Leeds restaurant benefits from Yeoman Shield fire-rated door protection

Situated at the heart of a prominent business centre in Leeds, west Yorkshire, the restaurant caters for hundreds of customers who are employed by the blue chip companies (such as customer call centres), whose operations are housed within the establishment.

The nature of the business catered for requires extended operating hours of the food and drink service, supplied by catering company Gather & Gather, which in turn produces a great amount of footfall in the restaurant at all times throughout the day. “The long working hours and the amount of customers we serve can lead to the kitchen doors being opened up to 800 times a day and they are usually not opened by hands, but by the end of trolleys and carts being pushed through them. This can lead to the doors becoming damaged and looking scruffy and marked,” explained Catering Manager, Martin Bradshaw.

Damage to expensive fire doors not only looks unattractive, but can cause the more serious issue of stopping a fire door from performing to its full and correct capacity.

Problems can arise when door edges are ‘nibbled’ away by the constant pushing through of catering trolleys and equipment resulting in the intumescent fire and smoke seals not meeting correctly to form a seal in the event of a fire.

Door leaves are similarly damaged by wheeled equipment and footfall with vulnerable vision panels becoming splintered and broken, which each in turn can reduce the efficiency of a fire door from slowing the spread of smoke and flame.

To overcome these problems, the facilities management company in charge of the business centre buildings, sourced a solution to preventing the continual damage that the expensive fire doors were experiencing, from a range of fire-rated door protection products from Yeoman Shield.

Fire-rated, one-hour door edge protectors were installed to both the meeting and hinged edges of the door ensuring that the all-important seal is formed in the event of a fire.

Yeoman Shield door edge protectors are tested to BS 476: Part 22: 1987 – for ½-hour or one-hour fire integrity on full door assemblies and BS 476: Part 31.1: 1983 – to meet the requirements of BS 5588.

To protect the kitchen door leaves from unsightly marking and detrimental dents and scrapes, Yeoman Shield 2.0mm-thick FalmouthEx door panels were fixed at full-height to the doors accommodating vision panels where needed.

Amongst other ratings, FalmouthEx door protection panels are fire tested in accordance with, and have achieved, Class 1Y and Class 0, as defined in the latest Building Regulations.

Finally, to shield the important fire glass in the door’s vision panels and to maintain the effectiveness of the intumescent seals – which delays the progression of smoke and flame – Yeoman Shield PVCu-clad glazing beads were fitted around the glass. Again these products achieved the relevant fire certification of BS EN 1634 – 1: 2008 for ½-hour and one-hour rating, as well as BS 476: Part 22: 1987 on full door assemblies.

A high-quality finish

“Over the last 13 years, we have had to replace the kitchen fire doors twice, each time costing in the region of £1200. With Yeoman Shield door protection installed, this expense will be a thing of the past. We were also confident, due to the fire certification provided by Yeoman Shield, that installing these products would in no way affect the integrity of the fire doors,” commented the building facilities manager.

All the door protection products were installed on the restaurant doors by Yeoman Shield’s own directly employed fixing operatives. This ensured a smooth and trouble-free installation process resulting in a high-quality finish to the project. Colours were chosen from the comprehensive palette of 48 colours (including 14 stunning new shades) which Yeoman Shield can now offer. ‘Buff’ was selected for the main colour of the door, to complement the decor, fittings and fixtures already in place, whilst a contrasting kick plate in brown was added to the lower part of the doors.

“It’s important that the doors on show to the public look clean and hygienic, giving the customer confidence that what is behind the doors in the kitchen working area will also live up to this standard. We are very pleased with the Yeoman Shield products on the door which still look brand-new even though it has been in place for many months,” concluded Karen Fisher, Operations Director for Gather & Gather.

All testing on Yeoman Shield fire-rated protection products has been carried out at Exova Warrington or Exova Chiltern Test House and full fire test reports are available on request from the technical team at Yeoman Shield.

With over 32 protection systems available, there is a Yeoman Shield product to protect against most damage problems that occur to the interior of buildings constantly under the hammer by everyday use.

Yeoman Shield has been manufacturing wall protection and door protection to the UK and Export markets since 1966. The business continually grows and develops to become the number-one trusted company to turn to for wall and door protection products. For further information on Yeoman Shield’s cost-effective wall and door protection products, please visit the company’s website.

Yeoman Shield fire-rated door protection products can help with fire door safety

Installed on new doors, Yeoman Shield products can be the solution to stopping damage occurring from the start. They can, however, also be retrofitted to doors already in use – that have slight/medium damage already inflicted on them – helping to improve their appearance and condition.

Yeoman Shield door edge protectors

Fitted to new doors or retrofitted to doors already in use, Yeoman Shield door edge protectors save meeting and hinged edges from damage.

