BarrierTek fire resistant treatments eliminate the risk of high intensity fire in wood construction projects. And a project that is not susceptible to a devastating fire during course of construction has innumerable benefits for the contractors, community, and other stakeholders. 

BarrierTek products do not require any additional engineering or design. Nor do they require any special installation or tools. BarrierTek fire retardant product is applied to the wood required before it reaches the job site. No need to augment the structure with additional materials or sprinklers.

Here are the benefits our solutions offer:

• Lowers course of construction COC insurance premiums
• Allows builders to maximize construction footprint
• Contain fires to compartment of origin and pose no threat to adjacent buildings
• Prevent destructive fires without changing the way you build

BarrierTek interrupts pyrolysis, reducing heat and oxygen that gets into the wood. At 200º degrees Celsius, the BarrierTek coating is activated by the heat energy, causing a chemical reaction. That chemical reaction creates a low-density foam barrier on top of the wood. Check out our “how it works” video here. 

BarrierTek products are designed to contain fires and provide adequate time for fire services to respond and work to extinguish the fire. Without fire resistant wood, small fires become large fires in minutes and exponentially increase the probability of a total loss. BarrierTek treated projects stay on track in the case of the fire; negligible damage results in negligible repair time. See an appraisal of both an untreated and treated building here.

BarrierTek’s fire retardant treatment is factory-applied to sheathing, flooring, dimensional lumber, I-Joists and attic trusses before it reaches the job site. Proprietary coating technology ensures that each piece of wood is coated to a specified thickness and then cured in a series of drying tunnels and infrared ovens. Finally, treated wood is checked for quality control, stacked, labeled and strapped for shipment to site.

In special cases, BarrierTek products can be applied on-site by certified technicians. For more information regarding on-site application and other custom solutions, please contact BarrierTek directly.

BarrierTek AtTEK products can replace the need for sprinklers in attic spaces while maintaining compliance with NFPA-13 fire codes. AtTEK is a proactive fire protection measure whereas traditional sprinkler systems are reactive. Whereas sprinklers require routine maintenance and are susceptible to failure or flooding, AtTEK provides peace-of-mind fire protection during construction and on into occupancy.

Developers, engineers, and architects are turning to BarrierTek AtTEK as a means to cut construction costs, remove the risk of major flood events post-occupancy, as well as reduce the costs of insurance. Find out how using AtTEK can change your project pro-forma while significantly reducing risk.

Within the project schedule, BarrierTek works closely with project managers and on-site framing crews to ensure that wood arrives is treated and delivered to site as needed. As with any supply chain for a construction project, communication and planning are key to execution. Typically, choosing BarrierTek for your project will add no time to your project timeline as our factories operate with short lead times.

Historically, untreated buildings that experience a high intensity fire can experience a setback of up to 24 months. Time lost due to fire is a product of the progress at time of fire, the extent of the damage, as well as other factors such as insurance responsiveness and investigation lead time. This ties up your most important non-renewable resource: time. Furthermore, it ties up working capital and imposes an opportunity cost penalty, sacrificing returns and impacting your balance sheet.    

In contrast, on projects treated with BarrierTek small fires never get the chance to become big fires. Fire damage repairs to BarrierTek buildings are negligible and require as little as a few hours to a few days to remediate. Often, builders using BarrierTek products don’t report fire events. To date, not one single claim has been made on a BarrierTek treated wood building. 

Adjacent property protection requirements dictate minimum setbacks from future and existing occupied buildings. If you’re building in a high-density area, using BarrierTek allows you to build closer to property lines, increasing the developed area of your site. Our treatments can help you concurrently meet code, decrease your setbacks, and increase profitability – all while building safer buildings and communities.

BarrierTek treated products are installed the exact same as untreated wood products making adoption of this technology easy and error free. 

BarrierTek products are colour-matched to their intended application and some products are treated on only one side, while others are fully coated. Fire and building code requires that the treated side of fire retardant sheathing be installed in a specific way.

For detached single-family applications, wall sheathing is treated on one side with ProTEKtor® PG and installed with the treated side facing outward in new developments. Infill construction must have the treated side facing inward unless explicitly stated.