Things You'll Need
1 gallon of latex or water-based paint
Fire retardant additive
Drop cloth
Plastic gloves
Paint stirrer
Clean 2-gallon bucket
Fire retardant paint can be useful in many household applications, and is necessity in any kitchen, the literal hotspot of the home. It won't stop fires, but it will greatly decrease the time it takes a fire to spread, leaving you and your family more time to leave your home.
Step 1
Protect your work area with a drop cloth and wear protective gloves. Mixing additives, liquid or powder into paint can be messy.
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Step 2
Pour the gallon of paint into the clean 2-gallon bucket. Mix in your additive, using a paint stirrer to blend together. For powder additives, use 6 oz. to 1 gallon of paint for a Class B Fire Retardant Coating Rating. Use 12 oz. to 1 gallon of paint for a Class A Fire Retardant Coating rating.
For liquid additives, use 8 oz. to 1 gallon of paint for a Class B Fire Retardant Coating Rating. Use 16 oz. to 1 gallon of paint for a Class A Fire Retardant Coating rating.
Mix the additive thoroughly. The additive will not have a negative effect on the color or texture of the paint.
Step 3
Make sure the area to be painted is cleaned and primed. Apply the fire-retardant paint.
Tip
A majority of the additives, liquid or powder, can be used with any latex or water-based paint. However, some additives can only be used with interior, flat finish latex paint. Verify that the additive can be used with your paint.
Fire retardant paint is not an intumescent paint, which is fire resistive.
Read your manufacturer's directions on the amount of additive needed for your desired fire retardant rating. These directions are for typical liquid and powder additives, however, there are many different additives on the market.
Know your desired fire retardant rating. A Class A Fire Retardant Coating, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) “As applied to building materials, is a coating that reduces the flame spread to 25 or less, and that has a smoke developed rating not exceeding 200.”
A Class B Fire Retardant Coating, according to the NFPA, “As applied to building materials, is a coating that reduces the flame spread to greater than 25 but not more than 75, and that has a smoke developed rating not exceeding 200.”
“The flame spread rating is expressed numerically on a scale for which the zero point is fixed by the performance of an inorganic-reinforced cement board and the 100 point (approximately) is fixed by the performance of red oak flooring.”
According to Gregory Harrington, Principal Fire Protection Engineer for the NFPA, “the FSI is a dimensionless value derived from the ASTM E 84 test standard. The higher the FSI, the faster the rate of flame spread across the surface of the material.”
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