polystyrene ceiling tiles

[psv25uk]

Can anyone help?

I have just bought a house which is covered in polystyrene ceiling tiles. The only odd thing is that they are very modern and new. Does anyone know if these still present a fire hazard? I find it hard to believe that any DIY store would sell them nowadays if they were or am I just being naive?

 

[Steve]

How do you mean "very modern and new"? are they glued to the ceiling? or do you mean the suspended ceiling grid type? if the former, they are probably there to hide some horrible mess on the ceiling. AFAIK, they are still sold for people who like to make their homes look even worse, but how they look "modern" is anyone's guess.

 

[Adam_151]

Any spare bits laying around in the attic...take one outside with a blow lamp and see.

Not sure how relevant it'd be to this, but one of the ways to tell if a piece of cloth had been treated with a flame proofing agent was to lick it and see if it tasted salty... another way apparantly was to try and burn a hidden part of it with the building resonably empty and a extinisher standing by....

 

[fireman22]

no my dad bought some recently, i was gobsmacked then i read the packaging and they were fire treated so ok to use

 

[psv25uk]

Crafty, I'm pretty sure they are glued on. Maybe modern is the wrong term, but "new" in that they have clearly been put up within the last couple of years.

 

[jbonding]

Crafty, I'm pretty sure they are glued on. Maybe modern is the wrong term, but "new" in that they have clearly been put up within the last couple of years.

Go and have a look for the same or similar and test it with a lighter.

 

[Zampa]

They have had a flame retardent additve in them for a good few years now...the main thing is how they are stuck on, if they just had a blob of adhesive in each corner then they could still drip at high temperatures.

When sticking them on its important to apply the adhesive all over the backs of them.

Ready mixed wallpaper paste is great for it.

 

[Zampa]

Looks like my bedroom ceiling...

 

[Robbie uk]

In 1976 i was in a house fire that at the time had all upstairs ceilings covered in polystyrene tiles which were not fire proof. I was only 15 at the time and saved the rest of the family from death!! Very scary i can tell you!! In the early eighties they became fireproof whereby if set on fire they turned to dust and not moulten plastic.

 

[Robbie uk]

My dad left a candle on his desk downstairs and forgot and it burnt down and set fire to the desk, then the stairs and then flashed across the ceilings in each room. very scary. Had to jump out the windows.