywall is not necessary for all areas of a home, but there are specific locations where its use is highly recommended or required by building codes. These areas typically include garages, utility rooms, and walls that separate different living spaces, also known as partition walls.
Type X drywall is not often used in residential construction except where the building code requires it, which is why builders do not use it throughout the whole house.
Building codes vary depending on the region, but many local and national building codes require the use of fire-rated drywall in certain areas of the home. For instance, the International Residential Code (IRC) states that if there is a habitable room above the garage, then 5/8-inch Type X drywall is required on the garage ceiling. Additionally, utility rooms and furnace rooms often require fire-rated drywall to prevent the spread of fire effectively.
Even if you installed Type X drywall throughout your home, it won&#;t necessarily be safer. You&#;d also have to close off all the other pathways for fire to travel&#;open doorways, non-fire-rated doors, walls without fire blocking&#;and that could get costly and look ugly.
One of the considerations homeowners need to take into account is the cost difference between standard and fire-rated drywall. While fire-rated drywall offers enhanced fire resistance, it is also more expensive than regular drywall. On average, a panel of 1/2-inch standard drywall at your local home improvement store might cost between $14 and $18, whereas a sheet of 5/8-inch Type X drywall could cost approximately $18&#;$23.
Although the initial cost is higher, the added fire protection can be financially beneficial in the long run due to potential savings on insurance premiums and reduced property damage.
Installing fire-rated drywall is somewhat similar to installing standard drywall, but there are a few additional considerations to keep in mind to ensure it provides the intended fire resistance.
To complete the installation, you will need specific tools and materials, such as:
While fire-rated drywall can enhance fire resistance in specific instances, it is not a standalone solution for comprehensive home fire safety. Fire-rated drywall can slow the spread of fire, but it cannot prevent fires from starting. Homeowners should implement other fire safety measures to help keep them protected, such as installing smoke detectors to provide early warnings of fires and creating and practicing an emergency evacuation plan.
Installing fire extinguishers in accessible locations throughout the home is another smart fire safety prevention method. Homeowners should ensure everyone in the household knows how to use a fire extinguisher correctly. Residential fire sprinkler systems provide additional protection by automatically activating to control or extinguish fires, minimizing fire damage and providing an extra layer of safety. You can also consider adding fire-resistant doors and windows to your home for added safety.
In short, no, you do not need to use fire-rated drywall throughout your home. While it&#;s critical to use it in places where it&#;s required, such as in attached garages and around boilers in multi-family dwellings, your home won&#;t be significantly safer by using it everywhere. However, if you are interested in the other benefits this material offers, such as sound dampening, then it may be worth the extra expense.
When you are installing drywall, building code often dictates the types of drywall that must be used. One type of drywall that shows up in building codes is Type X or Type C drywall or fire-rated drywall.
While beneficial, fire-rated drywall is often given more attributes than it truly has. This drywall is fire-rated but not fireproof. While it will slow down the passage of fire, it will not stop it. Type X or Type C drywall is only one of many methods homeowners should use to stay safe in the event of a home fire. In fact, fire ratings for Type X or C drywall can be a bit deceptive because they refer to full, complete wall system, not just the drywall.
Fire-rated drywall is drywall that is thicker than standard sheets and which sometimes comes with extra additives to the gypsum core such as fiberglass. The purpose of fire-rated drywall is to slow the progress of fire to give inhabitants enough time to escape.
What Is Fire-Rated Type X Drywall?
Fireproof drywall is the common term; its industry name is Type X drywall. The thickness of this drywall is 5/8-inch, including all layers.
Glass fibers are added to the board to help it slow down the fire. Also, because it is denser than normal gypsum and paper drywall, it takes longer for the fire to degrade it.
Most Type X drywall has a one-hour fire rating. The fire rating for the 1/2-inch drywall used throughout the rest of the home is 30 minutes.
As an added benefit, Type X drywall absorbs sound slightly better and is slightly stronger than conventional 3/8-inch or 1/2-inch drywall.
Type X vs. Type C Drywall
Both Type X and Type C drywall are rated as fire-resistant materials. Both have 60-minute wall system ratings.
Type C has more additives to the gypsum core that make it slightly more fire-resistant than Type X drywall.
Why Fireproof Drywall Is Fire-Rated
Type X or C drywall is by no means 100-percent fireproof. Simply it is drywall that will stand up against flame longer than regular drywall.
Also, just because an area is covered in Type X or C drywall does not ensure fire safety for that area, since fire can still find other pathways, such as vents, doors, gaps, cracks, and unblocked stud wall assemblies.
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If a conventional 1/2-inch thick sheet of drywall will stand up to 30 minutes of fire, then the added 1/8-inch found in the Type X or C drywall, along with its other properties, will double your margin of safety to 60 minutes. For this reason, fire-rated drywall is sometimes called one-hour fire wallboard.
Termed Type X or Type C
5/8-inch thick
Rated to 60 minutes
Embedded with glass fibers
Required by many building codes
Rating backed on assembly systems, not just the drywall alone
Where to Install Type X or C Drywall
In residences, fire-rated drywall is typically required by building codes to be installed in a few of these places:
Should You Install Type X or C Drywall Everywhere?
No, fire-rated drywall is not intended to be installed in all areas of the home.
Fire-rated drywall tends to run about 20-percent more expensive than conventional drywall panels. While this is not much on the small scale, it can represent a substantial cost difference when multiplied across an entire home's worth of drywall.
More importantly, the fire will find any number of easier passages to travel than through drywall. For example, if a bathroom, nursery, bedroom, or home office were hung with Type X or C drywall, the fire would readily move through oxygen-rich open doors and hollow-core doors long before attempting to burn through the drywall.
If you want fire-rated drywall to be installed throughout your house, you would need to request this with the contractor, as this is not normally done.
Type X or C Drywall Testing Limitations
The ability of Type X or C has less to do with the actual drywall sheet and more to do with the entire wall system as a whole: all items included such as studs and insulation.
USG, the manufacturer of Sheetrock Brand Firecode C Gypsum Panels, makes the point that ASTM (American Society For Testing and Materials) testing of fire-rated drywall requires that entire "assembly/systems" be tested, not just the drywall.
Because these assemblies are composed of many different parts, any of which could affect results, these results may be skewed. USG notes:
This simply means that for a 'one-hour fire rating' of a gypsum board assembly/system, all requirements of an ASTM E 119 test were successfully met in a testing laboratory furnace for at least 59 minutes and 30 seconds for that specific assembly/system and with those specific components of the assembly/system.
Thickness and Composition
Drywall typically comes in 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, and 1/2-inch thicknesses. Type X or C drywall is 5/8 inches thick.
In addition to the usual gypsum found in regular drywall, fire-rated drywall contains glass fibers to form a super-tough core. The gypsum and fiberglass are packed tighter and denser than with regular drywall.
Cost and Availability
Fire-rated drywall costs more than regular drywall. As a rule of thumb, you can count on it costing about 10-percent to 20-percent more than conventional drywall of the closest possible thickness.
Type X or C fire-rated drywall is not a specialty product. It is available at local home improvement stores or contractors' supply houses.
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