Best way to clad an RSJ please, 1st time for me.

Hi I am working with the council on my house, I have fitted a 8inch x 8 inch H shaped RSJ which has been red oxided. The council now want me to clad it and have said either double board it with normal plasterboard or use a single layer of pink plasterboard for the purpose of fire proofing.

I have some questions, first is there a reason for picking one method over the other, is one method better for some reason?

What is the best way to fit the noggins (don’t know if that’s the right word) do I just cut 2x4” so its tight and bash them in or do I glue and knock in (bearing in mind it is red oxided).

I’m assuming you knock them in so the 2” face is facing me and not the 4” face is that correct.

I’m worried that even bashed in tight that the wood will shrink over time in a centrally heated house and be loose, is that not going to happen?

I was going to knock them in every 400mm like joists is that correct?

Is there any better way of doing this that I should consider?

Any help/advice appreciated. The beam is 3.5m long

Hi,

I'm not going to claim to be an expert on what you are asking about, but I do have experience of fire protection. It's difficult to understand what level of fire protection to the beam you have been asked to provide as the description of two layers of standard board or one layer of fire board doesn't really pin point it for me. I'd assume that in a domestic dwelling they are looking for a 30 minute level of protection.

Either way, this guy's video looks like it can tell you all you need to know.

We always have the web drilled so we can fix a timber sandwich into the crook of the web. Or we have the flanges drilled and fit timbers top and bottom as shown here....

Hire one of these:

http://www.brandontoolhire.co.uk/en...gs/906-hilti-dx460-cartridge-fixing-tool.html

And be careful with it: