Fire Door Gauge – The Most Important Safety Measurement
The Fire Door Gauge is an easy to use, inexpensive tool utilized by most fire door manufacturing industry inspectors to accurately measure clearance requirements per the NFPA80 standard. Clearance requirements are probably the most unrecognized issue for non-compliant fire doors. The Fire Door Gauge will not only speed up your regular fire door inspection, it is far more accurate than just a tape gauge and is extremely compact and simple to use as well. There are many brands of fire door gauges available on the market. Most manufacturers of the Fire Door Gauge have a web site that will allow you to purchase the Fire Door Gauge from them.
You must first understand that the fire door gauge, just like any other product, has a variety of different brands, shapes and sizes with each one of these items having its own set of strengths and weaknesses as well. The gauge in this case is also constructed from different materials as well. It is important that you choose the correct gauge size and the correct type of gauges as appropriate for your particular application. This means that if you are using a tape measure, measuring the inside perimeter of the door from the inside, it would be pointless to measure from the outside or the top of the door. If you were measuring the outside perimeter, you would need a fire door gap gauge with holes that are appropriately large enough to accommodate the tape measure. If you were measuring the inside of the door, it would be pointless to measure from the bottom or the top as these gauges are designed to fit into recesses cut into doors.
If you are looking for a quality fire door gauge, it is advisable that you get one from a manufacturer of the fire rated doors you plan to use in your home or business. These manufacturers should sell fire door gauges that are tested and meet the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) fire door guidelines. There are many manufacturers that sell gauges designed to meet the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 80) fire protection standards. You can easily find the gauges that you need by visiting your local hardware store or by searching online.