Fire Lining Old Stairs

[adamr7747]

Hi All,

We have an old (1850) house. There is a wooden staircase, with a (damp) plastered brick wall to one side and wooden tongue & groove on the other side. When we bought the house the surveyor said:

No fire lining has been provided to the underside of the stairs and this may need to be completed in the future.

Can anyone tell me what this involves, or point me in the right direction? I've done a bit of googling but haven't really got anywhere

Thanks a lot,
Adam

 

[gregers]

normally plaster boarding the under side of the stairs with a fire proof plasterboard,and possibly to the timber side aswell?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

There are thousands of houses of that era with nothing beneath the stairs. It just means there's no fire protection. A layer or plasterboard fixed to the underside will do the job if you're that concerned.

 

[adamr7747]

Thanks for the replies. What does the fire-lining achieve? Is there any point if I can't do the wood tongue&groove wall which forms one side of the stairwell?

Cheers,
Adam

 

[ladylola]

What the plaster board that is screwed to the underside achieves is to delay the stairs catching fire and help you escape should there ever be a fire below the stairs.
The t&g side would depend on the construction, it may be that it's very thin which was often the case. I've recently done a similiar building and we ended up taking out the t&g and replacing with a studded partition.
The other alternative is a fireproof coating which is applied as a paint, I can't remember the trade name needs a google. It takes something like five coats and mustn't be rushed else it looks awful.
Or just live with it and install a smoke alarm, as said there must be thousands of homes without any protection. Mine has timber sides and plaster underneath and I don't loose any sleep over it.

 

[adamr7747]

Cheers, I guess I'll add it to the list of things to do!