Pyroshield, the flame retardant system from Dulux Trade, is being used as part of a major refurbishment of Southampton City Council's housing stock. Over 4,000 households have benefited from an overhaul of communal areas, which includes the redecoration of over 100 staircases with Pyroshield, to restore the original wall coatings to a Class 0 rating and meet the Council's 'duty of care' responsibilities.
Following an initial trial, main contractor Drew Smith Ltd has now embarked on a long-term re-decoration programme. Dulux Trade provided Drew Smith employees with on-site training on the application of Pyroshield, which can be applied over existing multi-layered painted surfaces. A system of three coats of Pyroshield, over-coated with two coats of standard Quick Drying Eggshell, has been specified by Dulux Trade, to return the surfaces to the original classification of Class 0 without compromising on finish or colour aesthetics.
Tenants are fully involved as part of the programme, and as Pyroshield can be over-coated with conventional decorative finishes they are being offered a choice of colour themes, with Dulux Trade providing bespoke colour cards for the consultation.
Pyroshield is a quicker and safer way to apply flame retardant coatings. The product is water-based meaning it is quick drying so the building is back in action sooner, and its free from hazardous materials such as antimony and brominated compounds which are widely used in conventional flame retardant coatings and may produce significant Health, Safety and Environmental concerns.
Pyroshield was launched in 2004. It has been tested over the Warrington Fire Research Blue Board, which is the most challenging substrate to work with, and increasingly regarded as the industry standard substrate for a multi-layered paint surface upgrade system. The Pyroshield system has achieved both Class 1 and Class 0 upgrade performance over the Blue Board - the highest in the field.
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