This protection helps to maintain a gap no more than 3mm between frames and door edges, which will ensure that intumescent seals will function correctly in the event of a fire. Available for ½-hour and one-hour fire-rated applications with a choice of fire or fire and smoke seals.

Yeoman Shield door protection panels and plates

A PVCu panel supplied in 2500 x 1250mm sheets (or cut to required size) and 2.0mm-thick, this fire-rated material can be fitted to new or existing doors to protect the leaves of doors from unsightly damage which can be detrimental to both the appearance and, more importantly, the integrity of the fire door.

Door panels can be shaped on Yeoman Shield’s in-house CNC machine or have images inserted into the leaves for design and information purposes.

Yeoman Shield PVCu-clad glazing bead

Designed to reduce damage and expensive maintenance cost to the vision panel apertures of fire doors, the Yeoman Shield PVCu-clad glazing bead can give existing damaged doors a new lease of life.

Affording protection to the seal around the glass which slows down the progression of smoke and flame, as with all Yeoman Shield door protection products, the glazing beads can be fitted to new or existing doors without affecting the door’s fire integrity.

The beads can be tailored to the refurbishment of damaged timber beads and fire glass to your requirements by replacing just one bead, both beads or beads and glazing.

Full and comprehensive details on fire certification and details required before installation can commence is available from the technical sales office or at via the website.

Installation notes

Before fitting any protection products, the rating of a door must be clarified. This information is sometimes identified on the doorset or found in the O&M manuals.

It is the user’s responsibility to ensure that fire doors fitted with Yeoman Shield products meet the appropriate fire legislation and regulations, whether new or existing doors.

Fitting Yeoman Shield fire-rated door protection products will improve the look and appearance of fire doors, maintaining the integrity whilst providing a more durable surface to prevent and reduce impact damage. It should be noted, however, that in no way will it return the doors back to their original state. Any additional components to a fire door must be compatible with the door and confirmed by test evidence.

Yeoman Shield-manufactured materials have been fully fire tested as well as having undergone further testing in the application in which they will be used – which is important to check, as not all fire test reports and associated products are the same.

Yeoman Shield proves to be the right treatment for Halton Hospital

Yeoman Shield has recently supplied and installed wall and door protection in the new Urgent Care Unit at Halton Hospital, Runcorn. Yeoman Shield products were installed by its directly employed fixing team to the corridors and cubicle areas in the unit. The Guardian Handrail was fitted to protect the walls along the corridors and waiting areas in Aqua Blue with an attractive contrasting insert strip in Mid Grey. An Ultra 60 Protection Rail, also in Aqua Blue, was included at low-level to protect the skirting and wall from damage, which can be caused at this height for wheelchairs and trolleys. Some of the doors in the unit required replacement and Yeoman Shield fire-rated door protection panels and door edge protectors were fitted to all doors to protect from costly damage reoccurring. Aqua Blue FalmouthEx wall protection panels were installed along the cubicle area corridors and in the cubicles themselves protecting from damage which is caused by the movement of equipment and trolleys. A Yeoman Shield Clapping Lath was also applied to the double swing doors of the X-ray room.

just the right remedy for damaged doors

When a multinational pharmaceutical company, engaged in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, needed a remedy for damaged doors at its North West site, it turned to Yeoman Shield. The lead maintenance engineer at the plant, explained: “Over time, the original timber doors had become damaged through constant footfall and movement of traffic, such as trolleys. We operate to high standards including a clean manufacturing environment and were looking for a cost-effective way to combat this problem.” A site visit by Yeoman Shield Area Sales Manager, Russell Smith, resulted in a recommendation of Yeoman Shield supplying and fitting the doors in FalmouthEx door protection panels and protectors in dark blue. Extruded architrave and frame protection in smooth white were also fitted. The fire integrity of the doors was not affected by fitting Yeoman Shield’s fully fire tested, hardwood PVCu-clad bead (again in dark blue). This protects exposed timber glazing beads which often split following inevitable contact from everyday traffic.

Yeoman Shield protects walls and doors at Northern General Hospital

Yeoman Shield wall and door protection has recently been installed as part of a £2m project at the Northern General, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust. A wide range of Yeoman Shield products were used on the project, which involved transforming a large floor area (which had formally been used as a Day Rehabilitation Unit, Physio and Occupational Therapy Unit) into a Medical Out-Patients & Chest Clinic with 14 multi-functional examination rooms, chest clinic facility, OT department and an administration and consultants’ office wing. Yeoman Shield supplied and installed – in an attractive rich Bordeaux colour – door frame and architrave protection, glazing bead and protection strip. Standard corner angles were also fitted to protect vulnerable columns and corners throughout the scheme. Yeoman Shield’s innovative ‘Imagery’ in Bordeaux and Lilac was also used extensively for numbering consulting rooms, signage on toilets, nappy-changing facilities, disabled signage and ward hand-washing facilities.